I’ve been spending a lot of time looking at the aspects of life that weave into our mind body and spirit – what helps us and what keeps us stuck. How do we connect with ourself and others – what are the aspects of being human that can help us navigate today’s digital world where we have so much available to us and yet feel more isolated and disconnected.
I’ve been exploring gratitude as a practice in recent months and even got gifted a gratitude journal for Christmas – which has sparked this blog.
There’s something quietly powerful about gratitude. It’s not flashy, and can easily be dismissed as simplistic or ‘woo woo’. And yet, when practised consistently, it can become one of the most effective tools for wellbeing.
For so many people I work with, gratitude feels like it is for someone else. They don’t expect gratitude from others and often tell me they don’t deserve to give themselves praise or time to focus on what they’re grateful for. They’ve spent years giving—at work, in relationships, in family roles—without pausing to recognise their own resilience, their own wins, or even their own exhaustion and how they overcome it.
In the chaos of survival mode—when you’re just getting through the day, not really living—it’s hard to find space for gratitude. But it’s often in those darker moments that it becomes most essential. Not to sugarcoat or bypass pain, but to keep you connected to yourself and the bigger picture. To help you notice the small moments that remind you of your strength.
Daily Gratitude Changes Your Brain and Stress System
When we practise gratitude regularly — for example through journaling about things we’re thankful for — neuroscience finds:
- Reduced stress hormones: Participants in gratitude studies showed lower cortisol (a key stress hormone) and improved cardiovascular function compared with control groups.
- Better emotional regulation: Gratitude practice is linked with resilience and the brain becoming better at handling negative emotions like anxiety, envy or resentment.
- Increased positive affect over time: Benefits aren’t always immediate, but they grow with consistent practice.
This matters because the brain and body aren’t separate — emotions like anxiety trigger physiological responses that affect inflammation, immunity and sleep.
Gratitude not Toxic Positivity
This is an important distinction.
✔️ Gratitude = honest appreciation of what you have, including its complexity
✖️ Toxic positivity = insisting everything is fine when it isn’t
Toxic positivity tells you to “just be happy” or “look on the bright side” while ignoring very real pain or challenges.
Gratitude, on the other hand, is honest. It says:
“Yes, this is hard… and there are still things I can appreciate.”
It holds space for both what actually is and hope for what could be. For something different. It allows us to feel deeply without being consumed by the struggle. That’s what makes it so powerful—it doesn’t deny reality; it helps you meet it with more resilience.
Anxiety, Uncertainty and the Energy of Now
I’ve been exploring the energy of anxiety – how it sits within the vagus nerve and how we can find ways to live with the energy in a different way. I always help my clients to see the connection between uncertainty worry and anxiety.
Anxiety thrives in uncertainty—when we’re constantly bracing for what might go wrong.
Gratitude brings us back to what is. It says:
“Right now, I am safe. Right now, I can breathe. Right now, this moment is enough.”
This anchors us in the present, and from here, we can respond more calmly and clearly.
Spiritual teachers like Deepak Chopra and Dr Joe Dispenza speak of gratitude as a frequency—a higher emotional vibration that shifts our energy and opens us up to possibility. And while the science may use different language, the principle is the same:
Gratitude regulates your nervous system, raises your emotional state, and moves you out of survival mode into a state of greater calm and clarity.
Try This: A 7-Day Gratitude Practice
Let’s turn insight into action — because that’s where transformation begins.
For the next week, take five minutes each day and write down:
1. Three things I’m grateful for
Choose one from each of these areas:
- 💫 Something from your environment (home, work, relationships)
- 🌱 Something personal (a quality, skill or achievement)
- 💖 Anything else that brings you joy or peace
2. Now pause.
For each one, close your eyes and feel the emotional response in your body.
Let it grow. Notice where it lives—your chest, your belly, your breath.
That energy you feel? That’s your emotional vibration rising.
3. One positive affirmation for today
Examples:
- “I am learning to trust myself.”
- “I am safe in the present moment.”
- “I am growing stronger every day.”
Keep this affirmation with you throughout the day. Speak it aloud. Breathe it in. Let it become part of how you show up.
