How noticing the good in the world helps us to form healthy habits
A CHARTERED PHYSIOTHERAPIST’S PERSPECTIVE
By Paul Bolger. Nano Physiotherapy www.nanophysio.ie
Motivation can be hard to come by – but psychological research shows us that developing a greater awareness of the good around us can be a powerful motivation booster.
What We Pay Attention to Impacts Our Health
The things that we see, hear and experience every day have an impact on our beliefs, our behaviours and subsequently our health.
We live in a world where self-interest and accumulation of material goods are not only celebrated – these ideas are actively pushed on us many times every single day. We are constantly bombarded with images and stories of atrocities, crimes and injustices, not only here in Ireland, but from all over the world. It is not surprising that our sense of safety, trust and our ability to see the good around us are affected.
Thankfully, there is something that we can do about this. Giving some time every day to spotting the good things around us increases our sense of gratitude, which research shows boosts our ability to stick to healthy habits and lead happier lives.
Gratitude Benefits Health & Motivation
Gratitude is a sense of thankfulness for what we experience in life. Besides improving our general wellbeing, it has many positive health effects – grateful people have lower blood pressure, reduced stress reactions and sleep better.
Gratitude opens us up to the needs of others – including our future selves. Cultivating gratitude helps us to stick to healthy habits (why bother being healthy if we don’t care about our future selves?).
Gratitude also motivates us to pass on kindness to others. In one interesting study, researchers ran an experiment where participants encountered a computer problem. For some participants, a stranger helped them to overcome this problem. Soon after this, the participants came across another stranger who needed a hand. The participants who received help with the computer issue devoted significantly more time to helping this stranger – seemingly paying their goodwill forward.
How to Develop Gratitude
Gratitude can be trained, just like a muscle. Some lucky people have had experiences in life that have given them abundant gratitude. Many of us have not. Here is one simple practice that has been shown to cultivate gratitude.
- At the end of each day, write down 3 things that you feel thankful for – they can be big and meaningful (e.g. supportive friend) or small and trivial (e.g. a car letting you out; the first sip of a cup of tea).
- Take a few minutes to reflect on each. Notice what feelings and emotions stir within you.
- Repeat this for 4 weeks (and beyond if you can).
Start Today
Cultivating gratitude develops the supportive foundations and mindset that allows us to go on to lead healthy, happy lives.
Knowledge is great, but it is pointless without action. Practice daily for 4 weeks and see if you notice a shift in how you view the world.
If you struggle with a sense of despair or a feeling that the world is out to get you, then you could benefit from telling your GP or a psychologically informed therapist, such as a registered psychologist.
