The Power of Gratitude (+ science)

We’ve all heard the saying, “be grateful for what you have” or something along those lines. But how often do we actually take a moment to be present enough to notice what we have? I know I’m not perfect at doing it, but as of late I’ve been making a conscious effort to tap into the power of gratitude.

I’m not saying you should compare your life to those who have less “things” than you. There are people who live in impoverished, third world countries that practice more gratitude than some, if not most, of us in the developed world. Material things are very miniscule on the scale of gratitude. And to be frank, I’m not a fan of making myself feel better by comparing my life to those who have less.

We live in a society where corporations spend hundreds of millions of dollars each year to market material things to us. These marketing strategies can be sneaky and may present themselves in inconspicuous ways, leaving us in a constant state of “want”. Instead of enjoying what we have, we become preoccupied with chasing the next best thing.

I have personally been in a state of want as a result of spending too much time on social media. It wasn’t until I kickstarted my personal growth journey that I realized how wanting more takes you further and further away from practicing gratitude, and further away from happiness.

So what is gratitude and how do you practice it? Gratitude is the realization and knowing that everything you could ever want exists within you. As long as you wake up with life within you each day, there is much to be grateful for.

I remember one time, a few years ago, I had bronchitis that lasted for over 2 weeks. I couldn’t breathe without coughing and couldn’t breathe through my nostrils because of how congested I was. And I remember thinking about how wonderful it is not to be sick and to be able to breathe freely. Ever since that experience, I was grateful for simply being able to breathe. On days when I couldn’t think of what I was grateful for, I was thankful for that, the ability to simply breathe.

Little did I know I was creating an atomic habit of practicing gratitude. This opened multiple doors and expanded my mind to the world around me. I started to realize I had much to be grateful for.

The power of gratitude presented itself and led me down a surprising path of self love. I used to be so self conscious about being skinny and having skinny legs, but the practice of gratitude has made me realize that I am lucky to have legs that are in perfect working order. Because it would suck really bad not to have legs. Imagine what a gratitude practice can make you love about yourself.

The power of gratitude has changed my mindset from shrugging at the rain ruining my plans on a rainy day to being grateful for it and knowing that we need the rain to nourish the earth.

In the early days of this self discovery journey, when I was having a good day I would write down a list of things I was grateful for; the air in my lungs, the roof over my head, a husband who shows up for me, friends that love me unconditionally, the ability to read, write, learn, grow and be unapologetically human. 

And then this power showed up on my bad days. Where I was able to see through the fog, avoid depressive stages, and understand that life is not only about the ups, but it’s about accepting the downs. It’s about tuning in especially on your bad days to find the lessons that the universe is trying to teach us. 

Gratitude is the key to true happiness.

There is proven scientific research that practicing gratitude has positive effects on both your mental and physical health. The scientific way to practice gratitude is a bit different from writing out a list of things we are grateful for. 

In his Podcast Episode, The Science of Gratitude & How to Build a Gratitude Practice, Dr. Andrew Huberman, a neuroscientist, says that stories and scenarios are the way of effectively practicing gratitude. For example, you can spend 5 minutes each day (or at least once a week) recalling a story from your past of a time you were grateful for something or you can observe the exchange of gratitude between two individuals. 

According to Huberman, having an effective gratitude practice can have an impact on both mental and physical health with things like cardiovascular health, relationships with others and one’s self, and the improvement of physical and cognitive performance. 

To put the science simply, we have neural circuits in the brain that are wired for prosocial behaviors and defensive behaviors. Prosocial behaviors involve being closer to things like relationships to yourself, others, the food you enjoy, your pets, etc. Defensive behaviors are our instinctual responses to threat, or lack thereof, when we feel stress and anxiety.

A regular and effective gratitude practice will light up our prosocial neural circuits and reduce the effects of our defensive behavior, leading to a happier and healthier life. 

The bottom line is that regardless where you are in life, we can all practice a little more gratitude and be mindful of all the things that make life worthwhile. As long as we have life within us and even on our worst days, we have much to be grateful for.

For more on self care, be sure to check out my article 9 Habits For a Happier Life

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Thank you all for reading.

Love & Light,

Cindy Natalia