Why and how to practice gratitude?
SERENITY.
Why practice gratitude?
The society in which we live tends to push us to look at what we do not have, what we lack, rather than what we have. We are also more inclined to look at the past and the future, to rethink the moments when we have not lived up to expectations and to reflect on how to achieve our goals.
Practicing gratitude means focusing on what is positive now and thanking (life, yourself, the Universe, God, others… according to your beliefs and the situation) for what you have and for what happens to you.
Gratitude is a positive emotion; expressing it increases our sense of well-being.
Yes, we go through difficult times, but by getting into the habit of focusing on the small and big positive things that happen every day: a smile, a friend's call, the roof over our heads… we can change our perspective on our life.
Expressing gratitude reduces our tendency to focus on what we do not have, to compare ourselves to others, and thus all the negative feelings that arise from it.
What does science say?
Research in psychology published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology has shown that gratitude improves emotional well-being. Participants in a study who were asked to express their gratitude felt better immediately after the exercise, especially when the gratitude was directed towards another person.
Beyond emotional well-being, expressing gratitude would improve our overall health. According to researchers Stephen M. Yoshimura and Kassandra Berzins, there is indeed a link between the expression of gratitude and psychological and physical well-being. For the researchers, "gratitude is consistently associated with many positive social, psychological, and physical states, such as an increased tendency to help others, optimism, physical exercise, and a reduction in physical problems."
However, a recent study published in March 2020 showed that while expressing gratitude offers many benefits, it does not help, or very little, in treating depression and anxiety.
How to practice gratitude?
For some, it is innate to express gratitude, while for others, it is necessary to make some efforts to put it into practice daily.
The simplest way is to get into the habit of being grateful and expressing it, internally or out loud, every morning or every evening, for example.
Simply get into the habit of practicing positive thinking by noticing every beautiful thing, every lovely moment you experience and acknowledging the well-being it brings you.
When you are going through a tough time, that kind of phase where nothing seems to go as you wish, it is even more interesting to practice gratitude to counterbalance the negative. You can be grateful for your body, your beating heart, your breathing lungs, a family that loves you, friends who are there… There are certainly things for which you can be grateful.
On the other hand, get into the habit of expressing your gratitude towards others, beyond just saying "thank you": express your gratitude to the waiter for the quality of his service and kindness or tell a friend how grateful you are for being there to help you.
Tools to help
A study conducted by the University of Oregon showed that expressing gratitude in a journal has more impact and makes us more altruistic.
You can thus get into the habit of writing down every day, in a dedicated notebook everything you are grateful for.
If you need an external boost, many tools have been created in this sense, from pre-filled notebooks like Vertellis Chapters, to meditations by Deepak Chopra, including the book 3 kifs par jour, by Florence Servan-Schreiber.
