Gratitude and mindfulness

Mindfulness & Gratitude: Why and How They Should Pair

Mindfulness & Gratitude: Why and How They Should Pair | Psych Central

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Medically reviewed by Joslyn Jelinek, LCSW — By Hilary I. Lebow — Updated on July 11, 2021

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If you’re stuck in a rut, gratitude and mindfulness may help you get more out of life and navigate difficult challenges.

Let’s face it: being a human is hard work. Between a long to-do list, endless notifications, and worries about the past and future, it’s not uncommon for days to fly by on autopilot. Then, when a curveball hits, life becomes even more overwhelming.

You’ve heard that gratitude and mindfulness may help, but perhaps you’re unsure where to start. And just how is gratitude related to mindfulness, anyway?

Gratitude allows you to notice your blessings and create balance from life’s difficulties. Mindfulness helps you handle tough times with grace, acceptance, and surrender. Together, these practices nurture what Buddhists call the “Higher Self” within you.

“Men are disturbed not by things, but by the view which they take of them. ”
— Philosopher Epictus

Put simply, gratitude is the intentional practice of noticing the good in your life. It relates to anything that makes you feel grateful, fortunate, or blessed.

Some examples include:

community
faith
family
friends
health
home
a job
your partner
pets
personal belongings
sentimental items

The power of gratitude

Practicing gratitude may improve your overall quality of life in a number of ways.

Some of these include:

better mood
improved sleep
reduced inflammation
increased self-esteem
reduced heart rate
lowered stress levels
enhanced empathy
lower levels of aggression
improved zest for life

The limitations of gratitude

While gratitude may help you keep a balanced perspective about life — especially when things are difficult or falling apart — it’s not a cure-all.

Gratitude can’t take away the sting of life’s challenges, like job loss, heartbreak, or the death of a loved one. Painful emotions must be felt. As they say: You must feel it to heal it.

While it may be tempting to try and cover up pain through gratitude, this may lead to toxic positivity, which is a denial that negative events are taking place. Things are not “light and love” all the time — and that’s OK. Ups and downs are part of life.

Research shows that mindfulness-based interventions can have a positive impact on depression, pain, smoking, and addiction, among other conditions.

Mindfulness means being fully aware of the present moment and seeing your reality from a place of nonjudgment, if possible. It includes:

Noticing and accepting your thoughts, feelings, actions, and reactions.
Being aware of your environment or surroundings.
Directing your thoughts away from the past and future.
Rooting down into the “here and now. ”

Snow globe analogy

To understand why mindfulness is so important, it may be useful to consider the snow globe analogy. Every once in a while, someone or something will come over and shake things up. When that happens, you have two main choices:

Be the snow
Be the scene

When you’re the snow inside the snow globe, you’re at the whim of the event. Naturally, you swirl around in the chaos, judging yourself for getting swept up. You agonize over why this happened (past) or if this will happen again (future), which adds more layers of pain to the experience.

When you’re the scene inside the snow globe, you stand immutable in the chaos of the snow swirling around, while remaining fixed in place (present). Though the elements may brush you, maybe settle on you for a spell, you can accept it and know that it will soon pass. The chaos cannot come “indoors.”

Mindful awareness isn’t about creating a perfect life to override pain. Instead, it’s about managing your response to an imperfect life and, in that way, releasing the stronghold of suffering.

When you combine gratitude and mindfulness, it allows you to acknowledge the blessings in your everyday life and sit with this moment, right now.

During hard times, a gratitude and mindfulness practice may help keep your perspective balanced. For example, if you lose your job, it can help you:

be nonjudgmental about the pain you feel
find positive takeaways from the experience
prevent yourself from ruminating about what happened
protect yourself from getting overwhelmed about what’s to come

With practice, it may become easier to gain more control over your mindset. If you can, try to work on it a little bit each day, one exercise at a time.

Mindfulness and gratitude exercises

There are many ways to become more sensitive to the experience of gratitude and mindfulness. You may try incorporating some of these ideas:

Gratitude alarm: Set a daily alarm. When it goes off, go through your senses (what you see, smell, taste, touch, and hear) then think of three things you’re grateful for.
Gratitude journal: Start each entry by noticing where you are and how you feel. Next, list 3 to 10 things you feel grateful for.
Mindfulness meditation: Find a guided meditation through one of the many available apps, like Insight Timer.
Gratitude jar: Decorate a mason jar and fill it with a few blessings each morning or evening. During a hard day, empty the jar and read through your notes.
Gratitude ritual: At the same time each day, such as after dinner, go back and forth with a friend or family member, each listing off things you’re grateful for.

5-minute gratitude meditation

You could also test out this 5-minute gratitude meditation and see if it works for you:

Move to a calm, quiet space in your home. Turn on some calming meditation music.
Take a comfortable seated position. Relax your brow, draw your shoulders down away from your ears, loosen your jaw, and relax your gaze or close your eyes. Take 5–10 deep breaths.
You’ll then think of and see clearly in your mind specific things for which you’re grateful. Each time, let gratitude fill your heart and say thank you:
- Someone. Notice their facial expression (perhaps smiling at you). Observe what they’re wearing. Look at their mannerisms.
- A place. Listen to how it sounds. Imagine how it would smell.
- A body part. Draw your attention to that point. Think about what it allows you to do. Send a deep breath to that space.
- A meal. See it clearly in your mind. Imagine how it would smell and taste.
- An animal. See them greeting you. Notice what color they are. Observe how they play with you.
As you’re ready to conclude, wiggle your fingers and toes. Stretch your arms above your head, then bring your hands together in front of your heart, in a prayer pose. You have completed your practice.

Gratitude and mindfulness are both powerful on their own. Combined, they may help you enjoy the present moment and navigate life’s challenges as they arise.

For a more in-depth look, gratitude researcher Robert Emmons has a video on the power of gratitude.

There are also a few Ted Talks you might enjoy:

Kiss Your Brain: The Science of Gratitude
Want to Be Happy? Be Grateful
All It Takes Is 10 Mindful Minutes

With a few minutes of gratitude and mindfulness each day, you can set yourself up for the best perspective possible.

Last medically reviewed on July 4, 2021

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Medically reviewed by Joslyn Jelinek, LCSW — By Hilary I. Lebow — Updated on July 11, 2021

How to Practice Gratitude - Mindful

How to Practice Gratitude
Daily Practices
Starting a Journal
Gratitude and the Brain
Science of Gratitude

Practicing gratitude can be a game-changer: it has far reaching effects, from improving our mental health to boosting our relationships with others. Living your life with gratitude helps you notice the little wins—like the bus showing up right on time, a stranger holding the door for you, or the sun shining through your window when you wake up in the morning. Each of these small moments strings together to create a web of well-being that, over time, strengthens your ability to notice the good.

Building your capacity for gratitude isn’t difficult. It just takes practice. The more you can bring your attention to that which you feel grateful for, the more you’ll notice to feel grateful for!

Start by observing. Notice the thank yous you say. Just how much of a habitual response is it? Is it a hasty aside, an afterthought? How are you feeling when you express thanks in small transactions? Stressed, uptight, a little absent-minded? Do a quick scan of your body—are you already physically moving on to your next interaction?
Pick one interaction a day. When your instinct to say “thanks” arises, stop for a moment and take note. Can you name what you feel grateful for, even beyond the gesture that’s been extended? Then say thank you.

How Do I Practice Gratitude?

Robert Emmons, psychology professor and gratitude researcher at the University of California, Davis, explains that there are two key components of practicing gratitude:

We affirm the good things we’ve received
We acknowledge the role other people play in providing our lives with goodness

Most of us know it’s important to express thanks to the people who help us, or silently acknowledge the things we are grateful for in life. Research has linked gratitude with a wide range of benefits, including strengthening your immune system and improving sleep patterns, feeling optimistic and experiencing more joy and pleasure, being more helpful and generous, and feeling less lonely and isolated.

Interested in reaping some of these benefits? Get started with a gratitude practice.

Practicing Daily Gratitude

10 Ways to Practice Daily Gratitude

As Jon Kabat-Zinn says, “The little things? The little moments? They aren’t little. ” Saying thank you, holding the door for someone, these little moments can change the tone of your whole day.

One of the most powerful ways to rewire your brain for more joy and less stress is to focus on gratitude. Here are 10 simple ways to become more grateful:

Keep a Gratitude Journal. Establish a daily practice in which you remind yourself of the gifts, grace, benefits, and good things you enjoy. Recalling moments of gratitude associated with ordinary events, your personal attributes, or valued people in your life gives you the potential to interweave a sustainable theme of gratefulness into your life.
Remember the Bad. To be grateful in your current state, it is helpful to remember the hard times that you once experienced. When you remember how difficult life used to be and how far you have come, you set up an explicit contrast in your mind, and this contrast is fertile ground for gratefulness.
Ask Yourself Three Questions. Meditate on your relationships with parents, friends, siblings, work associates, children, and partners using these three questions: “What have I received from __?”, “What have I given to __?”, and “What troubles and difficulty have I caused?”
Share Your Gratitude with Others. Research has found that expressing gratitude can strengthen relationships. So the next time your partner, friend or family member does something you appreciate, be sure to let them know.
Come to Your Senses. Through our senses—the ability to touch, see, smell, taste, and hear—we gain an appreciation of what it means to be human and of what an incredible miracle it is to be alive. Seen through the lens of gratitude, the human body is not only a miraculous construction, but also a gift.
Use Visual Reminders. Because the two primary obstacles to gratefulness are forgetfulness and a lack of mindful awareness, visual reminders can serve as cues to trigger thoughts of gratitude. Often times, the best visual reminders are other people.
Make a Vow to Practice Gratitude. Research shows that making an oath to perform a behavior increases the likelihood that the action will be executed. Therefore, write your own gratitude vow, which could be as simple as “I vow to count my blessings each day,” and post it somewhere where you will be reminded of it every day.
Watch Your Language. Grateful people have a particular linguistic style that uses the language of gifts, givers, blessings, blessed, fortune, fortunate, and abundance. In gratitude, you should not focus on how inherently good you are, but rather on the inherently good things that others have done on your behalf.
Go Through the Motions. Grateful motions include smiling, saying thank you, and writing letters of gratitude. By “going through grateful motions,” you’ll trigger the emotion of gratitude more often.
Think Outside the Box. If you want to make the most out of opportunities to flex your gratitude muscles, you must look creatively for new situations and circumstances in which to feel grateful. Please share the creative ways you’ve found to help you practice gratitude.

Try This 5-Minute Gratitude Meditation

Gratitude Practice: Savor The Moment—Elaine Smookler

5:00

Savor the good. On days when gratitude feels difficult to find, tune into your senses. This meditation invites you to cultivate thankfulness by slowing down and noticing what you can see, hear, touch, smell, and taste. There doesn’t have to be anything special going on in order to practice gratitude—maybe it’s as simple as feeling grateful for your morning coffee, or for a good book. Explore this simple practice to appreciate the little things.
Use the breath to anchor yourself in the present moment. Our minds are always so easily pulled to busyness. Bring particular attention to feeling the breath, or something in the body, as you bring your shoulders down and orient your attention toward gratitude.
Next, bring to mind a sight you are grateful for. Move through your senses, and find one thing to start with that you appreciate that comes to you from the world of sight, if you have this available. It could be a color…a shadow…a shape…a movement. Remember, it will never be like this again. What do you see right now, and can you feel grateful that you get to see this, whatever it is?
Now, shift to a scent you appreciate. As you continue to work with your senses, now take time to tune in with appreciation to an aroma. What do you notice? What about that glorious or interesting or subtle smell is making you smile? It could be gratitude for something familiar: a scent that brings comfort, upliftment; or maybe it’s something you’ve never smelled before, and it just piques your curiosity, ignites you, enlivens you.
Moving on, tune into any sounds around you. Allowing the world of smell to gently recede into the background, on an in-breath, shift your attention to your ears and the world of sound. Maybe notice what it feels like to really listen. How many sounds can you notice, and can you feel grateful that you’re able to experience sound, if you are? What can you notice about these sounds—far away? close? Perhaps you could play a piece of music that brings you joy, and have gratitude that it’s so available? Or maybe it’s the sound of children laughing, the sound of loved ones breathing, the sound of the beating of your own heart.
The world of touch and texture beckons us next. We find so much to be grateful for in touch! If there’s someone near who you can hug or who can hug you, notice how this makes you feel filled with gratitude for the joy of human contact. Or perhaps you have a beautiful pet that you can stroke and cuddle, or some lovely material with a texture that feels warm to the touch, soft, evocative. Let your senses ignite your gratitude! There’s so much to be appreciative of.
Shift to noticing and appreciating objects around you. Now take a moment to look around: Look down, look up, and from side to side. Appreciate how much effort must have gone into anything at all you own or use. Someone conceived of the need and many people worked on the details of the design. Much care even went into the packaging to deliver your item to you safely. What do you feel when you let yourself be grateful that all that talent went into making your life a little easier?
As you end this practice, carry this attitude of gratitude with you. One last little grateful tip: Why not offer your thanks to each person who does anything at all for you today? Even if it is their job to help you? When you’re grateful, when you let your heart open up and be filled with appreciation, notice how being grateful makes you feel.
Close with gratitude. I’m so grateful that you tuned in to this gratitude practice, and I appreciate your time, your effort, and your energy to be present, awake, and alive to your precious life. Have a beautiful day.

Daily Gratitude Journaling

The practice of writing in a journal, a diary, or just scribbling notes to ourselves on pieces of paper, has both a rich history and present-day appeal. The famous 20th-century novelist and diarist Anaïs Nin believed writing serves “to heighten our own awareness of life…to taste life twice, in the moment, and in retrospection.” She was on to something. Writing has a remarkable way of shifting our awareness—keeping a journal can be an accessible way to experience that shift.

As a hobby, journaling is inexpensive, portable, and can brighten our quality of awareness, making sense of our thoughts, feelings, perspectives, our own developing story line as it happens. It gives us a chance to slow down, breathe, turn to a fresh page, and “get real” about what we’re thinking and feeling—also referred to, particularly in therapeutic settings, as expressive writing. Although we refer here to writing, journaling is not only about putting words on paper. Visual journals filled with sketches, doodles, or any form of art you desire, vastly expand the options and the accessibility of journaling practice. You don’t have to erase your doodles, correct your grammar, or worry about garnering Likes and emojis from a virtual fan club. In other words, expressive journaling is expressing yourself, for yourself.

How to Do It

There’s no wrong way to keep a gratitude journal, but here are some general ideas as you get started.

Write down up to five things for which you feel grateful. The physical record is important—don’t just do this exercise in your head. The things you list can be relatively small in importance (“The tasty sandwich I had for lunch today.”) or relatively large (“My sister gave birth to a healthy baby boy.”). The goal of the exercise is to remember a good event, experience, person, or thing in your life—then enjoy the good emotions that come with it.

9 Gratitude Writing Tips

As you write, here are nine important tips:

1. Be as specific as possible—specificity is key to fostering gratitude. “I’m grateful that my co-workers brought me soup when I was sick on Tuesday” will be more effective than “I’m grateful for my co-workers.”

2. Go for depth over breadth. Elaborating in detail about a particular person or thing for which you’re grateful carries more benefits than a superficial list of many things.

3. Get personal. Focusing on people to whom you are grateful has more of an impact than focusing on things for which you are grateful.

4. Try subtraction, not just addition. Consider what your life would be like without certain people or things, rather than just tallying up all the good stuff. Be grateful for the negative outcomes you avoided, escaped, prevented, or turned into something positive—try not to take that good fortune for granted.

5. See good things as “gifts.” Thinking of the good things in your life as gifts guards against taking them for granted. Try to relish and savor the gifts you’ve received.

6. Savor surprises. Try to record events that were unexpected or surprising, as these tend to elicit stronger levels of gratitude.

7. Revise if you repeat. Writing about some of the same people and things is OK, but zero in on a different aspect in detail.

8. Write regularly. Whether you write every other day or once a week, commit to a regular time to journal, then honor that commitment. But…

9. Don’t overdo it. Evidence suggests writing occasionally (1-3 times per week) is more beneficial than daily journaling. That might be because we adapt to positive events and can soon become numb to them—that’s why it helps to savor surprises.

Gratitude and the Brain

4 Ways to Train Your Brain to Practice More Gratitude

1. Take time to notice what’s around you

Practicing mindfulness helps you tune in to the present moment. It is possible that if you are a grateful person, you are more mindful of others’ gestures. The more often you tune into your awareness, the greater the chances you will notice all the good that’s around you to feel gratitude for, which can then bring satisfaction and happiness. Our ability to pick up on the beauty of nature, kindness from one another, the chance to make a living via a job, all require our ability to be cognizant of ourselves and our surroundings. Being mindful of help in the kitchen, or the color of the sky allows us to generate gratitude by simply noticing them.

2. Practice gratitude for the little things

We often remember to be grateful for big events, like graduating from university or getting married, but it can be more difficult to feel grateful for the small things we do every day. Reminding yourself that eating a meal, for example, is in itself special can be very powerful. Your immediate awareness of the food in front of you, combining flavors while removing hunger, is a great way to enjoy gratitude as often as you eat! Another example is feeling grateful in the morning for being able to comfortably sleep at night. We gain comfort, satisfaction and peace by practicing mindfulness and gratitude in this repeated fashion.

3. Share your gratitude for your loved ones

Most of us are a little bit guilty of taking our loved ones for granted. The next time you notice a kind act by a loved one, why not show gratitude by simply saying ‘thank you’ , or giving a hug? We ought to show appreciation and not let kind acts go unnoticed. Training yourself to show your gratefulness for loved ones can strengthen your relationships with others.

4. Spread gratitude via your social media platforms

Social media can feel so negative at times, but using it to share your gratitude can help create a more positive online atmosphere. For example, share an uplifting moment from a recent event or a lesson you learned from a book you read, or a photo of a place near you that you’re grateful for. Spreading good, and in a unique and uplifting way, is one way we each can do our part in this digital age to remind each other that we have a lot to be grateful for. Let us each inspire one another in this way.

Training our minds to practice gratitude more often is possible if we are mindful of ourselves, each other and our environment. Let us widen our circle of appreciation. Please share your ideas for reminding yourself to be grateful.

3 Ways Gratitude Benefits Our Brains

It can help relieve stress and pain. The regions associated with gratitude are part of the neural networks that light up when we socialize and experience pleasure. These regions are also heavily connected to the parts of the brain that control basic emotion regulation, such as heart rate and arousal levels, and are associated with stress relief and thus pain reduction. Feeling grateful and recognizing help from others creates a more relaxed body state and allows the subsequent benefits of lowered stress to wash over us. (We recently published a scientific paper elaborating on these ideas.)
It can improve our health over time. They are also closely linked to the brain’s “mu opioid” networks, which are activated during close interpersonal touch and relief from pain—and may have evolved out of the need for grooming one another for parasites. In other words, our data suggest that because gratitude relies on the brain networks associated with social bonding and stress relief, this may explain in part how grateful feelings lead to health benefits over time.

It can help those with depression. Perhaps even more encouraging, researcher Prathik Kini and colleagues at Indiana University performed a subsequent study examining how practicing gratitude can alter brain function in depressed individuals. They found evidence that gratitude may induce structural changes in the very same parts of the brain that we found active in our experiment. Such a result, in complement to our own, tells a story of how the mental practice of gratitude may even be able to change and re-wire the brain.

The Science of Gratitude

Gratitude offers us a way of embracing all that makes our lives what they are. More than just a happy feeling for the parts of our lives currently going our way, gratitude encompasses the willingness to expand our attention so that we perceive more of the goodness we are always receiving.

In the past two decades, a growing body of evidence in the field of social science has found that gratitude has measurable benefits for just about every area of our lives. Gratitude appears to contribute substantially to individual well-being and physical health. So much so that the Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley—a leader in research on the science of social and emotional well-being—describes gratitude as the “social glue” key to building and nurturing strong relationships.

Robert Emmons, professor of psychology at the University of California, Davis, and one of the world’s leading experts on the science of gratitude, defines gratitude as having two parts. The first is an affirmation of goodness: People can learn to wake up to the good around them and notice the gifts they have received. The second part of gratitude is recognizing that the source of this goodness rests outside of oneself—that we receive these gifts from other people, and sometimes from a higher power, fate, or the natural world. In other words, gratitude helps people realize that they wouldn’t be where they are without the help of others.

A Brain Built On Gratitude

Gratitude is more than just a momentary good feeling. Scientists who have studied written gratitude interventions, such as gratitude letters or journals, have found benefits for an individual’s mental health and well-being. Gratitude practices also appear to help you feel more satisfied in life and can boost your self-esteem, according to peer-reviewed research.

The Science: Feel Happier

In one study involving nearly 300 adults seeking counseling services at a university, one randomized group wrote a gratitude letter each week for three weeks. The gratitude group reported significantly better mental health (compared to the control group) at follow-up, 12 weeks after the last writing exercise. Another type of written gratitude practice is counting blessings, or “Three Good Things.”A study of this practice found that people who wrote down three things that had gone well in their day and identified the causes of those good things were significantly happier and less depressed, even six months after the study ended.

How It Works: Strengthen Positive Recall

How exactly do these practices work to improve our mental well-being?

In general, people are more cognitively aware of their “headwinds” (or barriers they face) than “tailwinds” (benefits they receive). By paying more attention to our tailwinds, studies have shown that we can accentuate feelings of happiness, optimism, and positive emotion.

“Strengthening your positive recall bias makes it easier to see the good things around you even when times are dark,” says Nancy Davis Kho, author of the book The Thank-You Project: Cultivating Happiness One Letter of Gratitude at a Time. Nancy set a lofty goal of writing 50 thank-you letters to people in her life and found that the practice improved her ability to weather some of life’s bigger challenges.

At first, Nancy found it difficult to come up with a list of 50 people. After she got started on the letters, the practice naturally boosted positive emotion and she was able to extend her gratitude well beyond her family and friends. Nancy encourages those writing gratitude letters to find “the creative people whose work carries you beyond yourself, whose vision helps you clarify your own, whose talent and hard work have combined to create a body of work that brings you simple joy.”

Why Practice: Deepen Resilience

Enduring gratitude is not just about happiness and positivity; it doesn’t require you to ignore or stifle negative emotions. In the book The Gratitude Project: How the Science of Thankfulness Can Rewire Our Brains for Resilience, Optimism, and the Greater Good, Robert Emmons writes that “practicing gratitude magnifies positive feelings more than it reduces negative feelings. ” Gratitude helps you see the bigger picture and become more resilient in the face of adversity.

Nourish a Grateful Body

When digging into the science of gratitude, we begin to see there are more dimensions to this emotion than meet the eye. In the scientific literature, gratitude is studied in several different ways:

Trait gratitude, which refers to whether people have a natu- rally grateful personality. Gratitude as a mood, which tracks daily fluctuations in gratitude.
Gratitude as an emotion, which describes a passing feeling of gratitude (when receiving a thank-you letter, for example).

The “practice” of gratitude and the interventions that scientists use in their studies are activities designed to boost gratitude as a mood or emotion.

The Science: Boost Immunity and Heart Health

Research published in the last decade has shown that grateful people (those who have “trait gratitude”) have fewer common health complaints, such as headaches, digestion issues, respiratory infections, runny noses, dizziness, and sleep problems. It appears that practicing gratitude could also help to alleviate those pesky health problems. In one study, a group of college students who wrote about things they were grateful for once per week for 10 weeks reported fewer physical symptoms (such as headaches, shortness of breath, sore muscles, and nausea) compared to two other control groups.

How It Works: Calm the Nervous System

“Physiological changes associated with gratitude are typically a reduction in blood pressure and increase
in vagal tone, which is taken as an index of increased parasympathetic influence on the peripheral nervous system,” says Dr. Emiliana Simon- Thomas, Science Director at the Greater Good Science Center. The parasympathetic nervous system (the part of the nervous system that allows our body to “rest and digest”) can help you conserve energy by slowing the heart rate, stimulating digestion, and contributing to overall relaxation.

This soothing of the nervous system may be one mechanism by which gratitude works to calm the body. A study of heart-failure patients who were randomly assigned to either an eight-week gratitude-journaling group or a treatment-as-usual group found that patients in the gratitude group showed more parasympathetic heart-rate variability, which is a sign of better heart health.

Why Practice: Make Healthier Choices

Strange as it may seem, gratitude can also encourage us to fuel our bodies with nourishing foods. Research shows grateful people report better physical health because they tend to engage in healthy activities such as focusing on nutrition. “We have found that getting people to express gratitude could help them work toward healthier eating behaviors, like more fruits and vegetables and less junk food,” says Lisa Walsh, PhD, a postdoctoral research associate in social/personality psychology at University of California, Los Angeles, whose graduate studies included research with Sonja Lyubomirsky’s Positive Activities and Well-Being (PAW) Laboratory at the University of California, Riverside. In one of the PAW lab’s studies, high school students preselected a healthy eating goal and were asked to either write weekly gratitude letters or list their daily activities. Teens who expressed gratitude reported healthier eating behavior over time compared to those who just listed their activities. Other studies of people’s physical health outcomes have found that gratitude journaling can lead to better-quality sleep and lowered blood pressure.

Thankful to Those We Love

In addition to giving individual benefits, gratitude may also help to strengthen ties with friends, loved ones, and those in our wider communities. The find-remind-bind theory, first proposed by psychologist Sara Algoe—an associate professor at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill—suggests that gratitude can help people identify good candidates for a new relationship (find), appreciate existing relationships (remind), and motivate people to maintain or invest in these relationships (bind). As Sara writes in a 2012 paper on her theory, “Gratitude starts inside one individual and its effects spread to a dyadic relationship and perhaps throughout a social network. ”

The Science: Stronger Connections

“Social connection is likely key to well-being,” says Lisa Walsh. She explains that gratitude might not be an emotion that just makes people feel good; it appears to have social implications by motivating individuals to improve themselves. In an upcoming study from the PAW Laboratory at UC-Riverside, high school students who expressed gratitude had a mixed experience—they felt “elevated” (a positive emotion) and indebted. Immediately after writing their gratitude letters, the students also felt motivated to improve themselves.

Find-remind-bind theory suggests that expressing gratitude may prompt individuals to pay back the kindness they have received, and can also motivate a person to make decisions that will strengthen their relationships. Gratitude may increase a person’s desire to spend more time with someone, and it encourages prosocial behaviors.

How It Works: Better Communication

Gratitude also plays an important role in maintaining romantic relationships, acting as a “booster shot” to remind us why our partners are valuable and worth holding onto. By practicing gratitude, couples can initiate a cycle of generosity—one partner’s gratitude inspires the other to act in a way that reaffirms their commitment. One study found that receiving a thoughtful gesture from a partner was followed by increased feelings of gratitude and indebtedness. Experiencing gratitude from these acts of kindness led both partners to feel more connected and satisfied with their relationship the next day.

While many studies have examined the effects of writing gratitude, all the ways we communicate—letters, conversation, and social media—are avenues for expressing gratitude. Gratitude may also open the door to healthier communication styles within a relationship. Since the practice leads to more positive perceptions of our partners, friends, or family (and likely, greater trust), we may feel more comfortable talking through disagreements. In one study, participants who expressed gratitude toward a romantic partner or close friend reported greater ease when voicing relationship concerns in the future.

Why Practice: It’s Better Together

“Gratitude has made our family closer,” says Randi Joy, a chiropractor and life coach living in Ottawa. She’s been practicing gratitude with her family for about five years. “When we talk about our gratefulness and what we’re grateful for…we have a better connection,” she says. Whether it’s a gratitude walk where they discuss what they’re grateful for, or a list of their “gratefuls” at the dinner table, Randi’s family takes every opportunity to practice together.

Whether you hope to boost your mood and mental health, protect your physical health, or improve your personal relationships, a rich body of research in the field of social sciences has found that gratitude offers significant benefits. The takeaway: Cultivating gratitude can open the door to a different perspective-one that values the goodness in our lives. With practice, we can learn to see the bigger picture and navigate adversity with greater resilience.

Mindfulness - AKSANOV NIYAZ — LiveJournal

Mindfulness

: kukmor; May 27th, 2016

Major Alexander Zhukov

The unit under the command of Major Alexander Zhukov carried out redeployment to carry out the combat mission of deploying an advanced ...
Good morning!

…
Father's trick.

(o) father and (s) son (3-4 years old) sit down at the table. (o) - Mom said that you should eat soup today. What soup do you want? (c) - I don't want any. (o) -…
Medical specialties⁠⁠

…
Seeing the production of toys is a delight for everyone! Krasnokamsk factory of wooden toys.

A place that will definitely cheer up both children and adults! Some of you may recognize toys from your childhood or childhood…
“Meet, bitches, Papa”: how the pilots of PMC “Wagner” died near Bakhmut

A few days ago, a Su-24M "musicians" plane was shot down near Kleshcheevka. Crew commander - Antonov Alexander Sergeevich, navigator - Nikishin . ..
People don't meet by chance...

I'm going by train. The bum enters. Bruise bruise. The muzzle is swollen. Appears to be thirty years old. Looking around, he begins: “Citizens of the Lord, I haven’t eaten for three days ...
Major Sergei Meshcheryakov

Major Sergei Meshcheryakov, together with a group of servicemen, provided combat protection for a column of a battalion tactical group of the Airborne…
Good morning!

…

Words of gratitude for attention in prose

Thank you for being Thank you for your smile We just broke into an apartment

All musical cards with gratitude

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I'm thinking about you now and I can't help but smile. I am pleased with your attention. This makes my heart feel warm. The world seems cozy and kind when you know that there are people like you in it - attentive and caring. May this kindness return to you a hundredfold and warm your soul just as your attention warmed mine. Thank you very much!

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How wonderful it is that there are people who sincerely wish you well and all the best! Thank you so much for your congratulations! I appreciate every word you said to me. Your attention and positive energize me and give me the strength to cope with any situation. With your wishes, you tone me up and let me open the wings of life to the fullest. Thank you for this!

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A person is never lonely if there is someone in the world who treats him with sensitivity and care. After all, it is so important for our hearts to be wrapped in warming rays of kindness. With joy, with inexpressible gratitude, with a bright warm feeling in my soul, I say to you - thank you for your sincere attention. Let everything in your life turn out to be a happy, precious pattern!

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Thank you so much for your attention, kind words, sincere wishes! I am very glad that you shared my joy with me. I also want to wish you the fulfillment of all your cherished desires, constant luck, energy and enthusiasm, well-being and peace in your soul. Be always surrounded by loving relatives and devoted friends, let your home be cozy and warm!

Author: Alina Letova

I like it! ❤

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There is nothing more precious than timely support, because the most precious thing we have is time. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your attention, which has become the most important incentive for the desire to follow the chosen path! Let my gratitude bloom with beautiful flowers in my soul and be the best reward for your kindness, endless thanks!

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The most precious happiness is unconditional understanding on the part of a good person, and this happens so rarely… I want to thank you with all my heart for the priceless gift of sympathy, understanding, attention! People with noble hearts generously share their kindness. I want to wish you: let the warmth return with joy, love, friendly smiles and faith!

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Thank you very much for your attention! In our time, this is a special value, as we live at great speeds! Sometimes there is no time to stop and take a look! Sorry time! And I am guilty of this! Therefore, your attention is also an example of a real human relationship! It seems weightless, but it warms like a warm friendly hug! Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

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Thank you very much! In fact, no words are enough to fully express my gratitude to you. I just want you to feel it. After all, real feelings are not in words, but in the soul!

Author: Yana Sergeeva

I like it! ❤

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Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your wonderful wishes, for sincere and heartfelt congratulations! Thank you for giving me your time and attention. Know that your words gave me hope for all the most beautiful things that can happen in life! In turn, I also want to wish you bright, joyful, happy days, health, prosperity and good luck in all matters!

Author: Alina Letova

I like it! ❤

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Thank you all for your attention, for your interest in my speech and person. Interest in your eyes motivates for further achievements and new goals. Thank you very much!

CopyPermalinkBookmark Thank you for being Thank you for your smile We just broke into an apartment

All musical cards with gratitude

Look ♫ Audio wishes!

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the touching attention paid to me, for the kind words, for the best wishes! I am very pleased that you remembered me and shared with me my joy over a significant event in my life. I also sincerely and from the bottom of my heart wish you health, indispensable good luck, fulfillment of your cherished desires, a joyful mood, worthy of well-being. May you always be surrounded by reliable friends, loving relatives and friends, may there always be comfort and kindness in your home!

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There is an opinion that attention is also nice for a cat - and even more so for a person. Each of us literally yearns to be heard, seen, understood, appreciated. Even more important, if this attention is not ostentatious, protocol, but sincere, cordial. When a person is given such attention, the soul blossoms, a second wind opens, and faith in the best arises. Thank you!

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How nice it is to be the center of attention for such a wonderful person like you! I am infinitely happy to feel all the signs of attention you have shown. With you, wings grow behind my back, and I want to move forward even more boldly and confidently! Thanks for the warmth and support!

Author: Lana Vinogradova

I like it! ❤

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It happens that the attention paid is more valuable than any gold and help. Thank you for not hardening your soul, for not neglecting the opportunity to support a person. May there always be someone in your life at the right time who can cheer you up or say those very words. Let attentive people, pleasant music and bright events surround you.

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Let me sincerely thank you for your sincere, cordial attention! Time is an invaluable resource, and its use requires a reasonable approach. Every minute spent is a gift, especially from you. I would like to respond in the same way in the future. Let your attention remain in the box of good memories and warm with its warmth!

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We are always children at heart and love gifts. And I am no exception. Therefore, I will not hide: I was extremely pleased to receive your gifts. They became bright sparks of happiness on this festive day, made my mood even more cheerful and rosy. Thank you, my good ones, for remembering me, for showing imagination, picking up gifts, for your attention!

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Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your attention and wonderful gifts! Your kindness, sensitivity, courtesy are infinitely important to me. Even the smallest gesture, showing your respect for me, evokes boundless warmth in my heart and the confidence that the most worthy, noble people are next to me!

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Thank you for the nice words of congratulations! I appreciate your attention and care, support and kindness. I wish you happiness and great love!

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In our vain, crazy world, the common man has so many worries that sometimes he doesn't even have time for himself. And therefore, it is doubly pleasant when, in a difficult, hopeless moment, you are not left alone with a problem, when they listen and not only give advice, but also take an active part in the situation. Thank you for your help from the bottom of my heart.

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I want to express my deep gratitude to you for your support and help, for your attention and kind words. This is very important to me and I will not forget your kind gesture towards me. Without you, it would have been much harder for me to cope.

CopyPermalinkBookmark Thank you for being Thank you for your smile We just broke into an apartment

All musical cards with gratitude

Look ♫ Audio wishes!

My beloved, beautiful woman, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you for every day and hour that you give me. For your care and participation, for your attention to my desires and needs. Since you have become a part of my life, there are no more cloudy days in it. Your radiant smile disperses the clouds even when a storm is raging around.

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It's good that there are still such sympathetic and caring people in the world! And let fate express its gratitude, and not just me, so that on the way you will meet as many such sympathetic people as possible. Only happiness, only good luck and endless positive.

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My dear friends, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for having you, for your reliability, kindness and warmth. Thank you for always being there - in difficult times you provide the right shoulder, and on holidays you share fun and joy with me. It's a great honor for me to be with you! I wish you the most generous, most beautiful life gifts, may all your plans come true, love and prosperity reign in your homes!

Author: Alina Letova

I like it! ❤

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I sincerely, from the bottom of my heart, want to thank you for your support. You can’t even imagine how important this was to me and how it touched me to the very depths of my soul. In our pragmatic time, there is little room for actions motivated by the movement of the soul. The more valuable your support for me. Thanks a lot! I hope and I will support you when you need it.

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I want to express my gratitude for your help that you give me in any situation. Your support, optimism, kind words and a heart of gold help to overcome life's difficulties. Many thanks to you for the strong shoulder that you provide at the right moment, because the main thing is to feel support and be sure that you will be helped. I wish you well, the greatest optimism and may your affairs return to you like a boomerang.

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Let me express my sincere, deep gratitude for your support and assistance, for your invaluable attention and human warmth! May your sympathetic heart be rewarded with the most generous gifts of nature: love, faith, friendship, mutual understanding and trust! May goodness return to you with the blessings that your soul dreams of. Harmony and happiness to you!

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Our daily lives are so busy and full of hustle and bustle that we often don't notice what's going on right under our noses. We pass by the problems and sufferings of our neighbors, and often do not even have time to pay attention to our own problems. Therefore, when you meet a person who saw you and treated you with attention, this is true happiness. Thank you for that. Well-being and happiness.

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Thank you for your support, sensitivity and kindness that you show me. Thank you for your smile, understanding and outstretched hand in such a difficult situation. Your optimism and energy charge everything around, give hope and strength to resolve issues. Good luck on your life path and endless happiness. Let your heart not know what a lie is, and good spirits remain for many years.

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Thank you for your responsive attitude towards me, for simple, friendly support and non-user interest, for sincere sympathy and attempts to help, for your kindness and truthfulness of statements.

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Thank you with all my heart and soul for the sensitive, invaluable attention shown to me in a timely manner. For me, this is very important and especially pleasant because a cheerful mood has appeared, a bright faith in goodness has arisen in my soul, hope in the successful achievement of my goals, in a wonderful future. Thank you so much for your endless kindness and generosity.

CopyPermalinkBookmark Thank you for being Thank you for your smile We just broke into an apartment

All musical cards with gratitude

Look ♫ Audio wishes!

No wonder they say: a kind word is also pleasant for a cat. And how important attention is for each of us, understanding that you are remembered and taken care of! Thank you for the sensitive attention shown to me, I really appreciate it and get inspired by it. Know that I will always come to the rescue, support in any way I can. Thank you and kudos!

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From the bottom of my heart I sincerely thank my devoted, loyal friends for the kind, warm and attentive attitude towards me, for the interesting joyful moments that I managed to experience in your cheerful company, for sensitivity, timely help and necessary support in difficult situations for constant touching care. Thank good fortune that you are and are always there! This is a great blessing and joy for me.

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Your attention to us warms my soul very much. It's so nice when, in the midst of haste, anger and misunderstanding, someone is not afraid to show sensitivity and participation. Let your life be filled with the melody of interesting journeys, pleasant meetings, kind people - just like you, ready to support you. Let our communication be long, pleasant and filled with mutual attention.

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I want to say thank you so much for the gifts! It was insanely nice to receive them, it's nice that you show such attention. Everything is very necessary and wonderful, I'm just delighted! And how beautifully designed, how magically presented! In general, I am happy and content. Once again, thank you!

Author: Yana Sergeeva

I like it! ❤

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Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your understanding! I sincerely thank you for your heartfelt support and responsiveness in difficult times. How lucky I am to meet in my life such a wonderful person like you! I wish you light, peace and harmony in your soul, well-being and comfort in your home. Let your kindness and cordiality be appreciated and cause reciprocal love and care of relatives and friends!

Author: Alina Letova

I like it! ❤

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Just thinking about you makes me happy. Your words, your actions, your precious attention are worth a lot to me. It is so difficult to set aside time and devote it to other people in the modern world ... Your positive is always inspiring, your words cheer up and vitality. Thank you for your participation in my life, for your support and understanding.

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Thank you so much for your understanding. It is so rare to meet a person who will listen, understand, help, and at the same time will not lecture and speculate on the problem. You have a truly golden heart and a kind soul. You deserve the very best: health, long and happy years of life, love, prosperity and prosperity. May there be more people like you.

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Thank you very much! In fact, no words are enough to fully express my gratitude to you. I just want you to feel it. After all, real feelings are not in words, but in the soul!

Author: Yana Sergeeva

I like it! ❤

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I am deeply grateful for your attention, participation and help in difficult situations. Your selfless attitude makes the world around me more humane and fair. It's good that in life there are kind and sympathetic people who are able to spend their personal time and energy on other people. Thank you so much for taking good care of me!

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In the crazy rhythm of today, we often deprive our loved ones of attention. Thank you for stopping by and paying attention to me. It felt warmth, sincere interest and readiness to provide support if necessary. Thank you very much for your attention.

CopyPermalinkBookmark Thank you for being Thank you for your smile We just broke into an apartment

All musical thank you cards

Look ♫ Audio Wishes!

Thank you for not leaving me at a difficult moment and lending a helping hand! Thank you for your warmth, for taking part in my destiny. I will never be able to forget your valuable support, thank you for your time and soul for me. Please accept my sincere wishes for goodness, love and happiness, may everything be fine in your life!

Author: Alina Letova

I like it! ❤

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I would like to express my sincere gratitude for the help rendered to me. Thank you for your kind heart and responsiveness, for your attention and understanding of the problem. For the fact that at a difficult moment for me, they did not turn away and did not turn out to be indifferent. For taking the time and energy to delve into the problem and find a solution. You have a truly golden heart and a pure soul. Happiness to you and all the best.

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In life it often happens that more valuable, above all material wealth is simple human participation. To each according to his works, as it is written in the Bible. Sincerely, from the bottom of my heart, I thank you for your help, timely and so necessary. May goodness return to you with health, prosperity, generous helping hands at the right time. Thank you for your assistance!

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Thank you with all my heart and soul for the very timely assistance. Thank you so much for your kindness, understanding and responsiveness, for paying attention to my problem and spending your personal time to quickly help me. It's nice to feel that such a kind, noble person is next to me. Wish you all the best.

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Thank you so much! Your attention and participation is very important to me! I promise not to forget the good, and if necessary, I will definitely respond. This will be my greatest thanks!

Author: Yana Sergeeva

I like it! ❤

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With heartfelt gratitude for your support, I turn to you! In our age of vanity and selfishness, it is pleasant to realize that there are such caring and sincere people like you. Your open soul and warmth attract kind people, make the world brighter and brighter. I wish you true friends and family well-being.

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Where would we be if not for the best people around us? Each of them leaves its own indelible mark. And today, our dear, only, unique friends are nearby, for which we thank you endlessly! Thank you for your hot emotional drive, for sincere warmth, for great gifts and surprises. Cheerful mood and be happy!

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A person needs help much more than he screams for it. But it happens that you get help exactly at the moment when you need it. In this case, gratitude knows no bounds. Thanks for the help offered, low bow for the help provided. Let's look back more often, look and see who to help, and do it.

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It is said that it is just as important to support a person in the right way as to help him solve a problem. It is sincere support that gives strength to move on, live and act.

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Nourish a Grateful Body

The Science: Boost Immunity and Heart Health

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Why Practice: Make Healthier Choices

Thankful to Those We Love

The Science: Stronger Connections

How It Works: Better Communication

Why Practice: It’s Better Together

Mindfulness - AKSANOV NIYAZ — LiveJournal

Major Alexander Zhukov

Good morning!

Father's trick.

Medical specialties⁠⁠

Seeing the production of toys is a delight for everyone! Krasnokamsk factory of wooden toys.

“Meet, bitches, Papa”: how the pilots of PMC “Wagner” died near Bakhmut

People don't meet by chance...

Major Sergei Meshcheryakov

Good morning!

Words of gratitude for attention in prose

Learn more