How to Be Grateful: Tips to Practice Gratitude Daily

Yes, it’s good to be grateful and practice feeling gratitude every day. It seems obvious this is a good thing for mental health and relationships with others — but why? 

Practicing gratitude is beneficial for your brain and nervous system. Over time, your experiences reshape your brain and change your nervous system — for better or worse. This is especially relevant for people with persistent pain, whose nervous systems can get more sensitive to pain. Practicing gratitude is a way to rewire your brain to cultivate and sustain positive emotions. This can help stop the chronic pain cycle, so you don’t feel as stuck when it comes to your ability to manage and stay in control of your pain.

Here, Hinge Health experts share more about the benefits of incorporating a gratitude practice into your routine and simple tips for practicing gratitude.

What Does Practicing Gratitude Do?

A classic line in neural psychology is, “as neurons [brain cells] fire together, they wire together.” This means that when we repeatedly think, feel, or do something, the neural pathways involved become stronger and more efficient. 

In other words, the more we practice a skill or recall information, the more deeply it becomes ingrained in our brain. While it may feel as if our thoughts come and go without leaving a trace, quite the opposite is true. As a thought passes through your mind, it leaves behind traces in your brain structure. 

It’s also helpful to understand that over thousands of years, the human brain has developed a “negativity bias.” This means our brain defaults to noticing negative information over positive information. Think about it: Early humans lived in a world full of dangers — predators, food shortages, hostile enemy tribes.

Noticing threats and remembering dangers (such as which plants were poisonous, where predators lurked) was crucial for survival.

Enter gratitude. Practicing gratitude can break that hardwired negativity pattern and replace it with one that is geared toward noticing the positive. 

Think of your mind as a radio. If you want to listen to a different type of music, it’s up to you to change the station.

What Are the Benefits of Practicing Gratitude?

Research shows practicing gratitude offers a wide range of physical, mental, emotional, and social benefits. To list a few, feeling and expressing gratitude can:

• Increase positive emotions, self-esteem, and optimism

• Reduce pain

• Reduce the risk of depression and anxiety

• Improve sleep quality 

• Build resilience to stress

• Boost social relationships and support

• Reduce impatience and improve decision-making

• Increase exercise frequency

How Do I Practice Gratitude?

Many good things happen in daily life that pass us by without catching our attention. Through intentional steps, you can transform pleasant events into positive and lasting experiences. As you build this habit over time, it will re-train your thought patterns to notice positivity without you actively trying to. 

Adopt a Grateful Mindset

Here is one small way to cultivate gratitude in daily events and interactions.

• Give yourself several moments to focus on each small, positive event, like the rich flavor of your coffee, or a moment of connection between you and a friend. 

• Instead of moving on immediately, allow the feelings to linger. 

• Put words to the experience. Did this interaction leave you feeling inspired? Appreciated? Did you sense warmth in your cheeks, or a tingle in your belly?

• Relish the feeling for 10 to 30 seconds.

• Imagine this positive experience sinking in and becoming a part of you, as if it’s becoming woven into the fabric of your mind. Close your eyes for a moment, revel in the good feelings, and repeat saying “thank you” to yourself.

Keep a Gratitude Journal

Another way to practice gratitude is through a daily gratitude journal. This can be as simple as writing down two or three things you are grateful for that day — in a notebook or in the notes app on your phone. 

Setting a routine helps new habits stick, so consider doing this first thing in the morning or before bed. For some, the act of writing is a way to capture thoughts and feelings with more clarity and tangibility than simply thinking them through.

Morning: Today, I am grateful for:

1. ______________________________

2. ______________________________

3. ______________________________

Evening: Today, I am grateful for:

1. ______________________________

2. ______________________________

3. ______________________________

Using gratitude as a gateway through which you filter your experiences makes your daily interactions richer, and more fulfilling. When beginning any new habit, your first attempt may feel like you’re simply going through the motions. As you build consistency, old thought patterns will start to change. Then, you will notice your automatic thoughts and reactions shifting and becoming more intentional. Have patience, keep an open mind, and be compassionate with yourself.

Gratitude Even on Bad Days?

It’s important to make a distinction between feeling grateful and being grateful. We don’t have complete control over our emotions, and we cannot force ourselves into feeling an emotion in particular. Being grateful is something that we can choose. It’s an attitude that withstands the gains and losses that flow in and out of our lives. When we face challenges, bad news, or disaster, gratitude provides a perspective that allows us to view the bigger picture and not be overwhelmed by temporary circumstances. This perspective takes time to achieve, but it is worth the effort.

It’s normal to have some doubts about how to maintain a gratitude practice when you’re going through personal challenges. One thing to keep in mind is that rewiring your brain for positive emotions takes time and practice. And you may find that intentionally noticing things to be grateful for is even more important during tough times.

How Hinge Health Can Help You 

If you have joint or muscle pain that makes it hard to move, you can get the relief you’ve been looking for with Hinge Health’s online exercise therapy program. 

The best part: You don’t have to leave your home because our program is digital. That means you can easily get the care you need through our app, when and where it works for you. 

Through our program, you’ll have access to therapeutic exercises and stretches for your condition. Additionally, you’ll have a personal care team to guide, support, and tailor our program to you. 

This article and its content are provided for educational and informational purposes only and do not constitute medical advice or professional services specific to you or your medical condition.

References

1. Ackerman, C. (2017, April 12). 28 Benefits of Gratitude & Most Significant Research Findings. PositivePsychology.com. https://positivepsychology.com/benefits-gratitude-research-questions/

2. Bergeisen, M. (2010, September 22). The Neuroscience of Happiness. Greater Good. https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/the_neuroscience_of_happiness 

3. Breines, J. (2015, June 30). Four Great Gratitude Strategies. Greater Good. https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/four_great_gratitude_strategies 

4. Emmons, R. (2013, May 13). How Gratitude Can Help You Through Hard Times. Greater Good. https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_gratitude_can_help_you_through_hard_times 

5. Murphy, J. L., & Rafie, S. (2021, December 7). 5 Exercises to Ease Chronic Pain With Gratitude. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/ease-pain/202112/5-exercises-to-ease-chronic-pain-with-gratitude