Gratitude

For a few seconds, consider what the term gratitude means to you…

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What is gratitude?

How often on social media do you see influencers post about gratitude? But what does it really mean? Simply it means “Thank You!”

Gratitude has several meanings depending on the context. Collectively, it could be said that gratitude is the appreciation of what is valuable and meaningful to oneself from within and the recognition of one's worth¹,².

Given the current climate (COVID-19 pandemic), society may find themselves not appreciating their current situation. However, it is important to remember that we have a lot to be grateful for even during these challenging times, even a simple “thank you” when buying your groceries is showing gratitude.

Practicing gratitude has been linked with desirable psychological and physical outcomes by demonstrating the good in individuals lives and by allowing individuals to seek the good in things, in relation to self-compassion and self gratitude³.

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The Importance of Gratitude

Gratitude provides us with lots of benefits without us even realising. It can be beneficial to our cognitive function. A study carried out in 32 participants, examined behavioural performance before and after participants receiving a gift from their friends. The results showed that those participants who received the gift at the beginning of the task had an increased performance level compared to those who did not receive a gift until the end of the task⁴. This does not mean that we need a gift before we do the task, we carry out, but it has been proven that a simple gratitude letter to a friend can provide a significant behavioural gratitude increase⁵.

 Positively, gratitude has been shown to improve our mental health. Research conducted in 1,377 participants analysing daily gratitude lists for 14 days concluded that this intervention had positive effects on subjective happiness and life satisfaction and decreased negative effects and depressive symptoms⁶.

Recording daily affirmations can also be a beneficial way to stimulate the brain to achieve a task. It can be said that recording of self-affirmations stimulates the brain to change sedentary behaviours (in relation to a physical activity intervention) ⁷.

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As a whole practicing gratitude can help us improve our mental health by: ⁸,⁹

● Gratitude helps us feel respected.

● Gratitude decreases negative habits, and patterns of thoughts.

● Gratitude can stimulate/ encourage and motivate us.

● Gratitude can help to prevent our concerns and frustration.

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The rise of social media influencers and celebrities promoting the “perfect” body shape is having a serious detrimental impact on how we view ourselves¹⁰.

Online surveys conducted by the Mental Health Foundation alongside YouGov discovered that in 2019, 1 in 5 adults have felt shame in their body image¹¹ - this is not acceptable. We should be focusing on developing healthy relationships with our body.

One study found that expressing body focused gratitude through a short writing exercise provided greater body satisfaction and a more favourable appearance evolution¹².

Overall, practicing gratitude can lead to an increase in body positivity¹³, decrease in body dissatisfaction, reduce dysfunctional eating and depressive symptoms¹⁴ whilst providing a resourceful outlet in helping¹⁵.

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Our Advice

● Every day take some time to write positive affirmations. For example, “I am going too...” or “I will…”

● Add gratitude into your life, such as acts of kindness or by expressing gratitude, for example saying, “thank you.”

● Start a journal - at the end of each day take some time to write down all the things you are grateful for that day.

● Meditation can be a useful strategy to think about things you are grateful for.

● Write an appreciation letter to friends or family telling them how grateful you are for them being part of your life.

● If you are struggling with mental health or body dissatisfaction, reach out to your GP for support. Remember they are still open during the pandemic!

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Resources

1. Books

● The Life Changing Power of Gratitude by Marc Reklau

● The One Minute Gratitude Journal

● The Gratitude Journal for Women: Find Happiness and Peace in 5 minutes a Day by Katheriene Furman

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2. Podcasts

● Gratitude is the hardest thing for people to learn by TJ Nelligan

● Tony Robbins on gratitude - 3 ideas that can change your life

● Where gratitude is actually coming from - Calum McGuigan

3. Instagram

● @gratitude_project

● @gratitude_warrior

● @gratefulness.me

Emily HuntComment