Practicing gratitude makes us feel really good.

There’s science that explains what is happening in our brains behind-the-scenes.

More specifically, expressing gratitude consistently with a community is a superpower, improving everything from our feelings of social connection to presence-based body awareness.

Waveflow is here to apply the latest science to the way we practice gratitude.

An October 2022 study published in Affective Science investigated the optimal ways to give thanks by dividing participants into four categories:

It turns out, participants assigned to ANY gratitude intervention experienced an uptick in positive emotions, connectedness and support when compared with the control group.

A major factor? Texting gratitude to a friend to share your feelings with them created the most significant boost.

So- what exactly goes on in the brain that makes this practice feel rewarding and uplifting?

Studies have shown that gratitude can cause synchronized activation in different parts of our brains, illuminating reward pathways and the hypothalamus. Gratitude can boost serotonin and trigger our brain stems to produce dopamine, our ‘pleasure’ neurotransmitter. In short, the more consistently we practice gratitude, the better we feel.

What is the science behind gratitude journaling? How does gratitude impact our brains. Why does it work?!

The most exciting part about all of this? As we integrate a gratitude practice into our lives over time, our brains actually start to change. Brain plasticity (also called '‘neural plasticity’) means that our brains change through growth and reorganization and actually can be rewired to function differently from our brain functioned in the past. As we become aware of, and therefore seeking out, positivity and gratitude- everything in our lives begins to shift in a good way.

At Waveflow, we make it easy to get creative with your daily gratitude and share it with somebody in a way that feels authentic and FUN.

There are numerous studies in addition to the one referenced above that demonstrate the benefits of a consistent, daily gratitude practice. Explore the references with us below, because knowledge is power.

Gratitude Deep Dive & References:

Our friends from Techno Sapiens broke this all down so clearly in their informative newsletter. Check them out!

Walsh, L.C., Regan, A., Twenge, J.M. et al. What is the Optimal Way to Give Thanks? Comparing the Effects of Gratitude Expressed Privately, One-to-One via Text, or Publicly on Social Media. Affec Sci (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42761-022-00150-5

Cregg, D.R., Cheavens, J.S. Gratitude Interventions: Effective Self-help? A Meta-analysis of the Impact on Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety. J Happiness Stud 22, 413–445 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-020-00236-6 (February 2020)

The Science of Gratitude by Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley (June 2017)

Thankful for the Little Things: A meta-analysis of gratitude interventions (January 2016)

Brain Balance. Gratitude and the Brain: What is happening? Link to Article

Zahn R, Moll J, Paiva M, Garrido G, Krueger F, Huey ED, Grafman J. The neural basis of human social values: evidence from functional MRI. Cereb Cortex. 2009 Feb;19(2):276-83. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhn080. Epub 2008 May 22. PMID: 18502730; PMCID: PMC2733324. (May 2008)