Biohacking is certainly a buzzword in the health and wellness industry at the moment, but what does it mean to biohack your mind?
Well, biohacking is a type of “do it yourself” biology that aims at improving your health, wellbeing, energy levels, happiness, and performance. So, when biohacking focuses on the mind, the aim is to have a healthier, happier, more concentrated, and focused mind.
If you struggle with stress, anxiety, depression, feelings of confusion, or you simply want to improve your mental health and awareness, biohacking could be the answer!
In this article, I’m not only going to be diving into the relationship between gratitude and the mind but how you can actively practice gratitude to improve your mental health and overall wellbeing.
What Is Gratitude?
Gratitude is a feeling of appreciation and thankfulness. Typically, gratitude is associated with the “thank you” that comes with receiving a gift.
However, you can feel grateful for a number of things, from your family and home to simply being alive and breathing!
Some people feel gratitude more easily than others, which can be put down to being taught to practice gratitude during childhood, or having a more grateful biological disposition. However, gratitude can also be learned.
It’s a good job that you can practice learning gratitude because doing so can make you happier and healthier!
Practicing gratitude doesn’t just make you feel more positive short term, but it provides long-term positive effects. Let’s take a look at some of the benefits associated with practicing gratitude…
What Are The Benefits of Practicing Gratitude?
The number of benefits associated with practicing gratitude is endless!
Research has shown that gratitude improves relationships, can lower anxiety, eases symptoms of depression, increase optimism, and lower stress levels.
All of these mental health benefits also lead to physical benefits – gratitude can help to boost the immune system and improve the quality and quantity of sleep.
A Closer Look At The Relationship Between Gratitude and Anxiety
The most prominent benefit associated with gratitude is lower anxiety, so let’s take a look at the science behind the relationship between the two.
When you feel particularly worried about something (whether real or not), your body reacts since it believes that you are in danger. Therefore, adrenalin begins to rush through your body.
This adrenalin in your body then causes a fight or flight response and this creates anxiety. Your body does this to protect you in situations where you may be in actual danger.
However, this starts to be an issue when the fight or flight response happens but you’re not actually in danger – this is when people suffer from anxiety.
If you suffer from anxiety, your life can become detrimentally impacted. Symptoms of anxiety include feeling restless, increased heart rate, hyperventilation, sweating, fatigue, and inability to focus.
However, practicing gratitude has a direct impact on anxiety. Gratitude increases positive emotions and positive emotions combat anxiety.
When you practice gratitude and experience positive feelings, the sympathetic nervous system is regulated, meaning your anxiety levels become lower.
Therefore, your sympathetic nervous system only starts to react and cause you anxiety when there are real things happening that could be dangerous to you.
So, it’s a good idea to start biohacking your mind with gratitude!
How You Can Practice Gratitude – 8 Simple Ways To Improve Your Life
If you want to reap the benefits of gratitude but you’re not sure how to practice it, don’t panic. I’m going to tell you about 8 simple ways you can practice gratitude in your daily life to improve your mental health and wellbeing.
1Gratitude Journaling
One of the most common and easiest ways to practice gratitude is by using a gratitude journal. All you need to do is sit down on a daily basis and write a number of things that you are grateful for.
Most people tend to choose to journal in the morning to start their day off well, and a list of either 5 to 10 things is typically produced!
Having to physically write about what you’re grateful for not only actively forces you to feel grateful even when you don’t feel full of gratitude, but once you have a few lists of all the things you’re grateful for you can flick through whenever you feel anxious, stressed, or down.
2Show Appreciation To Others
One of the main aspects of your life that you’re probably grateful for is your family and friends – they bring you joy, they lift you up, and they have your back. So, why not let them know that by actively showing them gratitude?
This will improve your relationships, as well as their happiness and your own!
You don’t just have to be grateful for those that are close around you – try to show a form of gratitude to everyone you meet throughout your day and spread the joy!
3Gratitude Walks
Gratitude walks were made an activity by Tony Robbin to improve mindset and help with manifestation. A gratitude walk is a work that you specifically take to focus on the things you’re grateful for whilst you’re walking, as the name suggests!
All you need to do on a gratitude walk is focus on your senses – pay attention to what you hear, see, smell, and feel. You can also take note of any thoughts that come up and try to think about your emotions.
Not only is it incredibly easy to show gratitude when you’re surrounded by nature, but going on a gratitude walk can focus your mind and bring you into a more mindful and relaxed state.
4Create A Gratitude Jar
If you’re someone that struggles with sitting down and creating time to journal (even though you should prioritize it!), a gratitude jar might be a great idea.
You can create a gratitude jar by getting a large bowl, simply writing down one thing every day that you’re grateful for, and then adding it into the jar.
Not only does looking at the jar building up over time give you a sense of achievement and happiness, but every time you feel like you need a pick-me-up, all you need to do is delve into the jar and read a reason to feel grateful!
5Practice Mindfulness
Whilst mindfulness and gratitude are not the same, they’re closely linked. Mindfulness practices give you an opportunity to pause for a moment and truly “smell the roses”, appreciate life, and calm your body and mind if you’re combatting stressors.
Taking time to engage in daily mindfulness practices can increase gratitude and provide additional mental health benefits.
Mindfulness simply means being fully present and aware of what you’re doing in one moment, and you can become more mindful by doing practices such as meditation, breathwork, yoga, and art.
6Search For Gratitude In Challenging Times
It’s normally pretty easy for most people to practice gratitude when everything is going well in their life – you can feel grateful for the house, the job, the family, the friends, and the happiness around you.
However, it’s in the most challenging times when gratitude is actually most necessary.
Since gratitude directly impacts anxiety, stress, and depression, you need to practice gratitude in these times if you’re going to get through them. You can practice searching for gratitude in challenging times by starting small and reframing negative thoughts.
If something bad happens to you during your day, even if it’s a tiny annoyance, replace that negative thought with a grateful one. Over time, you’ll reframe your mind.
7Realize How Abundant Your Life Is Currently
Although looking to the past isn’t always a good idea, it’s useful in small doses! You can practice gratitude pretty simply by looking back at where you’ve come from.
Whether you think about what your life was like last month, last year, or ten years ago, think about how much you’ve learned, how much you’ve changed, and how much good has found its way into your life, take a moment, and feel grateful!
8Create A Life That You Feel Grateful For
Ultimately, you can find gratitude in pretty much everything. However, the best way to find a prolonged sense of gratitude is by actively seeking out and creating a life that you feel grateful for.
Whether you want to move to the other side of the world and start working remotely, you want to hit the gym and improve your fitness levels, or you spend more time with your children, make sure that you are constantly working towards a life that you can feel grateful for.
The Bottom Line – Biohack Your Mind By Practicing Gratitude and Reap The Benefits
If you’re looking to improve your mental health and physical wellbeing, one of the best things that you can do is practice gratitude.
You don’t have to spend hours a day thinking about everything you’re grateful for or feel guilty if you’re not practicing gratitude 24/7, but you do need to bring gratitude to the front of your mind regularly if you’re successfully going to biohack your mind and live a happier, healthier, and fuller life.
