Why be Grateful
I think for most people, this year has come with multiple challenges and disappointments and worries - I’m not saying it’s been easy for me but one of the things that has helped me ride the waves is my long-time practice of gratitude.
I remember when I first heard about Gratitude - it sounded like a new age-y load of hippie nonsense - but while I was researching for an article I wrote about the Ashtanga Chants in 2013 (link below), I found out Gratitude has a lot of science behind it (as a science nerd that meant a lot to me) - it has a lot of benefits like making people happier, healthier and so I started experimenting with gratitude to see where it could take me.
So how does this work? We have evolved with a negativity bias - our ancestors who saw the negative were quicker to respond to danger and so survived to pass their “negativity” to future generations. But although it made us stronger in the past, that glass half full approach isn’t as useful as it used to be - these days it can cause stress and anxiety. Luckily our brains are “plastic”. That means they continue to change and grow all through our lives. You really CAN teach an old dog new tricks - so if we consciously change the way we use our brain - it will respond and change.
So gratitude is a choice we can make to re-train our brain to see the positive - we can create new pathways in the brain to go in a positive direction. This isn’t about pretending everything is fine even when it isn’t - it’s about creating an inner resource of strength and a different way to experience the world.
As is says in the Yoga Sutras, it’s inner contentment makes us happy - if we’re dependent of the outside world to make us happy we will potentially be on an out of control roller coaster ride - up when things are going well and down when things are difficult. Gratitude is a choice that makes us self-reliant - not dependent on other people or outside events - it makes us stronger and more resilient. It’s not about emotional flat-lining - we can still be fully engaged and passionate - it’s about agency and inner strength
Gratitude is self care
If that’s interesting to you it’s very easy to practice - just start thinking of things to be grateful for - maybe write down one thing each evening - it can be really small - we just need to get started looking for things and the brain will respond...
This article was inspired by this lovely mail out from Urban Yogis Gratitude Starts From Inside Out
Links to more information:
Article about the Ashtanga Opening Chant in Elephant Journal here >>>
Ted Talk on how Gratitude works here >>>
Scientific article on negativity bias here >>>
Article on overcoming the negativity bias here >>>
Gratitude and the brain here >>>