Taking a moment to reflect on all that we are thankful for is more than just a nice sentiment for Thanksgiving day. The physical and mental benefits extend far beyond a quick acknowledgement shared round a festive table each year.
A study done by UCLA has shown that practicing gratitude a few minutes each day has the power to enhance your mental health, positively impact your perspective on life and improve your overall physical wellbeing.
When we take the time to intentionally think about the things that we have to be grateful for we are actually rewiring the neural connections in our brain that reinforce positive emotions and allow the brain to gravitate towards a new way of thinking. The more we practice thinking about what is good, all that is working for us, and all that we do have, the more natural it becomes to focus on and think those thoughts first.
Thinking about what we are grateful for enhances the production of serotonin and dopamine (the neurotransmitters responsible for our happiness!) while simultaneously regulating the stress hormones that keep us anxious and tense. A constant flow of negative, anxious and fearful thoughts flood our body with cortisol, keep us on edge and depressed, while gratitude has a calming effect on the nervous system, lowering our blood pressure, heart rate and anxiety.
With just a simple intention to be mindful of all that we have to be grateful for, we have the power to reduce depression, relieve stress and intrinsically improve our brain and heart health.
Not only that, but we can strengthen our immune system, better control our cravings, improve our sleep, enhance productivity and boost our mood!
So while this is a great time of year to reflect and bask in all we have to be thankful for, it is even more important for our mental and physical health to make this a habit every single day of the year! Our brain, body and mood will thank us 🙂
