Once a skeptic of the effects of gratitude, I've learned the science behind the benefits and it all makes sense now. Gratitude has an undeniable impact on mental health and well-being. With social media envy in your face, let's discuss how it distorts our view of success and impedes our ability to cherish personal milestones.
Discover the neuroscientific perks of gratitude, including its capacity to activate the parasympathetic nervous system for better sleep and immunity, as well as its power to strengthen bonds and increase social connections.
I share actionable strategies for weaving gratitude into the very fabric of your daily life.
It's not just about saying thanks—it's about recognizing the journey, celebrating the small victories, and building self-trust to reduce stress.
Get in there and give it a listen for more!
Resources:
Manage Your Stress Mentorship
Discovery call
You can find more about Brain-Body Resilience and JPB:
On the BBR Website
On Instagram
On Facebook
Sign up for the BBR newsletter
Once a skeptic of the effects of gratitude, I've learned the science behind the benefits and it all makes sense now. Gratitude has an undeniable impact on mental health and well-being. With social media envy in your face, let's discuss how it distorts our view of success and impedes our ability to cherish personal milestones.
Discover the neuroscientific perks of gratitude, including its capacity to activate the parasympathetic nervous system for better sleep and immunity, as well as its power to strengthen bonds and increase social connections.
I share actionable strategies for weaving gratitude into the very fabric of your daily life.
It's not just about saying thanks—it's about recognizing the journey, celebrating the small victories, and building self-trust to reduce stress.
Get in there and give it a listen for more!
Resources:
Manage Your Stress Mentorship
Discovery call
You can find more about Brain-Body Resilience and JPB:
On the BBR Website
On Instagram
On Facebook
Sign up for the BBR newsletter
what is up? Hello there, my name is jessica patching bunch, you can call me jpb, and this is brain body resilience. This is a podcast dedicated to growth, human development and stressing a little bit less so you can go ahead and live a little bit more.
Speaker 2:Hello and welcome back to the Brain Body Resilience Podcast. I'm your host, JPB, and this is episode number 178. Today we are talking about gratitude, which I have talked about in length before. There might even be another episode I didn't look to see if there was. I'm sure there is but it probably means there is a need to address this again, Because gratitude practice is one of the very best things you can do to lower stress and anxiety and overall, just improve mental health and overall well-being. It touches the spectrum of all of the factors of our well-being physical, mental, emotional, brain health, cognitive health all of these things from just a little gratitude practice. So let's get into this. The first time that I heard that about gratitude, practicing gratitude, I kind of thought it was some kind of silly, hippie shit. That's where my mind was at that point. Fast forward, I found that a lot of things that I thought were just kind of weird hippie shit. It's just more integrated way to live with yourself and nature, which is better for everyone and everything for the most part.
Speaker 2:So judgments and misconceptions are a funny thing when we take the time to open up to possibility of learning something. We usually have a change of mind there. So I've talked before about gratitude. It's good for you, it is one of the best things to relieve stress, and it sounds too easy to do anything to help, like most things that are simple and effective. That is it. It's simple and effective. That is it. It's simple, but that doesn't mean it's easy and it only works if you actually do it like on a regular basis. And it seems harder to really recognize and be grateful for the things we have when we have a flood of images coming at us showing us curated examples of someone's best life, with expensive, lavish vacations and homes and huge, successful businesses and great fitness results and whatever else it is that we're being shown that you know we're probably looking for in our own lives and see out there.
Speaker 2:These things seem so out of reach and make it look like our lives are not measuring up to these images that we're seeing, when in reality that you know cushy job, the perfect home, the perfect family, perfect social life, the perfect plan and routine to get you all there it doesn't exist. Nothing is perfect and that's what shows up on the internet, but oftentimes it's not real like at all. Images are altered or filtered or photoshopped altogether. I don't know if that beautiful woman in the flowing dress is really in that desert or in her backyard or in the middle of the street, point being. Keep your eyes on your own page.
Speaker 2:It is really easy to overlook the things that we already have when we are constantly looking for something bigger, something better and comparing to what others have that we don't. And it's not that we are pretending we don't want other things, it's centering the things that we do have. That are probably things we once wanted and then forgot we wanted when we moved on to the next thing, because we already reached this place that we had wanted for so long. Living in a culture that centers and encourages consumption, it makes sense that we are constantly on the move, looking for the next thing to achieve or acquire, and I'm thinking about Pac-Man and how it just goes around the maze, consuming all of the dots, looking for more and more. Like most things in our world today, gratitude requires that we slow down a little bit, and that has to be an intentional practice, because there is always something else to do, there's always another demand on our time and our energy and, yes, other things we want to do and get and accomplish and experience. Those still exist.
Speaker 2:Gratitude isn't just about having happy thoughts. Research shows, in addition to the positive emotions that we feel and elevated mood and satisfaction, we are lowering the stress and shifting into that rest and repair part of our nervous system, that parasympathetic side of our nervous system which helps us sleep better, boosts our immune function. It lowers our blood pressure, lowers blood pressure and relieves body aches and pains from being tense all the time Basically, just the opposite of what we experience when we are in chronic stress. Gratitude also helps with healthier social life, with better communication of gratitude. When we do this, we're building interpersonal relationships that are stronger, we're building more empathy and people just like someone who brings good vibes around.
Speaker 2:Practicing gratitude doesn't mean you're happy all the time, and I think that can be a common misconception or something that we feel like that needs to be the result of our practice, like we're in a bad mood and we're just trying to like gratitude, our feelings away. And that's not it. We're not trying to do that, that's not the goal. Being stuck in any emotion is out of our natural rhythm as humans. Think about how inappropriate it would be to be happy and joyful and excited in response to something that's sad and tragic, not useful, in response to something that's sad and tragic, not useful. So, again, we need all of the feelings. We just need to be able to flow back and forth in between them as it is appropriate.
Speaker 2:Gratitude is great for your brain health and therefore your mental health as well. We know brain health is necessary for optimum mental health and well-being. We know brain health is necessary for optimum mental health and well-being, and expressing gratitude and receiving gratitude encourages the release of dopamine and serotonin, both of which contribute to positive emotions. And that shift of mood happens almost immediately when practicing. We start to think about good things, we get happy feelings and then practicing gratitude daily can help those neural pathways, strengthen their connection and create a sustainable grateful and positive nature within us.
Speaker 2:Researchers have found that people who have a regular gratitude practice have stronger neural connections in the areas that deal with reward, motivation, self-esteem and also in your stress response, the areas of your brain that deal with your stress response. So overall, gratitude reduces fear and anxiety by regulating the stress hormones and with all of that the brain begins to change the thinking patterns from ruminating and worry and fear to pleasant things and possibility of joy and generally things going well instead of what, if it's a disaster, catastrophic worry thoughts. The thing with creating new habits we have to practice, we have to keep trying, we have to keep picking back up where we left off. And no, it is not going to be a perfect practice or routine, because that's there's just no such thing. But the point is that we keep coming back to it. For your brain to create new pathways and then strengthen those to the point where they are the go-to, you have to fire that circuit over and over and over again.
Speaker 2:Every time that circuit is activated it gets a little bit stronger and the old pathways that are not being used get weaker. So back to the parts of the brain. The limbic system is responsible for emotional responses, and two areas within that limbic system, the hippocampus and the amygdala, are two of the main structures regulating emotions and memory and are activated with gratitude, which is amazing, because the hippocampus is a key area responsible for regulation of stress hormones and the amygdala is the area that interprets sights and sounds and sends that distress signal if there is a perceived threat. So, with these areas being busy with gratitude, there's less stress activation Because of this.
Speaker 2:Practicing gratitude helps build resilience to stress by acknowledging and appreciating the pretty little things in life around you, which tells your brain that this is relevant information and we are going to try and pay more attention to things like this. We need to find more things like this, therefore rewiring the brain to deal with present circumstances with more awareness and a broader perception. Your brain can't focus on processing both positive and negative information at the same time, and when we are stuck in chronic stress, our perception narrows and we have a heightened sensitivity to those negative thoughts, to the threat, to the potential danger, the perceived danger and threat which, again, it's perceived. It doesn't have to be real, um physical danger, it can very much be perceived social or emotional threats of being kicked out of a group or not being liked or not feeling great, or the perceived threats that we have from just internal shame and inner critic judgment that we bring on ourselves. So by managing the stress response in the autonomic nervous system and engaging the prefrontal cortex, the symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression are significantly reduced, along with the feelings of guilt and shame and violence. So your practice can be as simple as saying thank you as soon as you wake up in the morning and then when you go to bed even if it was a shit day, maybe you were just thankful it's over.
Speaker 2:I've started doing this. I just like, immediately the first thing when I wake up, I just say thank you and then, as I'm going to sleep, I just kind of go over some things that I'm grateful for as I'm falling asleep. The best way to start your practice is to ground yourself in the present and know that the best way to do that is with your breath, turning your attention to your breath to start out with, which only exists ever in the present moment, which is why it's a great anchor and then taking active control of your breathing patterns to slow and make your exhale a little bit longer. This will bring you into that more calm, relaxed state where you have more access to your thinking brain and you can go from there to recognize the things you have to be thankful for, you can. I'm going to give you some examples, because I think it can be really hard to just be in a place where you don't feel grateful. You're stressed the fuck out, overwhelmed, upset, irritated, all the things that come with chronic stress and then you're like, oh, I'm going to be grateful. And it can be really hard to just like think of, think of things in that moment, especially if it's not something we are practicing. And so a few ideas you can write thank you notes to your friends, to family, to mentors, to your past self, which is a really great practice. You don't even have to send them. Just take a moment to write out in detail why you are grateful, just like a you know, thanks to you, know, my mom. Not as useful as really getting into the why, the details of why you are grateful, because then that makes you think more about it and starts to elicit those feelings of gratitude, which the feelings of gratitude are what we are looking for here. We can think about things all day long. We need more of that body response. So, uh, a gratitude journal also is great.
Speaker 2:I usually take a few minutes in the morning just to write out everything I'm grateful for in that moment, which looks. I mean, some of the things are constant or consistent, some of them are different. Some, some days it's long, some days it's short, it is some days it's just as simple as I am grateful for my cozy blanket and this happy lamp, my, my light mood lamp that I have that I spend some time with in the mornings, my plants I love my plants. I'm grateful for them. Whatever comes to mind, and if it feels hard to start, just begin by looking around you and listening, using your senses.
Speaker 2:What is soft, what is comfortable, what do you see, what do you hear that is pleasant? I like the birds that are chirping in the mornings. I love that. Maybe that's annoying and you don't want that. That would not be on your list. So, noticing these things and being grateful for just the little things the safety and comfort in my home, gratitude for my health, these little things that we overlook, that are actually the foundations of the good things in our life. So you can write a little bit about that, if you do that, if that feels good. Also, you can give yourself specific prompts Because, again, writing just free writing can be really hard. So compliments that you would like to give yourself today and make it real and attainable.
Speaker 2:We don't. You know, when we don't have a great relationship to ourselves, it can feel forced and inauthentic and then you don't believe it and then you're not actually feeling those feelings of gratitude. If we jump right into how much we love ourselves and all of these things, if it doesn't feel true in that moment, it's not going to work, we're not going to get the results that we're looking for. Make it simple, like thank you for taking the time to recognize the good things in this moment, in this practice of gratitude, thank you for showing up, thank you for the effort, gratitude. Thank you for showing up, thank you for the effort. Complimenting yourself can be one of the more difficult practices when we're not in a good relationship with ourselves, and this is one of the biggest things that creates the majority of the stress we face in the first place. When we are that internal threat, we can write a list of things that we've put effort into and just celebrate that. I know celebrating wins for a lot of us can be really difficult, especially when we are just going and going and going and looking on to the next thing and the next thing that we have to accomplish and the next thing we're trying to do or achieve whatever, and so taking a moment to just celebrate your efforts. And so, taking a moment to just celebrate your efforts, you can also list out people that you are grateful for and why. Just a whole list of people that have contributed to your health and well-being, your success, getting you wherever you are right now, that you're grateful for People that have been there to support you. And then actually sending notes or texts to friends and family that pop into your head. Just something simple hey, thinking about you, appreciate you or, if there is a specific thing, thank them for that. Giving gratitude has been shown. There have been studies specifically on how giving gratitude is apart from receiving. What a great impact that is, and so something as simple as you thanking someone out loud or, you know, via text, actively expressing your gratitude for someone is of great benefit, not only to them I'm sure it makes them smile but to you as well.
Speaker 2:Gratitude practice has so many benefits for all facets of our well-being mental, emotional, social, physical. It is a practice and it has to be practiced to get the benefits. Committing to the practice takes self-discipline and motivation, which help elevate your self-assessment, including your self-esteem, self-worth, along with your ability to take things into your own hands, your assessment of this, your understanding, your evaluation of your ability to create change, which is essential for shifting your stress response. Knowing that you can count on yourself, building that self-trust, the trust in your abilities, is huge in lowering the overestimation of the threats, the challenges and the underestimation of your ability to deal with that. You have proof that you're showing up for yourself, that you can be disciplined, that you can affect change. Gratitude strengthens our relationships, both to ourselves and others, and these two things alone are two of the most important and impactful factors of mental health and overall well-being.
Speaker 2:So that's all I've got today. It's a little bit longer. Gratitude is so important. There's a dog barking outside. I don't know if you can hear that, but, um, you know. I had someone ask that I add more specific examples of what they can do right now to practice nervous system hygiene. So this is a great one. To start with, step one decide to dedicate whatever time you have to giving thanks. Take a couple of minutes to settle in ground yourself in your breath. Notice your breathing, first of all, and then begin to make it slower and deeper and then adjust to a ratio of one to two Example either inhale of two, exhale of four inhale for three, exhale for six, et cetera, uh, whatever is comfortable, without straining, because if you're straining you feel breathless, um, like it's hard.
Speaker 2:That defeats the whole purpose, because that elevates your stress response. So, and then step three write out a list of things you're grateful for, or any of the other things I mentioned above, and that is your practice for today. I challenge you to try that, even if it's not every day, make a commitment to do that three or four times during the week, and just notice if there are any shifts in how you feel or notice.
Speaker 2:If it's difficult or maybe it's easier than you thought it was going to be to come up with all the things that you have to be grateful for, I would love to know how that goes. Again, I always love hearing from y'all. I love connecting, so continue to do that when you, when you like. I love, I love to hear from you. I am going to ask again if you would take a moment just a few seconds to rate the show.
Speaker 2:if you have not already give it a few stars, preferably five, and I am grateful for each one of those. I am grateful for you being here, for your time and your attention. Again, I know you can spend them anywhere.
Speaker 2:And the fact that you choose to spend them hanging out here listening to me, I just it blows me away sometimes. I'm I'm grateful to be a part of your day, so that's a piece of my gratitude right now. All right, wrapping this up, we will do this again. Until then, I hope you have a beautiful week. I'm out of here.