At this time of year, gratitude is a central theme. Yet what if we practiced gratitude all year long? How much more healing would we experience? How much more joyful would life be?
Neuroscience shows us that gratitude activates the reward center of the brain, stimulating a sense of well-being. Regular practice of gratitude has long-term effects on brain health and emotional well-being. Gratitude has been shown to reduce cortisol and help the immune system reduce inflammation.
A review of 70 studies, which included responses from more than 26,000 people, found that higher levels of gratitude were associated with lower levels of depression. Several studies show that a grateful mindset positively affects biomarkers associated with the risk for heart disease. Keeping a gratitude journal has been shown to cause a significant drop in diastolic blood pressure (the force your heart exerts between beats). Even if you don’t write them down, having grateful thoughts also helps your heart by regulating your breathing and synchronizing your heartbeat.
Taking time to be thankful causes a physiological change in your body that initiates a parasympathetic nervous system response. This is important because the parasympathetic nervous system calms down the overactive sympathetic nervous system, which allows you to rest, digest, and heal.
Practicing gratitude also seems to improve sleep. People who practice gratitude tend to have a positive attitude that promotes positive action. They tend to eat well, exercise, and have good sleep hygiene, which helps to improve sleep quality. Practicing gratitude also helps to reduce stress and feelings of anxiety, and depression.
Gratitude Can Be Difficult to Define
It’s an emotional state that affects the physical state. Feeling gratitude is not necessarily conditioned to good times, which makes it possible to maintain grateful feelings and feel good even during the bad times.
I realize it’s hard to be grateful day in and day out. And honestly, it’s been a rough year. Sometimes it takes a particularly difficult event to realize the effects of gratitude.
I had one in the nine days into 2025. I fractured four ribs in an equestrian accident. Thank goodness I was wearing a helmet, or I would have had a head injury too.
After driving myself to the hospital and seeing the results of my CT scan, my first instinct was to blame myself. But you and I know that shame and blame does nothing to promote healing. So I quickly started to find things to be grateful for, like what my body was doing right.
I started counting my blessings. My number one blessing is my super supportive family. My second blessing is that I’d spent decades living a healthy life, eating well, trying. to get good sleep, being active, practicing stress reduction techniques, and, since 2003, taking Genesis Gold® every day.
Genesis Gold® & Sacred Seven®
Studies show that certain micronutrients, and specifically phytonutrients like the ingredients in Genesis Gold®, can help the hypothalamus function more efficiently. And that’s important since your hypothalamus controls the tissue repair process, the immune system response to inflammation, and basically all aspects of healing.
I knew my hypothalamus was about as optimized as it could be, so I just added extra Sacred Seven® amino acids to give my hypothalamus more support while it orchestrated active healing. I also took extra vitamin D and ate extremely well, making sure that my diet was rich in calcium and protein so that my body had the nutrients it needed to heal the broken bones. And I started using red light therapy, 20 minutes a day, three days on and three days off.
There’s some amazing research about red light therapy stimulating collagen production, which is needed in healing injuries. The pad I use and recommend for my patients can be found HERE.
About 2 1/2 weeks after I fractured my ribs, I saw a brand new primary health care provider.
He was shocked that at my age (I’m post menopausal, not the best time to fracture any bone), I was already experiencing healing with very little pain, no more crackling of my ribs, and had nearly full range of motion.
“This is really unusual,” the 30-something-year-old doctor remarked.
“Well,” I responded, “it helps to support your hypothalamus nutraceutically, and I’ve been using red light therapy.”
Not knowing much about the hypothalamus or red light therapy, he had to do a little research. I continued with my healing protocols, including being grateful for every sign of healing I was experiencing. And within a couple of months, I was back to all my normal activities and feeling stronger than ever.
I Believe In Your Body’s Ability to Heal, and I Believe that Gratitude Can Help Fuel the Healing.
You can start by keeping a gratitude journal. Write down every morning or night what was good about the day, what you’re grateful for – be specific. When you actually feel very thankful, very grateful, notice where those feelings are.
Are they in your heart, your stomach, your head?
Does your whole body feel energized by gratitude?
When things aren’t going well, and you’re feeling stressed, stop and take a deep breath through your nose, hold it for a few seconds, and slowly, very slowly exhale out through your mouth. Repeat these mindful breaths at least two or three more times. Mindful breathing helps to stimulate your parasympathetic nervous system, which helps it make GABA, which relaxes your body and calms your mind. This calm state will allow you to notice what’s good around you. So you can be thankful and benefit psychologically and physiologically from gratitude.
Now take a look at yourself.
What is working? What can you express gratitude for? Do you notice that you feel stronger, look a bit more toned since you’ve been exercising? That’s something to feel grateful for. Does your mind feel calm and clear since you’ve gotten better sleep due to your awesome new bedtime routine?
Thank yourself. Do you have a little more energy since you’ve been supporting your hypothalamus with Genesis Gold®? More energy to do the things you love is definitely something to be grateful for.
By being your body’s best cheerleader – telling it how well it’s doing, expressing gratitude for all the blessings in your life, I promise you will help promote your own healing.
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