Gratitude, why you should practice it.

With Thanksgiving coming up, I thought this would be the perfect month to have a focus on gratitude as a practice.  Before we dive into the how, let’s touch a bit on the why.As a general rule, people who practice or focus on gratitude are happier, more satisfied with their lives, less materialistic, less likely to suffer from burnout.

Research has shown many benefits from a wellness standpoint including but not limited to:

• Better physical health

• Better psychological health

• Increased happiness

• Increased life satisfaction

• Decreased materialism

• Give more time and money to charity

• Have a stronger bond with the local community

• Have 10% fewer stress related illness

• Have 12% lower blood pressure 

• Have more satisfying relationships with others

Interestingly, a study of heart failure patients who kept a gratitude journal for eight weeks experienced better sleep, less fatigue, and lower levels of cellular inflammation.

When it comes to children and adolescents, studies have shown that grateful adolescents are more interested in school lives, are more kind, helpful, and socially integrated, are less likely to start smoking, are 20% more likely to get higher grades, and get into fewer fights. 

Now that you have a reason why, next week we’ll dive into the how of gratitude practice.

https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/six_habits_of_highly_grateful_people

https://ggsc.berkeley.edu/images/uploads/GGSC-JTF_White_Paper-Gratitude-FINAL.pdf