Why is Gratitude So Good For You?
Everyone knows how great it feels to hear “thank you” from a grateful family member, friend, or colleague, and that it’s even better to receive a thank you note, email, or text. But research over the past decade or so suggests that expressing gratitude may have even greater benefits for the people actually doing the thanking.
Yep. It turns out the old adage “it’s better to give than to receive” is totally true in the case of gratitude.
Expressing gratitude not only provides a host of physical and mental health benefits, such as better sleep, less severe depression, and even fewer aches and pains, it also improves relationships and generally boosts happiness and optimism. Read on to learn about gratitude’s benefits and what the science suggests about why showing gratitude might be one of the easiest, cheapest, and most beneficial things you can do for your health.
What is Gratitude?
First, a definition of gratitude: Gratitude is a thankful appreciation for what an individual receives, whether tangible or intangible. With gratitude, people acknowledge the goodness in their lives. In the process, people usually recognize that the source of that goodness lies at least partially outside of themselves.
Make sense? When showing gratitude we don’t seek to deny that there is pain, suffering, and injustice in the world, but we still assert that there are positive aspects of everyone’s existence as well, and that it is worth focusing on these as much as possible.
Physical Health Benefits of Gratitude
One reason that expressing gratitude is so important is because of the significant impacts that practicing gratitude has on our health and wellbeing. Based on numerous studies, people who regularly express gratitude tend to:
Have fewer aches and pains
Sleep better and feel more refreshed upon waking
Have lower blood pressure
Have better cardiovascular health
Mental Health Benefits of Gratitude
Just as expressing gratitude can improve physical wellbeing, it can also bolster our mental health. In positive psychology research, gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness.
Again, according to multiple studies, people who express gratitude regularly often feel:
Less lonely and isolated
Less depressed
Less stressed
More satisfied in their relationships
Less envy of others which can lead to low self-esteem
Higher levels of overall happiness
What Does the Research Suggest About Gratitude?
Laurie Santos, a Yale-based psychologist who teaches a wildly popular class on happiness, is a strong proponent of gratitude, which is a heavily-studied topic in her course. "It's one of the practices that really wins out from the field of positive psychology," she says, “because it takes very little time, and the benefits are so powerful."
While Santos is quick to remind us that gratitude cannot solve all the world’s ills, she asserts that what it can and does do is give us hope. "The research shows that focusing on the positive...can boost our mood more than we expect," says Santos. This, in turn, can make us more aware of current privileges and more optimistic about future success and happiness.
The research certainly seems to bear this out.
Much of the research on gratitude has been conducted by psychologists, Dr. Robert A. Emmons of the University of California, Davis, and Dr. Michael E. McCullough of the University of Miami. In one study, they asked all participants to write a few sentences each week, focusing on assigned topics.
The first group wrote about things they were grateful for that had occurred recently. A second group wrote about daily annoyances that had displeased them, and the third simply wrote about events that had affected them in some way (with no emphasis on them being positive or negative). After 10 weeks, participants who wrote about gratitude were more optimistic and felt better about their lives. Surprisingly, they also exercised more and had fewer doctor visits than those who focused on sources of irritation.
Another leading researcher in the field of happiness studies, Dr. Martin E. P. Seligman, a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania, asked 411 people to personally deliver a thank you note to someone they had never properly thanked for their kindness. Participants in this study immediately exhibited a notable increase in their happiness levels. This impact was greater than that from any other show of gratitude, with benefits lasting for an entire month.
A Little Neuroscience
While the science seems to conclude that expressing gratitude is good for our bodies and our minds, the specific question of how gratitude impacts the brain is still being researched. USC researcher Glenn Fox was the first person to study how our brains respond and change when we express gratitude regularly.
Fox found links between gratitude and brain structures also tied to social bonding, reward, and stress relief. This helps explain why people who show gratitude regularly tend to have better relationships, be less stressed, and are generally happier.
Other studies have bolstered Fox’s findings, revealing connections between the tendency to feel grateful and a chemical called oxytocin that promotes social ties and generally contributes to feelings of wellbeing.
Fox emphasizes that the brain is a muscle, and like any muscle it will get better at expressing gratitude, and reap more benefits, if it practices regularly. In short, the more you express gratitude, the more natural it will become and the greater the rewards will be.
Ways to Cultivate Gratitude
Need a little help getting started? Here are some ways to cultivate gratitude on a regular basis.
Write a thank-you note. You will boost your happiness and nurture your relationship with another person by writing a thank-you letter or email expressing your appreciation for them. Make a habit of sending at least one gratitude letter a month.
Make a List. Pick a time every week to sit down and write about what you are most grateful for. As you write, be specific and think about the sensations you felt when something good happened to you. Nothing is too big or too small to go on this list.
Keep a gratitude journal. If lists aren’t your thing, write in a gratitude journal each day or each week. Whatever the frequency, make it a habit to write down the gifts you've received and the positive feelings that resulted. Research shows that documenting gratitude in written form increases positive benefits, largely because you will be forced to articulate your gratitude with words, meaning that you have to think concretely about it.
Thank someone mentally. While writing down what you are grateful for and expressing that appreciation to someone else are probably the most beneficial ways to express gratitude, if you don’t have time for these activities, it may help just to think about someone who has done something nice for you, and mentally thank the individual.
Meditate. Mindfulness meditation involves focusing on the present moment without judgment. With some practice, you should be able to focus on what you are grateful for in the moment, even if it is something as simple as warm sunshine, a purring cat, or a soft blanket.
Here at Jeromeo, we are so appreciative of all our amazing customers!
And while all the best things in life are free, and it costs nothing to show gratitude, if you are in need of a small gift for someone special in your life, our candles, incense, pottery, and soap make great gifts. We also carry a large selection of locally made notecards for all those thank you notes you will soon be writing.
And since we’re best able to take care of others when we take care of ourselves first, consider stopping in to check out our wealth of services and products designed to support you in your wellness journey. Book a massage (we also sell massage gift cards) or peruse our own line of high-quality essential oils. Test out our sleep aid aromatherapy diffusers, or sample our calming CBD products.
We’re so grateful for you! Now get out there and pay it forward.