Feeling overwhelmed by stress? Imagine if there was a simple solution to combat stress and discover inner tranquillity. Well, here’s some interesting news: just increasing levels of gratitude in daily life can help. I came across a great article on this recently.

It describes a study done on 68 undergraduate students of diverse ages and genders, from 18 to 57 years old. The students went through a series of lab tasks designed to trigger stress. Then their heart and lung activity was recorded. The findings were very intriguing! The students who had shown most gratitude had lower blood pressure and recovered more quickly from the stress. In other words, expressing gratitude was linked to better heart and lung health.

Plus, the study suggested that gratitude is even more effective when you’re already feeling positive. So, it’s as though positive emotions and gratitude work together to give you even more benefits. Dr. Sarah Collins, the lead researcher, explains it like this: “These findings show just how powerful gratitude can be in reducing stress and building mental resilience. By actively practising gratitude, you can take control of your stress responses and improve your overall well-being.”

In a nutshell, this research from Maynooth University has demonstrated that a little bit of gratitude has a big impact on your ability to handle stress. And the best part is that you can easily incorporate gratitude into your daily life. Just take a moment each day to appreciate the things you’re grateful for. You could start keeping a gratitude journal or share your gratefulness with others. You’ll be amazed at how much it can help you reduce stress and find inner peace. So why not give it a try and see how gratitude can transform your life?

You can read the original article here.

This article summary was created by Eleanor Shakiba

Eleanor is a leadership trainer, success coach and people skills expert. She helps managers and business owners build thriving teams and organisations, using tools from Positive Psychology. She's trained more than 60,000 people during her career as a corporate trainer and professional development consultant. Her mission is inspiring talented people to become leaders who make a difference.