365 Days of Good Brain Habits: A Gratitude Jar

Good brain habits improve cognitive functions. Certain small habits can gradually enhance your organization and reduce chaos.

On Monday, Paula wrote.

“I believe it is my responsibility to assist others. I contribute to community initiatives. The small acts of kindness my father performed have fostered a similar enthusiasm within me. I am grateful to my father for demonstrating helpful behavior as a role model.”

She folded the paper and put it in a jar, naming it a gratitude jar.

On Tuesday, she wrote…

“I appreciate my mother's sense of agency. She remains actively engaged in tasks and derives a strong sense of achievement from even the smallest goals. Since my earliest memories, I have observed my mother being busy, constantly moving, and doing things. I am thankful to her.”

Paula folded this chit and placed it in the gratitude jar.

She continued to do so for week 1 and week 2, and for a month, filling her gratitude jar and expressing gratitude to the shopkeeper, the hairdresser, the building guard, friends, and many more.

What did Paula feel?

She felt greater satisfaction with life, more smiles and laughter in her daily life, and a greater sense of self-esteem. She recognized improved sleep, mood, and immunity, and a decrease in anxiety and chronic pain.

Definition

Gratitude is appreciating what is valuable and meaningful to oneself; it's a feeling or expression of thankfulness for life's good things, big or small, recognizing value beyond money, and acknowledging sources outside ourselves. It fosters positivity and strengthens connections. Gratitude can be fleeting or a deeper trait, involving consciously noticing blessings, from kindness to being alive, leading to greater well-being. 

Science of Gratitude

Experiencing gratitude, thankfulness, and appreciation tends to foster positive feelings.

A regular feeling of gratitude fosters long-term brain changes, boosting mental health and resilience. When we're grateful, our brains release dopamine and serotonin, the feel-good chemicals that help rewire our brains to make us happier and calmer. Dopamine is a reward hormone that is a natural pain reliever, and Serotonin is a mood stabilizer that helps us to stress busters. These “happy hormones” also help our bodies by naturally lowering blood pressure, improving digestion, and promoting better sleep. The right level of these hormones helps us manage mood changes like depression and anxiety, sleep problems (insomnia), digestive issues (constipation, bloating), fatigue, increased carb cravings, and cognitive difficulties like poor focus or memory issues, impacting emotional stability, appetite, and rest. 

                                      "Gratitude is the memory of the heart." 

Practicing gratitude

When you make gratitude a regular habit, it can help you recognize the good in your life, even amid the bad. When you're under stress, you might not notice all the positive emotions you experience. A regular practice of gratitude helps you initially cultivate the habit of recognizing positive things.

Luckily, the techniques of practicing gratitude are simple.

Paula used a gratitude jar.

A gratitude jar exercise is a simple mindfulness practice in which you write down things you're thankful for on slips of paper and place them in a jar, creating a physical reminder of life's blessings.

How to Do the Gratitude Jar Exercise

1. Gather Materials: Find a jar or box and decorate it if you wish, along with slips of paper and a pen or markers.

2. Write Gratitude Notes: Each day (or a few times a week), write down one or more things you're grateful for on a slip of paper.

3. Fold & Fill: Fold the paper and place it in the jar. Notes can be for big things or small, like a good cup of coffee, a kind word, or a solved problem.

4. Review for Boost: When you're feeling down, pull out a few notes to read and remember the joyous moments in your life.

5. Year-End Reflection (Optional): Open the jar at the end of the year to see how much good you've experienced.