Rewiring your Brain for Gratitude

You become the creator of your own life by becoming the decision-maker of what you focus on.
Welcome to the first episode of Season 2 of the Purposeful Lifestyle Development Podcast! This season I am highlighting some questions I get most frequently, and topics that our community really wants a deeper dive into.

You can let me know your questions, thoughts, or comments on social media, by messaging me from my website, or by emailing me at [email protected]

What is gratitude?
- It is the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness

Sonja Lyubomirsky, “Gratitude is an antidote to negative emotions, a neutralizer of envy, hostility, worry, and irritation. It is savoring; it is not taking things for granted; it is present-oriented.”  (a quote from her book The How of Happiness: A Scientific Approach to Getting the Life You Want)

We’re answering these questions today:
What happens in the brain when we focus on gratitude?
How do we naturally feel more grateful?
Can we make gratitude a more natural state?
What happens in the brain when we complain?

In the current neural study, we see clearly that an active practice of gratitude increases neuron density and leads to higher emotional intelligence.
We get a cocktail of happy hormones - a little dopamine, a little serotonin - and we create these “gratitude circuits".  As stated in Hebb’s Law, “neurons that fire together wire together.” 

How do we do this?
We have got to start fine-tuning what we focus on.

I’m going to walk you through how exactly to do this, so please put yourself in the examples presented. This is how you trick your brain.

It feels like freedom. It feels like power and autonomy over self. And it all has to do with gratitude. When you practice gratitude, your brain gets what it wants.  
It feels safe. 
Its needs are met.

 Don’t be afraid of romanticizing your life. Find the thing that feels good.

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This episode is dedicated with the highest honor to my dearly missed and beloved friend, Jonathan Price.

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