Practicing daily gratitude is a habit I picked up from my spiritual mentor, Gottfried Müller; when Louise and I took a long hike through the trails of Forest Park here in Portland on Wednesday, for example, we stopped a few times to look around at the forest and just notice what an amazing world we live in and then to say “thank you” to all the life around us.
Every day, when we take our daily walk, we do this. Sometimes it’s our amazement at the clouds or the geese or the river or just the fact that we’re alive. I think of what my parents or my deceased brother would give for just a few minutes of what I’m experiencing and it fills me with awe and appreciation.
And I’m so grateful to you for reading and sharing my writings. You’ve helped build a real and meaningful community here. Thank you!
I always suspected that this daily practice of gratitude helped keep me sane in these insane times, but now I’ve discovered there’s actual science behind the mental health impacts of it.
As we celebrated Thanksgiving this week, science is revealing that our annual tradition of giving thanks might be more powerful than we ever imagined. Research shows that expressing gratitude doesn’t just make us feel good momentarily: it actually reshapes our brains in ways that enhance our well-being long after the holiday dishes are cleared away.
When you take a moment to count your blessings, your brain releases dopamine and serotonin, chemicals that create feelings of pleasure and contentment. It’s like turning on a happiness switch in your mind.
But what’s really fascinating is that this isn’t just a temporary boost; these moments of thankfulness create a positive feedback loop, training your brain to look for more reasons to be grateful.
Brain imaging studies have captured this process in action. When people express gratitude, they activate the prefrontal cortex, the brain’s command center for decision-making and emotional regulation.
This triggers a cascade of beneficial effects, including sharper attention and increased motivation. Think of it like building a muscle: the more you exercise gratitude, the stronger these neural pathways become, making it progressively easier to access positive emotions.
Perhaps even more remarkable is gratitude’s effect on stress. When you focus on appreciation, your brain actually dials down the production of cortisol, your body's primary stress hormone. This helps explain why grateful people often seem more resilient in the face of life's challenges; their brains are literally wired to handle stress better.
But the benefits don’t stop there.
Research conducted at Indiana University found that practicing gratitude can actually change the structure of your brain, particularly in areas linked to empathy and emotional processing.
It’s as if giving thanks regularly renovates your brain’s emotional architecture, creating lasting improvements in how you process experiences and relate to others.
These changes ripple out into nearly every aspect of life. People who practice gratitude regularly report sleeping better, probably because they’re replacing anxious thoughts with appreciative ones before bedtime.
They tend to have stronger relationships, likely because gratitude activates brain regions involved in social bonding and empathy.
Many even report improvements in their ability to solve problems and think creatively, suggesting that a thankful mind is also a more flexible one.
Want to harness these benefits for yourself?
Science suggests several effective approaches. Keeping a gratitude journal helps reinforce positive neural pathways, training your brain to focus on the good in your life. Expressing appreciation to others not only strengthens your relationships but also activates reward centers in your brain.
Even simply pausing throughout the day — my favorite practice — to notice and appreciate positive moments can help reshape your neural circuitry.
The most encouraging aspect of this research is that gratitude’s effects appear to be cumulative and long-lasting. Studies have found that people who regularly practice gratitude experience positive changes in brain function that persist months after they begin the practice. It’s like compound interest for your emotional well-being; small investments in gratitude today yield increasing returns over time.
As your brain becomes more adept at recognizing and appreciating positive experiences, you may find yourself naturally adopting a more optimistic outlook on life. This isn’t about ignoring life’s challenges or pretending everything is perfect. Rather, it’s about training your brain to maintain a sense of appreciation even while acknowledging difficulties.
So this Thanksgiving, as you shared what you were grateful for around the holiday table, you were doing more than participating in a cherished tradition.
You were engaging in a scientifically validated practice that can transform your brain and enhance your well-being. Each expression of thanks is like a small deposit in your neurological bank account, building toward a richer, more appreciative way of experiencing life.
In a world that often seems designed to highlight what’s wrong, cultivating gratitude might be one of the most powerful tools we have for training our brains to notice what’s right. And that’s something truly worth being thankful for.