Grow with Gratitude

Posted on March 18, 2021 by Rashmi Priya, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.

We have all probably heard about the power of Gratitude. There is plethora of research studying how Gratitude positively affects our overall well being, health and happiness. It has been referred to as a ‘natural antidepressant’ by Emily Fletcher, the founder of Ziva (a well known meditation training site) and ‘healthiest of all human emotions’ by Zig Ziglar. The effects of gratitude, can be same as that of medication and has been found to be effective for not only healthy human beings but also people suffering from mental health issues.
But what is the science behind gratitude? It has been found, that when we express or receive gratitude, our brain releases dopamine and serotonin, two crucial neurotransmitters responsible to make us feel happy and good. Dopamine and serotonin are also known as the happiness hormones responsible for giving us an instant feeling of happiness and lifting our overall mood.
So practicing gratitude daily can strengthen these neural pathways and create a permanent grateful and positive nature within ourselves.
So what does this suggest? This leads us to a powerful way of creating happiness for ourselves. In order to consciously create happiness, we can be

• be grateful for the things we have in our lives and how they help us
• be grateful for the people we have in our lives and the role they play in enriching our lives
• be grateful to the events/ experiences happening around us and how they help in shaping us as a person.

So what’s the best way of practicing Gratitude? Robert Emmons, who is the world’s leading expert on the science of gratitude has shared some great tips on practicing gratitude the most effective way.

1. Identify the 5 things in life that you are genuinely thankful for.
2. Write it down. Just going through the emotion is not enough.
3. Elaborate in detail about why you are grateful for a particular thing rather than creating a superficial list of many things.
4. Stimulate your gratitude by reflecting on how the life would have felt without that blessing.
5. Savor the surprises/ unexpected events and record them to elicit stronger levels of gratitude.
6. Don’t overdo it. Psychologists like Sonja Lubomirsky suggest that writing occasionally like once or twice a week can be most effective vis a vis writing daily. “we adapt to positive events quickly , especially if we constantly focus on them”, says Emmons.

So gratitude is about paying attention to things in our lives which we otherwise take for granted. How do you plan to practice Gratitude in your day to day life? What aspects of your life are you grateful for? How often do you want to express gratitude for them? Remember, “Happiness does not create gratitude, gratitude creates happiness”. And it is happiness which leads to success.