From the Brain of Dr. Nicki: The Magic of Gratitude

Gratitude: from the Latin gratia, which means grace, graciousness, or gratefulness. A thankful appreciation.  

We all know what gratitude is. After all we talk about it enough! Still, many have not the slightest idea how to truly embrace it.

For some gratitude seems like an airy-fairy notion. A 60's hippy left over, peace and love, imposition. "I AM grateful!" some say, "I don't need to go around spouting about it all the time!" Funny we have little trouble grousing on a daily basis. No trouble at all pointing out the desperately maudlin nature of what's happening around us, but ask us to look on the lucky side of things and we balk.

Not that I really believe in luck. I'm a make-your-own-luck kinda gal. My hubby says "luck follows closely on the heels of hard work." I agree. But that doesn't mean I don't count myself fortunate. And I want to shout from the rafters about that fortune. Plus, I want you to realize your great fortune as well. If you’re able to read this blog, you’re fortunate. Because it means you have the leisure to do so. It means you can read, think, and consider questions. It likely means you won’t starve today. Or duck a bomb. Or the zillion of other truly worrisome, overwhelming real-world things.

Notice I’m not suggesting gratitude means overlooking the sad, bad, mad places you/we can and do go. It doesn’t say ignore the unfortunate circumstances that can besiege us. Rather, in the face of those dismal truths, gratitude encourages us to keep our eye on the whole extraordinary picture. Because the picture IS extraordinary. And if we’re alive to view that life picture we can count our blessings with unbound enthusiasm. Ask the survivors in Nice.

Unbound enthusiasm?? Well, maybe that’s asking too much. But at least noticing what’s great is a good start.  

Okay, I've been promoting gratitude for years and now finally I can proudly proclaim I've got science on my side. Science. Always a crowd pleaser. I don't care how much personal experience we offer, or if we can present a zillion real life examples, for many science trumps all. So here it is one excerpt from Alex Korb Ph.D published in Psychology Today magazine. There are many other articles as well:

National Institutes of Health (NIH). NIH researchers examined blood flow in various brain regions while subjects summoned up feelings of gratitude (Zahn et al 2009). They found that subjects who showed more gratitude overall had higher levels of activity in the hypothalamus. This is important because the hypothalamus controls a huge array of essential bodily functions, including eating, drinking and sleeping. It also has a huge influence on your metabolism and stress levels. From this evidence on brain activity it starts to become clear how improvements in gratitude could have such wide-ranging effects from increased exercise, and improved sleep to decreased depression and _ fewer aches and pains.

Furthermore, feelings of gratitude directly activate brain regions associated with the neurotransmitter dopamine. Dopamine feels good to get, which is why it’s generally considered the “reward” neurotransmitter. But dopamine is also most important in initiating action. That means increases in dopamine make you more likely to do the thing you just did. It’s the brain saying, “Oh, do that again.”

            Gratitude can have such a powerful impact on your life because it engages your brain in a _ virtuous _ cycle. Your brain only has so much power to focus its attention. It cannot easily focus on both positive and negative stimuli. It is like a small child: easily distracted. Oh your tummy hurts? Here’s a lollipop. So you lost your job? Isn’t it wonderful we’re having KFC for dinner? On top of that your brain loves to fall for the confirmation bias, that is it looks for things that prove what it already believes to be true. And the dopamine reinforces that as well. So once you start seeing things to be grateful for, your brain starts looking for more things to be grateful for. That’s how the virtuous cycle gets created.

Yep. Turns out gratitude actually breeds happiness by affecting the way the brain works. As we say over and again: what we feed grows. That means when we express gratitude not only are we in service to the happiness of others, we’re amping up our own joyful experiences! It's win, win.

How does it work? The idea is the same here as everywhere: practice. Today. Tomorrow. And the tomorrow after that. Know; feel; speak; act gratefully with gracious grace.

Let me then practice the preach. What am I grateful for today? My ability to write and be heard; my husband's forever support of who I am at crux and at core; my clients brave willingness to discover, uncover and reveal; my sense of humor; the fortitude, patience and loyalty of my friends; the teachers past and present who grace my life; my ever-expanding intuition; incredible health; my new business partner; my own grit; my history....and on it goes.

And what might you say about gratitude? For what are you grateful? Come on. We're listening.