How Gratitude Affects Your State Of Mind
While it may seem simple, researchers are learning that being more grateful and expressing appreciation in your life can actually lead to improved mental health and alter your overall state of mind.
Sadly and it may come as no surprise, many of us fail to recognise how important paying attention to this particular aspect of life can be, both for health reasons and self growth.
If we want to live our best life, try to make a little time to practice gratitude on a daily basis. This endeavour not only helps you see the positive aspects of your life, but it can also relieve feelings of depression, improve mood and alter your general mindset in positive ways.
So in this post let`s take a look at how gratitude affects your state of mind and how being thankful can contribute to our continued well being.
Gratitude Improves Mental Health
Whether you have a healthy mental state or you suffer from symptoms such as depression or anxiety, when you focus on gratitude and appreciation in life you are more likely to be able to cope with and respond to negative emotions.
Recent research indicated that those who were receiving counselling saw dramatically improved results when they were asked to write a weekly letter of appreciation.
Moreover, the impressive results obtained by this group were not achieved by those who focused solely on their negative experiences, or just participated in counselling sessions.
This study, along with many others over the past decade, show that a conscious effort to give thanks for the positive aspects of your life can lead to a more positive outlook.
Other significant benefits include a better feeling about your future, in addition to improved abilities to finding solutions to problems and overcome obstacles.
Focus On The Positives
When you focus on appreciating the positive aspects of your life, you will also learn how to deal with and let go of negative emotions that could cause you psychological harm.
When you spend more time acknowledging and celebrating the positive aspects of your life, you leave less room for negativity and have less energy for focusing on negative emotions or circumstances.
Being grateful can also help you even when you do not share your appreciation with others. While some choose to write letters or talk with the people in their lives about why they are grateful, this act of sharing is not really necessary to enjoy the benefits that gratitude can offer your life.
What is important is that you take the time to think about your appreciation and while the act of writing is not necessary, it is a reflective practice that helps you think through how you feel and your reasons for feeling grateful.
Practice Gratitude Regularly
Another important takeaway from the research on gratitude is that this it is essential to practice this activity regularly. It should be noted too however that its effects may not be felt right away.
Retraining your brain takes time, and when you start to shift your attitude from negativity towards the more positive aspects in life, your mind will need time to adjust.
The good news is that it only takes a few weeks of regular gratitude practice to see differences, so you will not have to wait for months or even years to notice how your mindset is shifting.
When you regularly focus on gratitude, the benefits to your mindset will be felt for a long time as it has a lasting effect on your brain.
People who feel more grateful are more likely to be generous toward others and tend to have more positive experiences in their lives. They are also more attuned to the experiences of other people, making them more empathetic.
Regularly practising gratitude seems to activate parts of the brain associated with empathy and compassion and these effects are noted long after gratitude exercises are stopped. You can acknowledge your gratitude every day by writing in a handy Gratitude Journal so get yours today!
Final Thoughts
Regardless if you are dealing with mental health challenges or not, being more grateful and regularly reflecting on your gratitude can influence your mind in positive ways.
Take some time each day to consider what you are grateful for and feel blessed for what you have in your life.
When you spend your time focusing on the positive instead of the negative, you will notice improvements in many aspects of your life, including your overall state of mind.
To A Happy State of Mind! 🙂
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