‘Gratitude Journaling’, you might have heard about this a lot, off late, or came across it on social media but why and how does it actually prove helpful in our personal lives? Though the concept seems pretty straight forward and self explanatory, and perhaps even mundane, let’s break it down and try understanding it from the roots of psychology before getting into how it works.
What is ‘gratitude’? Psychologists Robert Emmons and Michael McCullough explain gratitude as a two-step process; firstly it is in recognising that one has obtained a positive outcome and secondly it is in recognising that there is an external source for this positive outcome. In positive psychology research, gratitude is consistently related to greater happiness, as it allows people to relish positive experiences and emotions, thereby improving psychological and physical health.
By expressing gratitude for the things in our lives and to the people we love and appreciate, we remain grounded and content with what we do have, rather than always trying to look for the things we don’t. After all, aren't we wired to constantly seek for things we don’t have/ want more/ want to achieve more? To look for approval and validation from external factors and raise our own personal bars higher and higher?
This would explain our negative cognitions (negative thoughts) and our stress inducing patterns, that keep us discontent and unhappy.
How does gratitude journaling come in here? Let’s take a look at it’s process :
Create an ideal ambience for yourself.
Sit comfortably, close your eyes and take a deep breath.
Reflect upon your day - events, experiences, feelings, people and thoughts.
Open your eyes when you’re done.
Write down at least three things that you’re grateful for the day. Perhaps, expand on why you’re grateful for something in particular.
Once completed, close your book and take a deep breath filled with gratitude.
Remember, you’re only doing this for YOU. You can be as flexible with this as you like.
Now that we have gone through how it works, let’s perhaps look more into how it helps.
According to one study ‘pre-sleep cognitions’, mostly negative ones, impact our sleep causing impaired sleep for a lot of individuals. Filling in your gratitude journal before you sleep, therefore, would help adjust this, keeping your ‘pre-sleep cognitions’ more positive.
When we intentionally allocate time amidst our daily routines we are giving ourselves space to process our feelings, in this case, a positive emotion such as gratitude.
You could even write ‘gratitude letters’ to people who you would like to thank. Perhaps. even email it to them. Couples who take time to express their gratitude for each other improve their relationship and feel more comfortable communicating with each other. Studies do dictate that people who experience gratitude, experience more positive emotions and fewer negative ones including anxiety, envy and depression.
A lot of our inner voices whisper thoughts of negativity as to how we are not______ enough, but what are we doing about these negative thoughts? Writing down things we’re grateful for like our bodies, our quirky traits, our minds, the people we meet, our relationships, can help us refocus on what IS, than what isn’t keeping us in the 'here and now'. This is important, especially now, during times filled with such uncertainty. After all, we only have control over ‘the now’, this moment, not the future, not the past. Feeling grateful about different elements of your life does not diminish your problems in any which way, it simply alleviates your pain by trying to focus on the positives for a few moments in your day.
What are you grateful for today?
. . .
Love and Light!
תגובות