Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
Hey, everybody, Welcome to another edition of Wisdom Wednesdays.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Today. I'm going to start with a little story.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Back in nineteen ninety five, I took a year off
from university. I was about to do a master's degree,
and I went traveling, and I went traveling with friends.
But then I ended up in India for three months
back in nineteen ninety five, and it was absolutely bonkers.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
But there was one day I will never forget. I
was in a.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Little holy village called Puri, south of what was then
called Calcutta, and this guy came towards me in a
homemade rickety go kart. He was covered in bandages and
he was begging. And then as he got right up
to me, I realized that the guy had leprosy and
elephant titus and I had a pretty profound impact on me.
(01:01):
And ever since that day, I've done a gratitude ritual
because of this guy. And I didn't know that there
was any science behind it at the time, but in
recent years, the scientific exploration of gratitude has revealed profined
impacts and our psychological, physical, and our social wellbeing. So
(01:23):
gratitude is often defined as the quality of being thankful
and the readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.
And there are a whole heap of different benefits, as
I said, so let's explore them. The first set of
benefits that researchers have shown are the psychological benefits of gratitude,
(01:44):
and the first one is enhanced emotional wellbeing. So we
know now that gratitude is strongly correlated with increased happiness
and the life satisfaction, and studies have shown that individuals
who regularly practice gratitude report having higher levels of positive
emotion such as joy, enthusiasm, love, and lower levels of
(02:07):
negative emotions like envy, resentment, and regret. And the next
one Nick's benefit from a psychological perspective is around resilience
and coping, and it turns out that gratitude can actually
serve as a coping mechanism during difficult times. And I
think you'll probably have heard me and Carly talk about
when Oscar was going through his Cushing's disease that gratitude
(02:29):
was so important for us. And the research shows that
it helps individuals to reframe negative events and then focus
on the positive aspects, therefore fostering resilience. So, for instance,
grateful people are better at dealing with stress and recovering
from traumatic experiences because they can find the positives even
(02:51):
in adverse situations. And the third psychological benefits is prevention
of depression. We know that regular gratitude practice can prevent
the onset of depression. And actually a famous study by
Martin Seligman called the Three Good Things Study show the
people who were depressed who every night journaled about three
(03:13):
good things in their life or three things that happened
that day significantly.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Reduced their depression.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
And we know that gratitude interrupts the cycle of negative
thinking and self focus, which are common precursors to depression.
And by focusing on what one is grateful for, individuals
can mitigate feelings of worthlessness and hopelessness. And there's a
fourth one from in terms of psychological benefits, and we
(03:42):
know that people who regularly practice gratitude have got more
hope and optimism for the future. And I've talked before
about hope, and I've also done a recent Wisdom Wednesday
on optimism, which is a very beneficial trait, And it
turns out that gratitude. Regular gratitude practice increases both hope
(04:02):
and optimism. Now let's talk about the physical benefits as
reported by research. So the first one is improved sleep quality.
Believe it or not, turns out the grateful individuals tend
to sleep better and longer, and studies have found that
gratitude reduces negative pre sleep cognitions that allows you to
have a more RESTful and uninterrupted sleep. And then this
(04:26):
improved sleep quality in turn enhances overall health and well being.
And actually, I've got a little practice that whenever I
go to bed and I lie down, and no matter
how tired I on, I remember combat survival and resistance
to interrogation training and how bigging horrible it was in
the freezing cold in the UK winter with no sleeping bag,
(04:50):
And I lie down every night and I go, how
frigging awesome is a mattress and a pillow and a
douvet And just those little things can really really help,
And it just helps me to just go to sleep
with a smile on my face. So the second physical
benefit that research has shown is enhance cardiovascular health. And
(05:13):
we know that gratitude can lower blood pressure and heart
rate and improve our cardiovascular health, and partly because of
its stress reduction, benefits, which everybody knows is a significant
risk factor for heart disease. And the other studies have
shown that people who regularly practice gratitude have got a
stronger immune system and they tend to have better health
(05:35):
behaviors and lower levels of stress hormones which I mentioned,
and that can enhance immune function and reduce susceptibility to illnesses.
But I think there's something about that psychological disposition and
the impact on your immune system. And then the third
set of benefits are social benefits of gratitude. So the
(05:56):
research shows that gratitude actually improves reallyationships. We know that
when people express gratitude, it strengthens bonds by making people
feel valued and appreciate it, and it also encourages reciprocal
acts of kindness, which then creates a positive feedback loop
that enhances social connections. And then there's other research that
(06:19):
shows that gratitude actually creates increased empathy and reduced aggression.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
So grateful people have been shown to be more likely
to exhibit pro social behaviors such as empathy and.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Support, and they're less likely to retaliate or be aggressive
against others, which obviously leads to more harmonious and supportive
social environments. And then the third one and the last
benefit and significant benefit, is an enhanced sense of community.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
We know that gratitude promotes.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
This sense of community and social cohesion, and when individuals
acknowledge and appreciate the contributions of others, it then fosters
a collective spirit of goodwill and cooperation. So there are
a number of evidence being ways that you can actually
cultivate gratitude, and one that I tend to do Cordie does.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
More than me, is journaling.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
And as I said, Martin Seligman has shown this that
keeping a gratitude journal is one of the most effective
ways that you can enhance gratitude. Write and down three
to five things you're grateful for each day has been
shown to significantly boost your mood and your well being.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
And then you can do something.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
Called gratitude letters or gratitude visits, so you write a
letter of thanks to someone who's had a positive impact
on your life, and then you can deliver it in person,
or you can actually just go and tell people the impact,
the positive impact that you've had for them, and that
has pretty profound effects. The research shows on both the
(07:53):
person who's giving it and the person who is receiving it,
and then you can do a mindfulness and gratitude meditation.
So just incorporating gratitude into mindfulness and meditation practices can
deepen your appreciation for the present moment and the positive
aspects of your life. And there's a number of guided
(08:14):
meditations around gratitude that you can actually do. And then
something that I like, I use my app and actually
have a little reminder where I'll set up that little
reminder just that that pops up on my app that
reminds me about gratitude and wherever I am andever I
see that, I just kind of look around for something
to be grateful for. So you can just set a
(08:36):
little reminder on your phone or some other kind of.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Trigger to do it. And then we know that acts
of kindness.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
Actually doing that and reflecting on the positive effects of
your actions can also enhance your sense of gratitude. And
then helping others can make you more aware of the
good in your own life, which is what the research shows.
And one other thing that I've actually started to do
recently and since Corley did the podcast on AWE is
(09:07):
actually combined gratitude with awe and just look for little
awe inspiring things around you. And actually, this doesn't need
to be something that's ridiculous, can be stuff like a
sunset or even I will often just now turn on
the tap and step back.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
And go, how fucking awesome is running water?
Speaker 1 (09:31):
Because when we think about it, there is so much
stuff that we typically take for granted that is awesome
when you think about it, such as running water, such
as electricity, cars, you know, all of this stuff. The internet,
there is stuff that when you actually sit back and
think how do they do that?
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Chip like, how do they make that happen?
Speaker 1 (09:53):
You can get really all inspired and then that then
starts to trigger that sense of gratitude.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
So hopefully this is useful.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
I have found and thanks to that guy thirty years
ago and had a massive massive impact on me, and
that regular gratitude practice has actually massively enriched my life.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
So go forth and be grateful. Catch you next time.