Gratitude.

Much is made about gratitude these days…especially this time of year.  For many of us it comes naturally. We look at the world through eyes of wonder and awe and are thankful for all of it.  At the other end of the spectrum we may know (or be) those who can’t seem to find one thing about which to be happy and thankful. And the vast majority of us somewhere in between.

But what if I told you that there is some pretty stellar research out there that suggests that having a true gratitude practice could add yet another way of bio-hacking your way into living with more health and vitality?  

Like proven to do so!

With measurable improvements to mental and physical health!

Shifting your physiology to improve immunity!!!

And it takes only a few minutes a few days a week????!!!

That is big. For such little output, an amazing level of return!

Dr. Andrew Huberman out of Stanford University School of Medicine (I have a cognitive crush on this man…along with a few others you may see me quote all the time) explains that although most people who practice some form of daily gratitude, most don’t move the needle on true health improvements.  But there is something that does.  And here are the Cliff notes:

1 - Use a narrative. A story.  Find a powerful and inspirational story that exhibits the beauty of the human spirit where people are helping people.  This story should move you.  It is important that it is in the narrative form.  Not a list. It can be in written form, a podcast, a movie, etc.

2 - You will use this story over and over again. It must be repeated.

3 - You can write down some bullet points about the story and use it to get back into the emotional experience of the story each time without re-watching the movie or re-listening to the podcast, etc. List out what the struggle was, what the help was, and the impact of the story on you.  Again, this is your “shorthand” to get back into the story each time.

4 - You only need to re-live the story about 3x/week and for only a few minutes each time….even just one minute if that is all you have.

Ready for this…in addition to lowering inflammation this has PROVEN BENEFITS TO DIMINISHING FEAR AND INCREASING MOTIVATION!!

That is big. For such little output, an amazing level of return!

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