Could Gratitude Improve Your Chronic Pain?
Jun 13, 2022
"Stop complaining! Just count your blessings and think about what you have, not what you don't have. There are children starving in this world!" This was the response I heard every time I wanted to know why I didn't have the latest toy, clothing or Disneyland holiday that another child had. I always felt ashamed when I heard this and pretty quickly developed an "attitude of gratitude." I consider myself to be a grateful person now, thanks to my upbringing, but how can gratitude possibly help to improve your chronic pain? Let's examine this more closely to see how gratitude could benefit you too.
What is Gratitude?
This positive emotion is defined in the Oxford dictionary as the feeling of being grateful and wanting to express your thanks. It's so easy to take many things for granted but taking the time to acknowledge and focus on the good in our lives can have a profound effect on both our mental and physical well-being. In psycological terms. gratitude can be further categorised into three specific forms. Firstly, as a personality trait which means it's part of your disposition. Secondly, it can be a mood, which means it occurs in a constantly varying state and lastly an emotion which is a temporary response to receiving a gift for example.
What is the Science of Gratitude?
Many studies over the past 10 years have shown that regular gratitude practice allows us to rewire the neural structures of our brains leading to increased feelings of happiness and contentment. When we express gratitude, dopamine, which is a neurotransmitter, is released which gives you a natural high. This understandably prompts you to repeat the behaviour that made you feel so good which in this case is to express gratitude again. Expresing gratitude also increases the release of serotonin which contributes to a positve mood and promotes relaxation. Research has shown that actively expressing gratitude stimulates the medial prefrontal cortex of the brain which is responsible for decision making and learning. In short you are wiring your brain to focus on the positive which will improve your overall happinees and contentment as it's not possible to be grateful and envious at the same time. Therefore you are preventing the negative and toxic emotions that you could be experiencing from dominating which improves your overall physical and mental wellbeing.
What is a Gratitude Practice?
While being grateful when you receive a gift or good service is benefical, studies have shown that establishing a regular gratitude practice can intensify these benefits by improving your well-being for the long-term. Keeping a daily gratitude journal is ideal for this. You can physically write your entries in a book or diary or store them digitally on your phone or on an app. Some journals provide prompts to assist you or you may prefer to write on a blank page. There are varying schools of thought on this but by spending 5-10 minutes journalling daily in the morning and evening you will begin to produce results. It's very important to let yourself feel the emotions associated with your journal entries for it to be effective. Just writing a list of events with no meaning attached to it won't have the required impact. The feelings need to be authentic so you are actually in a state of gratutude. Some examples of an entry might be: I'm grateful for the smell of hot coffee in the morning. I'm gatefull I have clean water to drink. I'm grateful my back pain is under control. Anything that you are grateful for is appropriate and don't discount the simple things we take for granted. It may take around 3 weeks to a month to rewire your brain and for you to experience the benefits, but persevere with it as the results are life-changing!
How Can Gratitude Improve Chronic Pain?
In 2003 Emmons & McCullough conducted a study which evaluated the effect of gratitude on well-being. The results showed that 16% of the patients who kept a gratitude journal reported reduced pain symptoms and were more willing to exercise and cooperate with their treatment procedure. Numerous studies have been conducted since and Glenn Fox PhD, an expert in the science of gratitude, found that a gratutude practice can improve sleep quality, increase our resilience to stress, reduce depression and improve overall well-being. It also helps to keep your focus on the present moment therefore improving mindfulness. Other studies have shown that gratitude can also improve pain tolerance which therefore decreases sensitivity to pain as well as increasing self-esteeem. If you are living with chronic pain all of these factors can contribute to reducing pain.
How Can Pilates Help to Reduce Your Chronic Pain?
Over the last 17 years I've helped hundreds of people to become pain-free with Pilates which has been a very rewarding experience for me to see people take back control of their lives again. My online Pilates program JS Mind Body Pilates is specifically designed to help you recover from pain and injury by activating and then strengthening the core and glute muscles. What I've noticed is that some people are very grateful for every little bit of progress they make and not suprisingly they go to on to acheive their goal of becoming pain-free and moving withe ease. Others do the opposite. They focus on the fact that they are in pain and it's going to be difficult to become pain-free. Small amounts of progress are seen as not enough. Not suprisingly they either give up or if they do perservere, it takes them much longer to reach their goal of becoming pain-free than it actually should have. So as you can see an attitude of gratitude is a very powerful tool and as Tony Robbins says " Where Focus goes, energy flows!" So by focussing on gratitude we become more grateful and see the world through a more positive lens.
I don't know about you but I find it quite incredible that something so simple can produce such powerful results. It turns out my Mum was onto something when she kept reminding me to count my blessings and focus on what I already had instead of what I didn't.
If you don't have a gratitude practice try establishing one by journalling daily. You have absolutely nothing to lose and you can start straight away. The results may really surprise you and help you to reduce your chronic pain. If you are ready to go a step further and start a Pilates practice book your in-depth Initial Assessment with me via Skype. Alternatively you can contact me at [email protected] if you have any questions. It would be my pleasure to assist you!
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