“Thank you”.

Imagine that those two little words could significantly improve your physical and emotional well being. That may sound too good to be true, but it is and there’s a sizable body of research that backs that up.

Several research studies have shown that practicing gratitude can produce measurable physical and emotional benefits in people who regularly perform acts of kindness. These include better sleep, less fatigue, improved motivation, less anxiety and depression and resistance to heart failure.

Another study used Functional MRI scanners to detect changes in the brain and found increased activity in the areas associated with empathy, stress reduction, relationship skills and overall feelings of personal well-being.

Gratitude is also a key component in Marsha Linehan’s Dialectical Behavior Therapy for the treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)

If you are interested in learning more about the benefits of practicing gratitude, Dr. Robert Emmons, a psychologist and researcher on the benefits of gratitude at the University of California/Davis published an article about gratitude that includes a number of gratitude enhancing techniques you might find helpful.

If you have experienced the benefits of gratitude in your life or are interested in this idea, please post your thoughts and ideas on our @BPDvideo Twitter page

 

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