Why Gratitude is So Important for our Health

· giving thanks goes a long way ·

Date
Jan, 07, 2021

Why would GRATITUDE be so important for our health? There are many benefits of gratitude that extend far beyond a simple ‘thank you’. And even though the social aspect of saying ‘thank you’ goes a long way (something that we can all do), gratitude also provides a massive benefit to our own health and to the systemic structures in our community.

These health benefits, both physical and emotional, can reach into other areas such as economics, and can even have positive political ramifications which is good to know.

Ways to Express Gratitude by Gutidentity

The Social Impact of Gratitude. It benefits us all

The simple act of saying ‘thank you’ can make someone’s day. While we all should be saying thanks for what we receive, going a bit beyond this, can have a massive impact.

By expressing a bit of gratitude in our community, social networks can form, and sometimes, even friendships. It helps break down barriers and can help us develop more compassion for one another. We’re all human at the end of the day and everyone wants to feel they’re appreciated no matter what they do.

A simple smile can go a long way that’s for sure.

Another good way to say a further thank you to someone is to follow up with an email or a phone call to let the other person know we’ve appreciated their help. It only takes a few minutes but it lets the person who helped us know, that their work or support is valued. Take a few moments to flick them a quick email to show you care. It might just make their day, month, or even their year!

The Physical Benefits of Gratitude – yes our body benefits too!

Aside from the social benefits of expressing gratitude, gratitude also has some positive physical side effects. Giving to others, whether it’s a verbal expression of ‘thanks’, something that’s material in nature, or giving our time, can actually make us feel ‘physically’ better.

It just feels ‘humanly’ better when we give to others and feel grateful for what we have. Expressing gratitude can have an effect on our own health by lowering blood pressure and even improving sleep.

Every night before I go to sleep, I do a type of meditation to Binaural Beats where I give thanks for the day that has gone. This helps me feel more grateful for what I have, even if it’s something small. It has a calming effect which then helps me end the day on a good note so to speak.

To find out more about how gratitude can affect the mind and body, check out this article from Positive Psychology HERE.

The Political implications of grateful leaders – whaaaaaat?

A happy world……. Even though politics is usually a very touchy subject that most try to avoid in conversations, if we take a step back, gratitude can even play a massive role here. Gratitude can reduce feelings of frustration and envy so it seems a pretty crucial attribute we would want to have in our governmental structures eh!?!

When we think about it, if leading organisations practised a heavy dose of feeling grateful for what they have, would we see the same suffering going on today? I don’t think so. Being grateful for what we have can improve decision making which is something we all can do better on so it would make sense that we would want to see this in any structure of power.

And if we don’t see it, we need to ask ourselves why. I know I would like to live in a world where leaders were grateful for what they had, were calm, and thought of others.

Imagine the difference it would make to our daily lives and the lives of those around us and beyond. We are all from the same world and walk on the same planet. Shouldn’t we be working together? That would make more sense, wouldn’t it!?!

How Gratitude Benefits Us All Gutidentity Emma Beynon

Surely we can make ‘being kind to others’ one of the things our countries can be grateful for? Kindness spreads. Be a kindness spreader and help those who are less fortunate. Be that person! Be that leader!

A resilient workforce. a healthy workforce. a happy workforce

So that brings us to the economic implications of practising gratitude. If we are grateful for what we have, it can help us develop compassion for others and for those less fortunate. From this compassion, our ability to bounce back when things might get tough, helps us to be more resilient overall.

If we have a more resilient population, this can not only support the workforce, it could improve our feelings of work fulfilment as well. This then helps businesses, which helps the economy, which helps everyone in the long run. No one wants to go to a job they hate, do they? If someone doesn’t like their job that much, you can kinda tell. It’s either expressed outwardly in how a person responds, or inwardly which usually results in some form of stress.

To find out more about how our thoughts affect our bodies, check out the work of Dr Bruce Lipton.

So it makes more sense to practise gratitude just to get ANY sort of benefit it brings.

Gratitude + Compassion = Resilience.

Resilience + Fulfilment = A Better Economy

It will only remain a ‘fairy tale’ for as long as we let it.

Gratitude can help strengthen our community

Gratitude can also help strengthen communities and have us working together rather than operating as separate entities. The simple act of saying thank you to the person serving us can make us, the customer, & the ‘server’ feel good so it’s a ‘win-win’ situation.

Both parties can get a boost of feeling good simply by writing a positive review for a company if we’re happy with the service and expressing thanks to someone who may have gone over and above their duties to help us out. Either way, it’s nice when someone appreciates the work we’re doing and it could end up making someone’s day extra special.

write down our feelings of gratitude – even the small things

It’s very hard to be grateful for something and be angry or sad at the same time. Even the smallest amount of gratitude for something, can make us ‘feel’ better about our lives. This then helps us to do it more thus repeating the cycle of feeling good.

I’ve found that the more I practise being grateful for the things I have, the better I feel, the more I want to help others and so on. You get what I mean here. It’s like the ‘pay it forward’ concept. It feels good to ‘give thanks’ to others without wanting or expecting anything in return.

Start journaling to make gratitude a habit

A good way to start the gratitude practice is to start writing stuff down. This is where ‘journaling’ comes in. If it’s too abstract to just ‘think’ about being grateful, try getting a notepad, diary or even an app, to record the things that you’re grateful for.

Do this even when times are tough. Even for the very small things. Try it and see how you feel afterwards.

Practising Gratitude improves our Well-Being & the Well-Being of those around US

Expressing gratitude can make us feel good, and ‘feeling good’, can improve our overall mental health and well-being. Because it makes us feel good, it can then make us more likely to keep doing it, which then makes us feel good (you get where I’m going with this).

By giving to others, without expecting anything in return, not only sets a good example to others, we’re also giving people hope. Hope that there is a lot of good things happening and that one act of kindness, can create a ripple effect, which then benefits us all.

Be THAT person that starts the ripple!

Anonymous gratitude – give & walk away

Doing anonymous acts of kindness is a great example of giving without expecting anything in return. This act can really alter someone’s day and it could even be something that a person remembers for life. Anonymous acts of gratitude don’t have to be expensive or time-consuming, they can be a simple as a ‘thank you’ card or a nice message on a work colleague’s desk.

Be the change

Sometimes we can be afraid of giving even small amounts thinking that it might not make any difference, but it does. If we don’t need something we can give it away to someone who does. If we brighten someone’s day by expressing our gratitude to them, it ends up brightening ours too! Try it.

It doesn’t matter what situation we find ourselves in, we can always ‘choose” to be grateful.

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Gutidentity - Emma Bailey

Welcome to GutIdentity!  Following the sudden onset of Coeliac Disease and Microscopic Colitis, I attempt to discover if my Gut is in fact…. my first brain.  As strange as that may sound, it’s certainly not as strange as Autoimmune Disease!

This is my journey as I explore research, novel treatment ideas, and the unique makeup of the gut and how this affects my lifestyle.

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