Are You Ready to Boost Your Immune System?
Take your gratitude game to the next level.
Okinawa, an island southwest of Japan’s main landmass, is known as a Blue Zone — a place where people live healthier and longer.
The nation of Japan has the longest average life expectancy (just over 84 years) of anywhere in the world, according to a July 2020 study.
A new report published in the journal Anthropology and Aging explains how Japan’s older people maintain their wellbeing, and it appears the “attitude of gratitude” has influenced the success.
Do you count your blessings?
Gratitude not only makes you a better person. It makes you healthier.
How do you typically respond to a question: ‘How was your day?’
Do you start enumerating things that could have gone better in your life?
Ugh, I got stuck in unbelievable traffic on my way to work. My boss never notices my efforts. The new barista was slow, and it took ages before he made me some coffee.
How often do you start a conversation with ecstatic laughter on your face, saying:
Guess what? I have made it safe to work today. It is a blessing that I have a job and a steady income. I got to take a break throughout my day and sipped delicious coffee.
How often do you tell somebody about the good stuff in your life?
The human brain is hard-wired to dwell on the negative in life. A regular gratitude practice can challenge this negativity bias.
If we spoke about things going well in our lives, we would be much happier and healthier. Stress and fear weaken the immune system. Gratitude and generosity have the opposite nature — they heal.
Your mind drains your immune system.
Your brain cannot differentiate between a real-life event and feelings you evoke through imagination. When you overanalyze and worry, your body feels threatened and goes into survival mode.
There is nothing wrong with the state of alertness. After all, our mind’s prior function is to keep us alive.
But if we constantly worry about what might happen and overload our brain with negative would-be scenarios, the survival mode is always on. It is too much to bear for our bodies and weakens the immune system.
To convince your mind and body to feel at peace, you need to think peaceful thoughts. There is no better way than through gratitude.
When you are stressed and worried, you are waiting for something bad to happen. But when you tap into gratitude, you are calm and composed, ecstatic even. You are not running ahead with your thoughts into the future.
You simply are. Right in this moment. And this moment is perfect. So are you.
When your immune system isn’t worrying about your internal stressors (like anxiety and uncertainty), it can focus on protecting you from external stressors (like bacteria and viruses).
“Changing your fear to gratitude, appreciation, and kindness for just 10 minutes a day, three times a day, can strengthen your immune system by 50%. If you don’t give your power to other people or circumstances, you can be less susceptible to conditions in your environment. Your immune system will say, ‘I got this. I have a lot of energy here.’”
When you drain yourself from vital life energy by focusing on negativity and problems to solve, your mind and body become sick.
‘Thank you’ improves your defence system.
Gratitude is being aware of and thankful for the good things you have.
These good things are not necessarily material possessions. They can be relationships, situations, or anything positive in your life.
When you make an effort to focus your thoughts on things that are going great in your life, you’ll start to notice more things to be grateful for.
Feelings of gratitude and appreciation result in a significant increase in levels of immunoglobulin A, which serves as the body’s first line of defence against viruses.
Gratitude lowers your cortisol (stress hormone) and improves your sleep quality, lowering depression levels.
Researchers at the universities of Utah and Kentucky observed that stressed-out law students who characterized themselves as optimistic actually had more disease-fighting cells in their bodies. Stress hormones like cortisol are 23% lower in grateful people.
Gratitude makes you feel better. Stress lowers the immune response to potential bodily threats, whereas increased mental well-being can help your body fight off illness.
Brain scans of people who foster gratitude have shown changes to the prefrontal cortex that makes them more likely to experience gratitude in the future. This means that as you work to have more gratitude in your life, the positive feelings of thankfulness will begin to flow more easily and naturally.
Make gratitude a habit. Small routines add to a powerful lifestyle.
There are many ways you can practice daily gratitude.
- meditation is a powerful tool to calm a reactive mind preoccupied with fear, anxiety, and distress,
- keep a gratitude jar,
- pay somebody a compliment and tell them how much you appreciate their presence in your life,
- step out into nature every day and notice its abundance and beauty,
- send your neighbour a smile as you are heading out of the building,
- include a daily act of kindness to a stranger,
- greet a day with a smile and a big ‘thank you’ for being alive,
- praise yourself in the mirror. No, it is not a narcissistic trait but a bold act of self-love,
- call your relatives more often,
- cease gossiping and criticizing,
- observe your thoughts and flip negatives into positives,
- reward good service,
- always say ‘thank you’,
- be thankful for hardships in your life. They made you better and stronger.
- get proud of yourself,
- gratitude journal keeps you happy:
What did your body do for you today? What functions did it perform to keep you alive? Thank your body.
What did you get to put on your plate today? Did you curb your hunger? Did you have a warm meal today? Give thanks for the food you get to eat.
Who did you enjoy meeting today? Did you engage in an interesting conversation? Did you learn something new? Did you get to hug your favourite person? Give thanks for the people in your life. Our relationships with others are the greatest determinant of our happiness.
What did you do today that you particularly enjoy? Did you get to read? Did you get to listen to alternative music? Did you get a chance to take a walk outside? Give thanks for the opportunity to enjoy your day.
What are you doing right now? Do you get to read this article on an advanced technological device with wireless connection to the entire world? Wow, you are a lucky one. Give thanks for the present moment.
Why should you practice gratitude daily?
Because I cannot think of one reason you shouldn’t bother.
Gratitude works because it makes you feel better. When you feel better, you take care of yourself; your body, your mind, and your relationships. Your health thrives. You are motivated to reach your goals. There is no complicated science behind it.
Learn to handle adversities life throws at you. Turn them into opportunities. Focus on the good stuff you have going on. Learn to squeeze lemons and mindfully sip that lemonade.
So, how was your day?
Thank you for being here, — Kate
Join my e-mail list here to stay in touch. I’d love to hear what you’re thinking.
Become a Medium member today for full access.