Gratitude the Gateway to Happiness

Today we're going to talk about a really powerful stress management tool that releases neurochemicals in our brain.

And you probably haven't thought of this, but there has been research on gratitude.

When we feel stressed and we stop, then we practice gratitude

our brain lights up.

There's the technology of an fMRI that can actually scan the brain and look at our emotions and our emotional states and the reactions that we have.

And so studies have shown

that just taking a few moments to step away from that stressor and to say, okay, I'm going to think on I'm going to speak.

I'm going to write what I'm grateful for and then you go back to that task that the performance

is just better and that people self-report that they're able to get through the stressful task better once they practice gratitude.

Also, researchers look at the brain and they say, oh, okay, so neurons that fire together wire together.

What that means is the next time you're in a stressful circumstance,

and you practice gratitude your brain goes, 'oh I remember this it feels good,' and there you get those chemicals and then you're feeling good and the brain is like; ' oh this is a habit forming,' and that's when the neurons that are firing begin to wire because you're practicing it over and over and over again and it gets to the point there's a stressor,

you've trained yourself just like going to the gym when we train and we do reps.

You've trained yourself and so naturally you step away.

You think, what am I grateful for?

Just one minute.

You write it down.

You say it.

And then you go back to the task and it's easier.

Then you eventually will find your flow.

This is a process.

It can take up to 60 days according to cognitive neuroscientists for this to really become a habit that is well-formed in the brain.

So 60 days in a row of practicing gratitude.

So what are you grateful for today?

And just think about three things every day that you didn't think of the previous day.

Write them down.

Repeat them.

Talk about them.

Get people around you also thinking, oh what is there to be grateful for?

What's something positive that's happening?

And then you'll realize it's not in the big things and you'll start to break things down, because the rule is you cannot use

the things that you listed yesterday or even a week ago.

So you really have to break it down and then the small things you just find just appreciation and noticing the small things and taking life one step at a time will really help with our stress reduction and increase our happiness.

So gratitude is a gateway to happiness.

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