The Science of Gratitude

My wonderful co-worker Heather Majewski inspired me to take a few minutes out of my day and write this blog. It is the day before Thanksgiving 2021. Undeniably, it has been a tough couple of years. However, this is not a post about reliving those events, instead it is a post about me giving thanks to all of the hustlers, caregivers and warriors out in the world trying to look at the brightside and make today a little better than yesterday.

Gratitude is a powerful thing. My first career path after college was as a mental health practitioner. My focus was addiction and recovery. It was common place to integrate gratitude practices into our clients treatment plans. Because we knew it worked. We could feel the seismic shift in people when they changed the narrative in their life to one of gratitude.

During the darkest times of my own adult life, it has been gratitude and meditation that pulled me through. I have no idea where I would be without my own practice of thanks-giving and thanks-receiving. The ability to retell a story through a different lens is powerful. If we shift our focus, we can shift our world.

If we shift our focus, we can shift our world.

Decades later, we now have peer reviewed studies which show how gratitude truly impacts our neural circuitry. It is critical to understand that there are effective and ineffective gratitude practices. (Hint: it's not about making a list). If you are interested, I highly recommend you spend some time with this particular episode of the Huberman Lab podcast.

If you don't have an hour and 25 mins to listen, I'll summarize. The type of gratitude which changes our world is not about giving something away, it is about what we receive or what we see received. When we focus on the stories of the gratitude we are already familiar with, we can change own biology. Interestingly, we can also leverage the stories of those around us to shift our own mood. Storytelling is potent, powerful magic.

Storytelling is potent, powerful magic.

Below is an actionable, scientifically proven gratitude practice to help us as we dive headlong into this holiday season.

1. Find your own "awe moment": Think about a time when you received authentic "thanks" or gratitude from another person. Or a time when you observed another person receiving or expressing "thanks". This can even been a movie you have watched and know well.

2. Once you have established the story, jot down 3-4 bullet points that serve as reminders of that story. You do not need to retell the story to yourself every time. Next, write about how you felt or the state of the person you are observing, before and after receiving the gratitude. Get specific. Capture any elements that offer emotional weight or tone to the story.

4. At least 3 times a week, re-read the bulleted summary and narrative. Spend a 2-5 minutes just feeling into that experience.

This practice is my gift you. It is so simple, but it is potent. The right story can change your whole world. When life feels too hard. When things get too daunting. Go back to the narrative and spend a few minutes in quiet reflective. It's free to do and you have nothing to lose by trying it out.

My deepest gratitude to all the individuals who have read and shared this post. Together we can do great things.