Practicing Gratitude: 5 Tips for Positive Reflection

While practicing gratitude may sound like just another lifestyle trend, there’s plenty of evidence to suggest that it can have a powerful transformative effect on people’s lives.

Studies in recent years have looked at the correlation between gratitude and enhanced physical and psychological well-being, connecting gratitude with various measures of life satisfaction, as well as with better health outcomes including lowered blood pressure and improved immune function.

Practicing gratitude helps us to view life through a more positive lens, prioritizing optimistic thoughts over pessimistic ones and focusing on solutions rather than problems. It also creates a regular feedback mechanism that helps us to appreciate our support groups, enabling us to feel loved and cherished. Importantly, it’s thought that the practice may influence our behavior, too, helping us to feel more energetic, at the same time encouraging us to make healthier lifestyle choices.

In short, acknowledging and expressing gratitude allows us to recognize and value the good things around us and to perpetuate this virtuous circle of satisfaction and thankfulness.

It feels as if it might be easier to appreciate our good fortune – and, in turn, to express our gratitude – from a position of contentment, although the opposite may in fact be true. It may sound counterintuitive but the ideal time to establish a gratitude practice is when you’re living through tough times. Gratitude gives us the tools to rewire our brains to handle problems with greater awareness and perception – something that’s invaluable in a crisis.

This past year, for instance, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought bad news to every corner of the world; and yet, I discovered there are still reasons for thankfulness if we seek them out. In our weekly meetings I began sharing them with our CEO Rachel Hodgdon and we have had a lot of discussion across IWBI about how to use the act of gratitude as a positive mental health practice:

1. Keep a gratitude journal. Writing your positive thoughts down helps to commit them to your consciousness. You may want to consider jotting the odd grateful thought on a slip of paper and popping it into a jar so you can revisit your bounty at the end of the year or whenever you need a positivity boost.
2. Make it a regular habit. If possible, integrate it into your daily routine. Choose a recurring time – perhaps a few minutes upon waking or just before you go to bed. It shouldn’t feel onerous, so look forward to the enjoyment it brings.
3. Tag an accountability buddy. This could be a friend, colleague or partner who is also keen on creating their own gratitude practice. You can schedule it together or simply hold a regular check-in to share and amplify some of your thoughts.
4. Embrace happiness. During dark times, it’s easy to let your sense of guilt over others’ unhappiness eclipse your own moments of joy. Accepting happiness makes us stronger and more resilient, so acknowledge your achievements and be grateful.
5. Express your gratitude. Turn your gratitude outward and recognize those who helped bring it into being. Share your appreciation through thank you notes, donate to funds that support the rights and liberties of others and advocate for equity in your institutions and organizations.

Michelle Martin is the Deputy Director of IWBI where she draws on her experience in public health and anthropology to improve organizational systems and processes toward achievement of organizational excellence.