Studies Show That Gratitude Makes Us Healthier!

A New York Times article, by John Tierney, A Serving Of Gratitude May Save the Day, instantly became a “Most E-mailed “ article. Tierney cited a number of impressive studies as to how gratitude—a major spiritual practice--generates better sleep, helps to reduce anxiety and depression and promotes kinder behavior.

 Based on the findings of experiments conducted by Robert A. Emmons and Michael E. McCullough, Tierney suggests beginning with “gratitude lite,” that is, keeping a journal listing five things for which we feel grateful each week. A good idea, but even better if you do it every

day.

At a time in my life when I was coming out of a second marriage, my heart broken and despair clinging to me like wet clothes, each night in my strange, new, isolated town, my place of escape, I wrote in my journal anything nice that had happened to me that day. The sentences were simple: “The man at the drugstore smiled at me.” “The sun sparkled on the Bay.” “I made a real dinner tonight for myself.” Such ordinary things, things that nowadays might easily escape my awareness.

Why does gratitude writing over time lift the spirit? How is it that digging for and finding miniscule nuggets of pleasure can help to heal a fractured soul? The process of writing them down reinforces our awareness: of the man smiling, of the sun sparkling. We get to relive those fleeting pleasures and for those few moments we are pulled up and out of our sticky selves, out of the mire of depression that can surround us like a dark blanket of fog. Not only that, but the more we are aware of our gratefulness, quite astonishingly, the more frequently opportunities for gratefulness will arise.

This is not an exercise just for those who are depressed; this is for all of us, all the time, every day of our lives. Don’t we all want to be happier and more optimistic? Then some form of gratitude practice, any form that suits you, is the way.

Tiny and not so tiny miracles do happen every day in all of our lives. Absolutely. Hey! What about when, after dragging my reluctant body to the annual gastroenterology inspection, my very conscientious  gastroenterologist says to me, “I don’t think you need to have any more colonoscopies.” Is that a miracle or what? My feet barely touched ground as I left her office.

Miracles, large and small are constantly there; we just have to notice them. We need to bring the bar way low so that we don’t miss even the tiniest one.  On this subject, a spiritual teacher of mine used to say, “Think of it as a savings account. You are banking gratitude, banking joy. There is so much in life that is not joyous so you need to have a strong and plentiful savings.”

Tierney’s article goes on to tell us that a study at the University of Kentucky revealed that gratitude practioners are less bothered by criticism, less likely to feel the need to counter attack when criticized. “Says Nathan De Wall, who led the study at the University of Kentucky, ‘It (gratitude) helps people become less aggressive by enhancing their empathy.’”

The more actively grateful we are, the more empathic and kinder we are towards others. Everybody wins.

We can expand our gratitude practice from the personal level to the national, gratefully acknowledging that, severe economic and political turmoil notwithstanding, we live in a predominantly peaceful society where our children can be clothed and educated, where we can purchase food: a country in which our doors will not be inexplicably shattered in the night by police who will drag us away.

A recent visitor here, Harold Koenig, M.D., Director of Duke University’s Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health, told a gathering of some three hundred people at Southport Congregational church that studies show that people with rich spiritual/religious lives—the gratitude people who believe their lives have meaning--are generally healthier, happier and recover from illness more quickly and with fewer complications than secular humanists.

As a result of these studies, Dr. Koenig is urging that all medical personnel be trained to become capable of engaging in approriate spiritual conversations with their patients.

Wouldn’t that be a good thing!

We all want to be healthier and happier. Yes? If there were a pill that would offer us better health and more happiness it would be selling off the charts. Don’t waste another day. Begin a regular practice of gratitiude now and watch what happens!