The power of gratitude
Tis the season! The season for appreciation and being thankful. This time of year is important to take stock in what we’re grateful for. Gratitude means “The quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.” It may be hard to think about what to be thankful for especially after the past 18 months and how all our world has changed so significantly. Though it may be difficult to do, cultivating gratitude can have a tremendous impact on our lives. Some proven benefits of gratitude are boosting the immune system and improving mental health. Being thankful allows us to slow down and appreciate what we have and what we need. Even through tough emotions like sadness, anger and grief we can still find ways to be grateful. All of our emotions are allowed to coexist with gratitude as the piece to soothe them while finding a healthy and possibly fulfilling meaning to how we feel.
A study by Berkeley University stated that participants who wrote gratitude letters were able to improve their mental health by using more positive emotion words in their writing. For example, words like hope,amusement, relief, satisfaction, confidence and admiration. When we’re able to write our emotions it allows us to reflect on how we feel and what we can be grateful for.
Below are resources to learn more about gratitude and the power of using positive emotion words.
https://positivepsychology.com/positive-emotions-list-examples-definition-psychology/
How Gratitude Changes You and Your Brain (berkeley.edu)
See Related: Gratitude...or Toxic Positivity?