The gratitude revolution…Be thankful, be happier

In these unprecedented times; pandemics, climate change emergencies, and brexit (sorry if you’d forgotten about that one!); our mental health is taking a beating. Many may not even notice the increasing levels of stress and anxiety which can manifest as headaches, poor sleep, irritability, overeating, or accidentally watching 5 back to back episodes of decade old ‘come dine with me’ (insert your own outdated TV staple here). For others, it’s all hands on deck to fight it — ‘I must do my 5k run followed by a 30 minutes mindfulness session. No screen time 2 hours before bed’. Whilst there are clear benefits to each of these, consistency and sustainability can be a barrier. Another well documented boost to our mental health comes from a habit formed from only a minute or so of reflection a day: being grateful.

I suggested gratitude practice to some of my patients in the GP surgery, again amongst my arsenal of other recommended self care wellbeing practices. At its most basic this involves taking a minute or so to reflect upon a few things you are grateful for. Recommending treatments to patients that we ourselves have never tried is commonplace as a doctor. Obviously, taking drugs to ‘see what it’s like for patients’ is a no go, but I wondered; would it be worthwhile adding gratitude practice into my schedule…perhaps after morning yoga…or between running and reading one of the classics (I’ve read the first few chapters of Moby Dick 3 times). I’m deluded if I think that I can (or do) actually achieve any of these things on a daily basis. My natural cynicism to add another task to my ‘should’ do list was strong. Yes, times are tough at the moment but shouldn’t we get on with living life as best we can without breaking it down into chunks of wellbeing exercises? After all ‘life is what happens to you when you are making other plans’.

I’ll tell you what changed my mind…it really is simple and it really does work. If, like me, you prefer the reassuring stamp of scientific evidence rather than the anecdotal ramblings on one person’s thought piece, you’ll be pleased to hear there is also more and more research highlighting the benefits of gratitude as a practice.

In just one minute a day you can begin to reap the benefits of gratitude practice: improved wellbeing, better sleep, stronger relationships, and much more. Be thankful, be happier. Give it a go! What three things are you grateful for today?…