“It is not the external circumstances that change life, but the internal changes that manifest themselves in life.” (Wilma Thomalla)
A very special external circumstance has shaped all of our lives in recent years – the Corona crisis. The result: changes, challenges and restrictions of everyday life. But is there anything that makes it easier for us to deal with all of this? You’ve probably heard of the concept of “gratitude.” But what exactly triggers gratitude in us? We present you with a few good reasons to be grateful and introduce you to methods of practicing gratitude regularly.
Why is gratitude important?
Gratitude is not motivational talk or esoteric wishy-washy. The concept of gratitude is based on scientific evidence. For example, a grateful attitude has long been referred to as an “effective attitude to life”. Numerous studies prove the positive effect of gratitude on the brain, health and life satisfaction: grateful people are more optimistic, happier, more empathetic, fitter and more resilient than others. Here are 5 good reasons to be grateful:
1. Gratitude makes you happy
Robert Emmons, who describes gratitude as “the feeling of wonder, gratitude and celebration of life,” and his colleague Michael McCullough compared two different groups in their experiment. One group should think about what they are grateful for in their lives. The others should just think of something else. The researchers repeated the reflection exercises every week – for ten weeks. The result: The grateful group showed more motivation, greater optimism, even their health scores and immunesysteme improved over the entire period. In short, the grateful thoughts made them happier and healthier.
2. Gratitude helps against sleep disorders
Alex M. Wood, a renowned gratitude researcher at the University of Manchester, found out that grateful people sleep better, deeper and fall asleep more easily. In short, they suffered less from sleep disorders compared to control groups and were more productive overall.
3. Gratitude improves relationships
Psychology professor Sara Algoe had newly in love couples write a diary for two weeks. In the evening, the subjects recorded whether they had done something good for their partner that day, whether their partner had done something good for them and how they felt and how they thought about the partnership. It turned out that the couples not only recognized how good their partner was to them. They became more grateful for the partnership overall and felt more connected to their partner.
4. Gratitude helps fighting depression
Gratitude even has an influence in the therapy of depression and anxiety disorders. In studies at the University of Indiana, researchers had patients write thank-you letters three times a week for 20 minutes. After three months it became clear that the letters of gratitude had activated numerous brain regions. The more often and more regularly the patients internalized the feeling of gratitude, the more sustainably it changed their brains. Gratitude gave them a (new) positive attitude towards life.
5. Gratitude counteracts stress
With gratitude you make yourself more resistant to stress. This has been proven by studies by the University of Pennsylvania. Their – grateful – group was able to reduce the perceived stress and showed themselves to be more resistant to mental illness.
Can I learn gratitude?
We have good news for you: Yes, gratitude can be learned.It can be compared to a muscle that can be trained. The more often and more regularly you practice gratitude, the easier it will be for you and the better you will be at it. You can gradually create a rewarding routine for yourself. But it takes up to 66 days for gratitude to become your habit. So be patient with yourself and take time to celebrate the little moments of happiness in your life. If you can’t be thankful for small things, then it’s very unlikely that you’ll celebrate the big ones. So, take time to appreciate the small successes of the day.
How can I be grateful?
To help you start a grateful life, we’ll introduce you to 3 simple ways to practice gratitude. We hope you find a suitable way for you to be thankful every day.
#1 The 5-Finger Method: A Thank You With Every Finger
Psychologist Elsbeth Martindale developed the 5-finger method: When you’re unhappy or need a motivational kick, just count your fingers and remember beautiful, satisfying, and encouraging things in your life.
For example, it could look like this:
- Thumbs up: Name something you’re proud of. Be aware of your strengths and talents – and be proud of yourself.
- Index finger: Point to something beautiful in nature and discover something in your environment that inspires and excites you and gives you energy.
- Middle finger: Name something good you’ve done for another person. Think about who you could repeat this to.
- Ring finger: Remember a time and a person you love or loved from the bottom of your heart as well as other people for whom you have deep feelings.
- Little finger: Name one thing you are deeply grateful for in your life.
The 5-finger technique is characterized on the one hand by its very catchy nature, on the other hand it can be repeated at any time.
#2 The Gratitude Diary
Another very well-known method for more gratitude in your everyday life is the success or gratitude diary. There are several variants here. But they all have one thing in common: Answering the question “What am I grateful for today?”. The purpose of this exercise is to make you aware of how well you are doing with the help of a positive review of the day and to sharpen your senses for what is worth being grateful for. This has the effect that we will enjoy the relationships and experiences in everyday life more in the future and experience them more consciously. A compliment, a smile, good food, a beautiful sunset … What are you thankful for?
Whether as a morning routine, evening ritual or both – it is recommended to make the gratitude journal your daily companion.
#3 Mindfulness exercises
The concept of mindfulness is all about consciously experiencing the moment – being in the here and now. It is comparable to the so-called “stop-look-go technique”, i.e. pausing and becoming aware of the moment for a little while as well as (beautiful) moments before we rush straight back to the next one. If, for example, you have some idle time during work, allow yourself a three-minute break and consciously look around: the workplace, the desk, the plants in the office or home office – pay special attention to details and take your time to look at them individually, preferably to touch and feel. Follow your spontaneous impulses: What comes to mind? Pay full attention to these thoughts. The main thing is that you let go of everything else in that moment – and become grateful for the good feelings you experience here and now.
Nowadays, science is sure that such gratitude exercises can increase happiness levels by 25 percent and alleviate stress-related illness. If you practice and train gratitude, you are doing yourself and your (mental) health a favour as well as your social environment.
Your task for the day: Write down 3 things you’re grateful for.
Our health fact: If you are regularly grateful for the little things in life, you can do something good for yourself and your health and bring positivity and optimism to yourself.