The Health Benefits of Gratitude

• express more positive emotions rather than negative ones
• have a more optimistic view of life versus a pessimistic one
• have more compassion and empathy for others
• feel less stressed and have a calmer mind
• be more present and in the moment
• improve sleep and energy
• maintain a strong immune system with fewer episodes of illness
• feel an overall sense of social connectedness
• improve spiritual awareness and connection to Nature

Wiseman Health Take-Home Advice

With so much evidence supporting the health benefits of gratitude, here are a few steps to help you cultivate gratitude in your own life:

• Quiet the mind: The foundation of manifesting gratitude is a quiet, less busy mind. Meditation and mindfulness techniques are great ways to calm the mind and allow your mind to be less busy with thought and more focused on the moment. Here are some great apps that can help guide, teach, and explore the practice of meditation: Waking Up, Calm, and Headspace. Remember, meditation and mindfulness practice can be done almost anywhere at any time. Continue to practice, and if you find yourself losing touch with this practice due to life’s complications, simply begin again. Often in the early stages of meditation you may feel like you aren’t making progress, but all the while you actually are. It takes time to manifest because you are not only changing your conscious awareness but also your deeper subconscious roots, too.
• Practice gratitude internally: When your mind is calm and quiet, begin by thinking about the people, the things, and the circumstances in your life that truly matter to you. Be mindful of how and why they are meaningful to you. Remind yourself that there is always something to be thankful for every day. Incorporating “gratitude practice” into your daily or weekly meditation routine is a great way to keep this skill honed. Along with general meditation and mindfulness, here are a couple of specific practice techniques for gratitude:
  • Practice Negative Visualization: This is a Stoic technique embedded in ancient Roman philosophy. While the very notion of thinking of something negative or uncomfortable may seem counterintuitive to gratitude, the very practice of Negative Visualization is a powerful technique of turning pessimism into optimism and ultimately into gratitude. This contemplation can be done anytime and involves thinking and noting all the things that are of great importance to you (e.g., family and loved ones, pets, personal health, friendships, job, hobbies, etc.) and how you would feel if these ended and were taken away from you. This short practice is extremely powerful. It paradoxically helps you to have a greater appreciation for what has meaning in your life and innately fosters gratitude for the important things in your life.
  • The “Last Time” Meditation Technique: This is another Roman Stoic mindfulness technique that is similar to Negative Visualization. When we practice the “Last Time” meditation technique, we are simply being mindful that everything we do will have a “last time,” which helps us avoid taking things for granted. We will all have a last hug, a last drink of water, a last swim, a last movie, a last laugh, etc. Most of us don’t know when these last times will happen but contemplating this reality is good for the soul and engenders thankfulness and gratitude. Both negative visualization and last-time thinking can easily be incorporated into any daily or weekly meditation routine.
• Put gratitude into action externally: As you improve your internal dialogue with gratitude, make it a point to express this gratitude to the world around you because “feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a Christmas present and not giving it.” Gratitude is meant to be shared, and it has the power of compounded growth in that it can spread fast as other people naturally manifest their own gratitude when gratitude is expressed to them. There are so many ways to manifest this. Tell your friends or loved ones that you love them. Tell the people you work with how much you appreciate them. Compliment a stranger. Send a text message, call, or write a note or letter to express your gratitude. And it’s not just the people in our lives we should show gratitude but everything around us including animals and our natural environment — the trees, streams, flowers, etc. Show your appreciation by picking up a piece of trash next time you see one, plant and cultivate gardens and green spaces if possible, or simply stop and give gratitude to the view around you outside. Remember, everything is one and the energy of gratitude can be expressed through all of Nature.
• Make it routine and consistent: Never underestimate the power of consistent daily gratitude. The antidote to fear and anxiety is love, and gratitude is a manifestation of love, and there is no better way than to build on a foundation of gratitude, each day. If helpful, keep a running gratitude list or even a journal of the “last time” moments or thoughts, on your phone or someplace easily accessible to you such as your refrigerator. Having these words or lists in a place where others can see them will perpetuate its growth. When something good happens, add it to the list. Don’t forget simple expressions of gratitude like saying “thank you,” giving a hug, or even listening to people instead of talking. Listening and showing people you understand and care about what they are saying is a very powerful, yet subtle, form of gratitude. Cultivating gratitude takes consistent practice and a conscious effort. It has to be repeated and practiced until it becomes part of how you interact with the world. Begin with the small daily gratitude exercises and build up to the ones that take more time. Soon, gratitude will become a natural daily expression of who you already are on the inside, and one that helps you and those around you become healthier and happier!

“Wear gratitude like a cloak, and it will feed every corner of your life.” – Rumi

Editor’s Note: This content was created by our Wiseman Health content and writing team, without the influence of artificial intelligence engines. Our goal is to be your trusted source for natural health and medical information. This article was originally published on December 21, 2016 and has since been updated.