Natalie Price was in dire straits. She was in the middle of a divorce and was struggling to put a roof over her children’s heads. After losing her job, she was at her wit’s end. With no other options, she moved in with her parents. At 2 AM, she woke up in pain. She was having a heart attack.
Price healed up at a San Diego hospital. It was there that she met researchers studying the effects of gratitude on heart health.
Price became a participant in a University of California San Diego research study along with 186 others who also were at risk of heart failure. Participants kept a daily journal recording all the things they were grateful for. Price said some days it was difficult to think of things she was thankful for, but she completed the eight weeks. Along the way, the researchers measured the participant’s heart health.
At the end of the eight weeks, their blood test results showed a lower risk of heart disease. They also reported improved mood and better sleep.
Martin Seligman is a professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania and is also considered the father of positive psychology. Psychology often focuses on mental illness. The field of positive psychology attempts to help healthy people become happier. In the 1980s Seligman did research into personality traits and found that people who focused more on bad things and who had little appreciation for the good things in their life were less happy and less satisfied with life.
Seligman asked his students to keep a gratitude journal, where they wrote down five things they felt grateful for every week for ten weeks. At the end of the ten weeks, his students reported less stress and more happiness. Seligman later asked other students to write letters of gratitude to special people in their lives. He then had them visit these special people and read them the letters out loud. This resulted in even higher levels of happiness and deeper connections between people.
The practice of gratitude or appreciation for the good things in your life can increase your happiness not just in the moment but also long-term.
Many people practice gratitude by keeping a gratitude journal. Try it out. Every day, write down 3-5 things that you’re thankful for. This could be big things like getting a new job or small things like a cup of coffee or the joke you just shared with your friend. It’s a cycle that builds upon itself. The more we practice feeling appreciation for the good things in our lives, the more we naturally notice good things in our lives.
Watch Seligman’s gratitude letter experiment recreated in the video below. Then leave us a comment saying who or what you’re grateful for today.
References:
https://positivepsychology.com/benefits-of-gratitude/
https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/can_gratitude_be_good_for_your_heart
https://www.kqed.org/stateofhealth/113360/the-power-of-gratitude-to-keep-a-damaged-heart-strong
Natalie Price was in dire straits . She was having trouble keeping a roof over her children’s heads. After losing her job, she was at her wit’s end. With no other choice, she moved in with her parents. At 2 AM, she woke up in pain. She was having a heart attack.
Price healed up at a San Diego hospital. There she met doctors studying the effects of gratitude on heart health.
Price joined a study along with 186 others who also were at risk of heart failure. Every day they wrote all the things they were grateful for. Price said some days it was difficult to think of things she was thankful for. She finished the eight weeks. Along the way, they looked at everyone’s heart health.
At the end of the eight weeks, their blood tests showed a lower risk of heart disease. They also had improved mood and better sleep.
Martin Seligman is a professor of psychology. He is also called the father of positive psychology. Psychology often helps mental illness. Positive psychology helps healthy people become happier. In the 1980s Seligman studied personality and happiness. He found that people with less gratitude were less happy.
Seligman asked his students to keep a gratitude journal. They wrote down five things they felt grateful for every week for ten weeks. At the end of the ten weeks, his students said they had less stress and more happiness. He also had other students write letters of gratitude to special people in their lives. He then had them visit these special people and read them the letters out loud. This resulted in even higher levels of happiness.
Many people practice gratitude by keeping a gratitude journal. Try it out. Every day, write down 3-5 things that you’re thankful for. These could be big things like getting a new job or small things like a cup of coffee. It’s a cycle that builds upon itself. The more we practice gratitude for the good things in our lives, the more we notice good things in our lives.
Watch Seligman’s gratitude letter experiment recreated in the video below. Then leave us a comment saying who or what you’re grateful for today.
References:
https://positivepsychology.com/benefits-of-gratitude/
https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/can_gratitude_be_good_for_your_heart
https://www.kqed.org/stateofhealth/113360/the-power-of-gratitude-to-keep-a-damaged-heart-strong
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