Gratitude practices are gaining popularity in workplaces worldwide, and for a good reason too!
According to UCLA’s Mindfulness Awareness Research Center, regularly expressing gratitude (the quality of being thankful and readiness to show appreciation) literally changes the molecular structure of the brain, keeps the gray matter functioning, and makes us healthier and happier.

In 2008, scientists first used fMRI to study gratitude. In the study the researchers measured brain activity of participants experiencing different emotions, and found that gratitude causes synchronized activation in multiple brain regions, and lights up parts of the brain’s reward pathways and the hypothalamus. In short, just like ,gratitude can boost neurotransmitter serotonin and activate the brain stem to produce dopamine. 

In 2009, NIH Researchers (National Institute of Health found that subjects who showed more gratitude overall had higher levels of activity in the hypothalamus. This is important because the hypothalamus controls a huge array of essential bodily functions, including eating, drinking and sleeping. It also has a huge influence on your metabolism and stress levels. From this evidence on brain activity it starts to become clear how improvements in gratitude could have such wide-ranging effects, from increased exercise and improved sleep to decreased depression and fewer aches and pains.

So if you are feeling low and down in the dumps, being thankful for all that is working out for you and whatever you are blessed with in your life will help you get out of your depression and help you cope with life better. Weird but true!

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Source: thriveglobal