A grateful heart not only uplifts the spirit but also strengthens the mind and body.
September 25, 2025 | Montemorelos, Nuevo Leon, Mexico | Luis Aguilar, Montemorelos University and IAD News Staff
We live in a fast-paced world, where daily challenges and constant worries can cloud our ability to enjoy what we have. Amid this dizzying pace, there is a simple, accessible, and profoundly transformative practice that can improve our physical, mental, and spiritual well-being: gratitude. It is our suggestion that gratitude influences our health, and when we are intentional about it, it can change the way we face life.
What Is Gratitude?
Gratitude isn’t just saying “thank you.” It is a mental and emotional state that allows us to recognize, appreciate, and value the good in our lives, even amid adversity. We can define gratitude as the ability to focus on the positive, recognize what others do for us, and cultivate an attitude of appreciation towards life. It does not mean ignoring the negative but on the contrary, shifting the focus to what does work.
Studies in neuroscience have shown that practicing gratitude activates brain regions related to empathy, reward, and decision-making. At the same time, it reduces activity in areas related to fear and anxiety. In other words, cultivating gratitude has a direct effect on our brain well-being. Feeling gratitude releases dopamine and serotonin, neurotransmitters that make us feel good naturally.
Proven Benefits
Gratitude isn’t just a fad or a positive belief but a practice with solid scientific foundations. Several studies have documented its benefits for human health.
Practicing gratitude is associated with lower levels of stress and anxiety, reduction of depressive symptoms, and increased self-esteem and life satisfaction. A study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology concluded that people who kept a gratitude journal for ten weeks felt more optimistic and enthusiastic than those who didn’t.
Gratitude also improves physical indicators of health. According to multiple studies, grateful people sleep better, suffer less physical pain, have better blood pressure, and adopt healthier lifestyles. It also strengthens human bonds. Expressing appreciation to others increases empathy, reduces aggression, and improves relationships.
In addition, gratitude makes us more likely to help and be helped, creating a virtuous circle of shared well-being.
Would You Like to Be More Grateful?
The good news is that we don’t need to make great efforts to develop a more grateful life. With small changes in our daily routines, we can train our minds to focus on the positive.
One of the most effective practices consists in keeping a gratitude journal. It implies writing, at the end of the day, between three and five things for which we feel grateful. They don’t have to be big accomplishments; even small things, like a pleasant conversation or a tasty meal, would do. Consistency is more important than perfection. Even writing once a week yields measurable benefits.
Writing a letter to a person who has had a positive impact on our lives can end up benefiting us. If possible, read it aloud. It can be a transformative experience, both for you and the recipient.
Another way of developing gratitude consists of looking for the positive side or trying to learn even in difficult situations. It is not a matter of denying pain, but of recognizing that, even in adversity, there can be reasons to be grateful. It’s what experts call positive reframing. It is interesting to note that during the COVID-19 pandemic, many people developed a greater capacity for gratitude. Despite the fear and loss, there was a revaluation of everyday aspects such as health, family, or the simple fact of being able to breathe fresh air.
Challenges and Rewards
Although the benefits of gratitude are obvious, it is normal that, sometimes, it becomes challenging to practice it. We live in a culture focused on scarcity, consumption, and constant comparison with our peers and colleagues.
At the same time, our brains are hardwired to detect threats, which can cause us to pay more attention to the negative. Gratitude, however, retrains the brain to balance this natural tendency.
Likewise, social media can make us feel like something is always missing. Practicing gratitude brings us back to the present and helps us value our personal history, without constantly comparing ourselves to others.
Beyond our personal scope, a culture of gratitude can generate more supportive, empathetic, and resilient communities. When institutions, schools, and workplaces promote gratitude, human relationships improve and the sense of belonging increases.
How It Looks Like
For instance, focusing on gratitude practices in the classroom encourages greater emotional well-being in students, better academic performance, lower incidence of bullying, and a positive school climate
In the workplace, it has been shown that teams that thank each other are able to increase engagement, have a lower turnover, develop a harmonious work environment, and increase creativity and collaboration.
Practicing gratitude brings results fast. Many people have noticed positive changes in their mood after just one week. Benefits, however, add up over time. The key is in consistency, not quantity.
Gratitude can help people battling depression. Although it does not replace professional treatment, it can be an effective complement to psychological and pharmacological therapy. In fact, it has been shown to decrease mild to moderate depressive symptoms.
Gratitude can be taught. Example is the best way to teach, especially with children. In addition, you can include small practices such as thanking other members of the family for specific actions before going to bed, writing letters to loved ones, or doing a round of family gratitude once a week.
Within Everyone’s Reach
The power of gratitude is within everyone’s reach. We don’t need to have a perfect life to be grateful. In fact, it is by practicing it that we begin to see that, despite the problems, there is much worth appreciating.
From improving our mental health to strengthening our relationships and communities, gratitude is a transformative tool that we can start using today.
In a world that constantly tells us that “it’s not enough,” gratitude reminds us that we already have a lot to be thankful for, and that even in the little, we can find abundance. Practicing gratitude will not magically change our circumstances, but it will change the way we live through them.
Luis Aguilar Chunab, M.D., serves as project coordinator in the Health-Promoting University Directorate at Montemorelos University. He is a physician and a member of the support team for the Health Ministries Department of the Inter-American Division.