How often do we express our appreciation and gratitude to someone? We might not realize it, but aside from promoting positivity, a simple “thank you” can do wonders for our mental health and overall well-being, studies say. A 2018 study published in Psychological Science proved how expressions of gratitude can be beneficial to both the expressers and recipients, and more often than not, the expressers usually underestimate the value of communicating their thanks and its positive impact to the recipient. Another study conducted by psychologists from the University of California and the University of Miami in 2003 showed how participants who wrote down thank you notes for a number of days tend to have lower levels of stress and anxiety, lesser visits to the doctor, and better sleep quality. Expressing one’s gratefulness improves the mood and brings happiness to both expresser and recipient, strengthens bonds and social connections, and overall lifts one’s spirits and helps one deal with challenges and adversities.

Here are simple ways of expressing your gratitude:

Meditate at the end of the day. Think of the things you are thankful for that particular day—family, friends, good health, being able to meet your basic necessities in life, and simple tasks you accomplished. Cherishing and reminiscing good experiences and counting the blessings you received both enhance one’s mood and give a feeling of contentment.

List down things you are thankful for, or even create a journal out of it. It would be good to read this from time to time to remind ourselves of these blessings and help nurture and maintain in us an optimistic outlook in life.

Write someone a thank you note, and send it to him/her. Be it a simple text message, an email, a phone call, a card or a handwritten note, or verbally thanking someone—these can do wonders for both you and the receiver, and help promote friendlier and more meaningful relationships. Mentally thanking someone can also uplift your mood, but why not let him/her know about it too, and make more than one person happy, right?

References:

https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/writing-a-thank-you-note-is-more-powerful-than-you-think. Accessed on 14 May 2019.
http://time.com/5383208/thank-you-notes-gratitude/. Accessed on 14 May 2019.
http://local.psy.miami.edu/faculty/mmccullough/Gratitude-Related%20Stuff/highlights_fall_2003.pdf. Accessed on 15 May 2019.
https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/images/application_uploads/Emmons-CountingBlessings.pdf. Accessed on 22 May 2019.