Scientific research brings us more proof of the power of gratitude!
A great blog post by Ocean Robbins…
The Neuroscience of Why Gratitude Makes Us Healthier
Posted In: brain science, Culture Improvement, Influence, Motivation
Tagged: appreciative inquiry, being liked, Brain chemistry, change, influence, learned optimism, motivation, positive, solutions focus, transform
Tagged: appreciative inquiry, being liked, Brain chemistry, change, influence, learned optimism, motivation, positive, solutions focus, transform
Thanks for posting, Bob.
I have heard about the practice of gratitude in the past and suggest it to my clients often. However, it’s good for me to be reminded too time to time. I think the suggestion to have a little pocket journal to write things down is an important one. At least for me, I think it would really help to develop and solidify this habit. I tried to do gratitude practice in the past, but I forgot about it after a few days. I used to have a “mandala” mini journal years ago. Each day I would draw and fill in a circle with colors or just lines and patterns. It was a very grounding experience at the time, and became a cool visual journal. And because it relied on drawing, even if I was too tired to think or write, I could still doodle or move my pencil on the paper without much mental effort. I still have this little notebook, and look at it time to time – it gives a little glimpse back in time into my soul. I imagine looking back at daily gratitude lists could be a very rich and grounding experience too on a gloomy day or in the future.
I like what you added, Zsuzsi. Using artistic forms of expression are very powerful, especially for folks who find that highly fulfilling to begin with.
I’ve found that the gratitude habits develop what Martin Seligman (“father of Positive Pschology”) calls “learned optimism”.
Being able to choose gratitude and optimism at will can raise our ability to positively influence dramatically.