Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Day 6: How Gratitude Helps

Hello Team Gratitude,

For those of you who are closet science geeks (I am one of them), or if you just want to know a little more about how gratitude helps us, today’s message is right up your alley.  I found this information very interesting, and I hope you do too.  It has been scientifically proven that gratitude significantly raises optimism in our live.

How Gratitude Helps:
Here’s a smattering of what science has shown....
§  Our brain is a single processer. When you are focused (however briefly) on things to appreciate in your life, there is literally no brain space left for anger, sadness or worry.
§  As the practice continues you strengthen those neuro-pathways that look for what’s good in your life, making it easier and easier for your brain to find things to appreciate. It’s like weight-lifting; you build your gratitude “muscle” by using it. (Shawn Achor, in his book The Happiness Advantage, likens this to what happens after you play Tetris for an extended period. Suddenly, you see those geometric shapes everywhere — in the brick wall, as the city skyline — and you start making them fit together in your mind.)
§  When researchers pick random volunteers and train them to be more grateful over a few weeks, they become happier and more optimistic, feel more socially connected, enjoy better quality sleep and even experience fewer headaches than control groups.
§  Practicing gratitude daily for 21 days can significantly raise your optimism even 6 months later.

Above information found on the website http://thehappinesscoach.biz
Keep your eyes and hearts open for the many moments to be grateful today! Remember to do your gratitude journal writing because, as it states above, if you practice gratitude daily for at least 21 days it can significantly improve your optimism for 6 months (and we are doing it for 30 days, so just think how wonderfully optimistic our lives are destined to be!!).

Gratefully your friend,

Amy


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