The Science of Gratitude (Part Two)
Here’s a little thought experiment so that you can quickly experience the benefits of gratitude. Try it before we look at what it does in your brain.
Think about somebody for whom you are grateful: someone who helped you out, inspired you, or saved you. Imagine them coming towards you, see what they are wearing and their hairstyle. Give them a hug and feel their warmth. Then sit and speak with them. You may say
Thanks for …
helping me out
being there when I needed a friend
inspiring me to do better
giving me energy and strength
encouraging when no one believed in me
loving me for so long
saving my life
feeding me, clothing me and disciplining me when I was young.
Listen to the tone of their voice as they respond. How loudly do they speak? What do they say? How do they say it? Listen more. Then imagine sharing a laugh, a smile or a small chuckle at the good feelings of being together. Say goodbye, then watch them walk away.
Close your eyes and slowly do this little imagination exercise for about three to five minutes.
(Do it.)
If you did it, you will have felt several things. If you didn’t do it, do it now or stop reading (you won’t have experienced what I’m talking about).
In seeing them arrive you will have felt a small rush of pleasure, this is mediated by the brain chemical dopamine.
When you share a hug, you will have felt a small rush of trust or love shared. This is mediated by oxytocin.
As you spoke and listened, you will have felt a sense of calm, comfort and contentment mediated by serotonin.
As you laughed, you will have felt a small bond of togetherness mediated by beta endorphins.
I discuss these brain chemicals elsewhere, but a good DOSE of
Dopamine
Oxytocin
Serotonin, and
Endorphins
in your brain work together in a mix of pleasure, love and trust, calm and contentment, and togetherness which feels good. These feel-good chemicals work together and help stimulate the immune system and the nervous system to mediate the many benefits of gratitude.
In this short thought experiment, I asked you to listen to my suggestions to affect your feelings. You experienced pleasure, love, contentment and togetherness in your limbic system, but you were following my instructions with the thinking part of your brain, the frontal lobe.
Directions from your thinking frontal lobe to your feeling limbic system were influencing the way you felt and the way you perceived the world, just for a while. You can use ability at any time by choice.
This is how gratitude works its health benefits. Your thinking frontal lobe focusses your limbic system feelings via a DOSE of these four brain chemicals: Dopamine, Oxytocin, Serotonin and Endorphins. these make you feel good, they enhance your immune system and stimulate your nervous system as well as naturally influencing your outlook on life.
It’s as though your frontal lobe has a comical conversation with your limbic system:
FL: Hey limbo, we’re actually doing better than you may feel.
LS: D’ya really think so?
FL: Yeah, check out the memory of this person ...
LS: Wow! that feels great!
FL: just chill. … You’re OK.
LS: Thanks.
FL: No worries.
Gratitude releases pleasure chemicals in your limbic system to give you more pleasure and contentment and is good for your physical health.
So, how can I cultivate gratitude?
It takes time and effort; all skills do: riding a bike, playing the violin or practicing soccer. It’s not just information. Be grateful is not enough, just like saying play the violin is not enough.
What skill do you have?
How did you acquire them?
With practice over and over again: walking, riding a bicycle, tying shoe-laces, learning a language, passing an exam, anything.
Do it. Do not wait for a Life-threatening illness to become grateful.
8 Things for daily gratitude.
8 daily habits are contained in the acronym
THANKS, morning & night.
Think: how good is being alive?
what does life mean to me?
what if it were taken away?
This will help you treasure the gift of life.
This frontal lobe focus helps your limbic system feel DOSE chemicals.
Help someone out:
give of your time, money or kindness in a small way every day.
This will make you grateful for & help release the DOSE chemicals
Appreciate someone special:
Email, text or talk to tell someone you love them.
Appreciate someone from your past who helped you.
This will make you feel grateful about the people in your life.
Notice beauty:
A butterfly, a child’s smile, a sunset, beautiful music.
Einstein said “everything is a miracle or nothing is.”
Your choice in how you see the world.
This instantly releases DOSE chemicals in your brain.
Keep perspective:
How bad will your problems look in five year’s time?
What would life be like if you lived in a war torn country?
This will make you feel grateful and help release DOSE chemicals.
Say “thank you” to anyone, everyone.
This uses your frontal lobe to focus on gratitude.
It helps release DOSE chemicals in your limbic system
Morning: Every morning when you awake,
you can say thanks for another day given to you.
Night: Every night as you lay down to sleep
You can say thanks for the day you’ve had.
Do this when you’ve had a particularly bad day.
Find something for which to be grateful. You’re alive.
Stick at these for three weeks or more. It takes somewhere between 18 and 180 days to cultivate a new habit, depending on how complex it is.
You can strive, have bad experiences, be unhappy, live life in a wheelchair, and still be grateful. Just before he died, wheelchair-bound cosmologist Steven Hawking said
We have this one life
to appreciate the grand design of the universe
and for that,
I am extremely grateful.
It’s all a gift.
For more on this topic, check out our latest podcast: