Six Ways Gratitude Improves Your Health

In the holiday rush, it’s hard to step back and take a moment to smell the roses. I love finding the time to sit back with a cup of tea and feel grateful for friends, family and all of the abundance in my life.

I’ve been doing a spiritual exercise centered on gratitude for many years now. It basically involves an expression of gratitude on a daily basis.

Little did I know that all along, I was also doing things that improve my physical and mental health. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised when these serendipities arise!

Health benefits

Here are some wonderful benefits of cultivating a sense of gratitude:

• It improves heart health: A 1995 study published in the American Journal of Cardiology showed that appreciation and positive emotions regularized the interval between heartbeats, helping lower blood pressure and reducing the risk of sudden cardiac death in patients with heart disease. The same study from the Institute of HeartMath showed that anger had the opposite effects on heart health.
• It boosts your immune system: People who are grateful are also more optimistic, say researchers at the University of Utah, who conducted a study of stressed-out law students. Those who cultivated gratitude and held an optimistic viewpoint on life actually had more immune boosting blood cells than their equally stressed pessimistic colleagues. Another interesting study showed that people with AIDS who practiced gratitude strengthened their immune systems and stayed healthier longer than those who did not.
• It relieves stress: By now, you are probably aware that as many as 90% of visits to the doctors have their roots in stress. Taking those few minutes to be grateful seems to neutralize toxic stress hormones and vastly increase a sense of well-being, say researcher at the University of California at Davis.
• It improves sleep: You are also probably aware of the multitude of health benefits that accompany a good night’s sleep, ranging from reducing the risk of diabetes to lower body weight to improved heart health. Canadian researchers found that people who spent 15 minutes journaling on gratitude before bed fell asleep faster and stayed asleep longer.
• It reduces depression: The same University of California at Davis research team found that cultivating gratitude greatly increased feelings of happiness and well-being and reduced depression.
• It reduces aggression: A University of Kentucky study in 2012 showed that people who practice gratitude are more sensitive, kinder and more empathetic and less likely to retaliate against others, even when they feel they are being attacked.

How to cultivate gratitude

It’s actually quite simple.

Right before sleeping, I list –out loud—five things for which I am grateful that day. I try not to repeat or have them become rote—i.e. “I’m grateful for my home, my food and my family.”

Rather I might say, “I grateful that my husband and I were able to clean the house today and brush the dogs, which made us all happy,” and “I’m grateful for the Italian bread I made today,” and “I’m grateful for the walk with my husband and the warmer weather today.”

I personally believe that saying them out loud gives the words strength and power.

You can also write them in a journal and re-read them from time to time.