The Most Effective Gratitude Practice
Presenter:
Dr. Andrew Huberman
Time:
1:25:59
Summary
In this episode, I discuss the science of gratitude, which has been shown in peer-reviewed studies to have tremendous positive effects on mental and physical health. I explain, however, that most commonly used gratitude practices are ineffective (such as gratitude lists). The key elements of highly effective gratitude practices are described, including the essential need for story (narrative), receiving or perceiving gratitude rather than giving it, and the role that theory of mind plays in this context. I also discuss why we can't simply make up feelings of gratitude and how reluctance undermines the process. I also explain the neural circuit mechanisms that underlie the reductions in fear and increases in motivation and lowering of inflammatory chemicals that effective narrative-based gratitude can trigger. Throughout the episode, I use the science of gratitude to design a brief but highly effective protocol.
Transcript
Welcome to the Huberman Lab Podcast, where we discuss science and science-based tools for everyday life. I'm Andrew Huberman, and I'm a professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine. Today, we are talking all about the science of gratitude. In part, we're doing this because of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, which of course, is all about giving thanks, gratitude, but also because there's a wealth of data showing that having an effective gratitude practice can impact a huge number of health variables; both mental health and physical health in positive ways.
Things like cardiovascular health, things like relationships, things like mental health, things like physical and cognitive performance. And these are not small effects. These are very large positive effects. However, in researching this episode, I was completely surprised as to what constitutes an effective gratitude practice.