Gratitude is good for your heart! What!
In 2015 a study* followed 186 patients in their recovery for 2-months following surgery after suffering Asymptomatic Heart Failure. Patients were given journals and instructed to write daily entries on two or three things that they were grateful for. The researchers found that those patients who engaged in gratitude journaling—and received their usual care—showed reduced markers of inflammation as well as increased heart rate variability (HRV) when compared to patients who received usual care alone. HRV refers to the variation in the time interval between heartbeats (influenced by components of the autonomic nervous system) and is considered an important indicator of health. Heart failure is typically characterized by a loss of HRV as the disease progresses.
“At the Center of Excellence for Research and Training in Integrative Health at the University of California, San Diego, we are finding that expressing gratitude isn’t just good manners. If you’re suffering from cardiovascular disease, gratitude may just help save your life.” Paul J. Mills, Laura Redwine | October 25, 2017
There are more proven benefits to cultivating the habit of gratitude & appreciation**
According to the research, gratitude’s psychological benefits are legion:
- It can lift depression,
- Help you sleep,
- Improve your diet,
- Make you more likely to exercise.
Furthermore:
- A recent study showed gratitude causes people to be more generous and kinder to strangers.
- Another study found that gratitude is the single best predictor of well-being and good relationships.
As the Benedictine monk David Steindl-Rast says,
“Happiness does not lead to gratitude. Gratitude leads to happiness.”
We know that many of these benefits directly feed our resilience charge.
Here are some practical things you can practice over the next seven days to develop gratitude and appreciation:
- Start cultivating the daily habit of consciously being grateful. For the next seven days, before you start work aim to express gratitude for at least 10 things in your life, e.g. your health, your home, your family, your wealth, your friends, your colleagues, your car, your gadgets, the food you’ve eaten in the last 24 hours etc. The aim is to say it out loud, but not necessarily to another person (unless it relates to them and they are present). What if I feel grumpy and don’t want to do it? Do it anyway! But I feel stressed to the eye-balls and just want the pressure to end – I don’t feel grateful. Do it anyway! Notice the impact on your mood.
- Start noticing people, both inside and outside of work, who are doing a good job. Why? Because the act of noticing, is a crucial part of cultivating gratitude; you can’t be grateful if you don’t notice.
- Consciously practice expressing gratitude and appreciation to people every day. Make it specific, e.g. to a team member: “I appreciated the colours you used on that spreadsheet – it made it more enjoyable and easier for me to work with it.” To the waiter at the restaurant: “Thank you for the excellent way you have taken care of us.”
- Plan to express gratitude to all the family members in your house this weekend. Consider what you have appreciated about each of them this week and express it over the weekend. Notice how it affects the mood in the family.
Gratitude is definitely one of those win-win recharge practices! We hope you have some fun with it.
*Source: https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/can_gratitude_be_good_for_your_heart accessed on 9 Nov 2021
**Source: TED talk: Want to be happy? Be grateful
