The other night I had a bout of the Sunday scaries. You know them. The week ahead looms, my chest tightened, and I started worrying about…everything.
I’d been feeling down for a few hours. There was a real and metaphorical black cloud on the horizon that was spreading darkness ever wider.
Then the tap burst and started spraying water all over the bathroom.
I stumbled into the garden in the dark with my phone as the light, into the direction of the watermain. I felt around the old tyre until I found the little wheel. Stopped the spray.
Time for a reset.
Inside, I grabbed my notebook and started sketching out 3 columns: Who, What, Why.
Gratitude floods the brain with dopamine and serotonin.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) throws a barrage of challenges, impacting both body and mind. But there’s a surprisingly rapid way to shift your brain chemistry: gratitude.
Research from the UCLA Minfulness Awareness Center (MARC) found that regularly expressing gratitude changes the molecular structure of your brain and keeps the gray matter functioning.
A Neurochemical Shortcut
Living with MS can unleash a cascade of negative emotions. Gratitude, however, acts like a neurochemical shortcut. By consciously focusing on positive aspects, you trigger the brain’s ‘feel-good’ chemicals. This isn’t a slow process. It’s a near-instant shift.
Studies in the Journal of Happiness Studies demonstrate how gratitude rapidly increase subjective well-being.
This quick neurochemical change can help combat the emotional lows, offering fast-acting relief.
“We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.”
Thornton Wilder
This is what happens in the brain.
- Firstly, gratitude wires and fires new neural connections to the bliss centre. As neuropsychologist Donald Hebb once said, ‘neurons that fire together, wire together.’ This means it strengthens the pathways in our brain toward the bliss centre. Gratitude makes you happier.
2. It evokes positive thinking which is a cognitive restructuring.
3. It regulates the stress hormones, reducing fear and anxiety.
Gratitude for rapid stress reduction
Stress is a major enemy for those with MS, exacerbating symptoms like fatigue and pain.
When you practice gratitude, you activate the parasympathetic nervous system, responsible for the ‘rest and digest’ response.
This rapid reduction in stress translates to physical benefits, including improved sleep and reduced muscle tension, crucial for managing MS symptoms.
Gratitude helps regulate dopamine in your brain. Dopamine is a natural pain relief.
On Sunday, with the exploding tap and dread of the week, I found gratitude made me more productive about how I’d solve my problems. It’s like it shows you the path. It’s always there, but suddenly it becomes visible. And obvious.
“Gratitude can transform any situation.
It alters your vibration, moving you from negative energy to positive.”
Oprah Winfrey
How to do gratitude
Gratitude journalling was made famous by Oprah. Once upon a time, I actually had a television set and time to watch it.
Especially at uni, in the olden days as an undergrad, I loved Oprah’s transformational episodes.
Oprah consistently thinks of five things every day she is grateful for. Sometimes it is that an airplane landed. Fair.
This is my style. Who, Why, What.
Who are you grateful to. They could be a family member, mentor, client, artist or author. Did you know what the effect of writing a gratitude letter (a fan letter) has been shown to reduce pain sensations, and feelings of anxiety and depression.
Why? If it’s an author or musician, you could consider sending a fan letter. You so often get a personal reply. Why is it specifically you feel grateful to them? What was the book, film, artwork, song that moved you?
What skills, talents, or values are you grateful that you have?
“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.”
Cicero
In my notebook columns, I wrote Who I’m grateful for. My partner, my mum, my kids. I added in a few kindred spirit friends.
Then I expanded into the Why column what it was exactly that made me grateful for having them.
When you do this, make sure to include yourself. What skills and innate abilities are you grateful for?
A healthy perspective
Do you have somewhere to live, enough food to eat, and a means of transportation?
If you said Yes, you are luckier than 85 percent of the rest of the world (6.5 billion other people).
Do you earn $25,000 per year or higher?
If yes, you are richer than 90 per cent of the rest of the world (or 6.9 billion people).
That changes everything, doesn’t it.
Bask in that for a minute.
Back to earth
My gratitude sketch took about five minutes yesterday. At the end, I felt like I was pretty darned lucky and should enjoy time with my little babies (who had been annoying me earlier). (Note: They’re not babies and they excel at being annoying.)
All you need is a pencil and a bit of paper. You’ll find the things to be grateful for. This who, why, what.
Then it will change your brain chemistry and help make you happier.
Later, I’ll write about practising elevated emotions. That’s where the glory lies.
Give your happiness a chemical thumbprint and make it indelible.
Now, I just need a plumber.
Be well XO
