How a Practice of Gratitude Can Help You Sleep
Gratitude is a practice that is embedded in all spiritual disciplines.
The reason is that a feeling of gratitude shifts us into a sense of connection with the world around us.
Rather than objectifying everything and deeming it all either good or bad, we can connect and be in a relationship with our surroundings.
This is a subtle but powerful shift.
When we are in connection from a perspective of gratitude, we generate the physiology of joy, comfort and rest.
So, how can gratitude help you sleep?
The answer is that, typically when you are not sleeping when you want to be, you are in a state of frustration. You want to be sleeping and you are not sleeping.
This frustration creates stress hormones, making sleep even more elusive.
Gratitude, on the other hand, produces positive emotions.
These emotions are associated with neurochemicals that can be measured in the brain. One of these is oxytocin, the so-called "love chemical", released when we bond with others. Other positive emotion neurochemicals associated with gratitude include dopamine and serotonin.
Practicing gratitude when you can’t get to sleep can shift you from the stress and negativity that keeps you awake to positive emotions of peace and well-being.
"OK, great", you may be saying, "but I’m NOT feeling grateful!" "I'm feeling frustrated when I can't sleep!"
Believe it or not, we most need gratitude when we are not naturally feeling it!
Shifting from frustration to gratitude when you are not able to sleep may seem impossible. However, we can change our emotions by the way we think.
When we think of negative things, we feel negative emotions. When we think positive things, we feel positive emotions. Gratitude generates positive thoughts.
So, how do you do this?
Let’s say you are in bed feeling frustrated about not sleeping. Instead of listing in your mind all the reasons you are not sleeping and why this is a disaster for you, start focusing on positive things you can feel grateful for. Try some of these:
I am grateful that my bed is cozy and comfortable
I am grateful that my body can rest
Add on anything that is true for you that you can be grateful for; your body, your relationships, your home, your environment.
Consider implementing gratitude as a practice.
When we intentionally practice gratitude as an ongoing way of being in the world, this changes the brain. One of the outcomes of this brain change is better sleep. This is because new neural pathways are created and also thinking with gratitude helps regulate the hypothalamus part of the brain, which in turn regulates sleep.
A gratitude practice also helps overcome depression, which is closely associated with chronic insomnia.
What is a practice of gratitude and how do you do it?
A gratitude practice is simply developing a habit of thinking from a perspective of appreciation and thankfulness. At the beginning, it can be helpful to make this a daily ritual. Here are a few ways to get started:
Gratitude journaling - write down things that you are grateful for in a journal.
Gratitude moments - set a notification on your phone and when it goes off, pause for a moment to experience appreciation for something in your surroundings or in your life.
Gratitude expression - tell people in your life what makes you feel grateful about having them in your life.
A few caveats about gratitude:
This does not mean adopting a Pollyanna approach to the world and not seeing the problems and challenges. Gratitude is an attitude toward whatever you are dealing with. It will not make these challenges go away.
Gratitude shifts your experience over time. It is not necessarily going to deliver immediate results. Over the long term, a practice of gratitude can have a profoundly positive effect on your life.
So, the next time you find yourself not sleeping, turn your attention to what you can be grateful for.
Even better, start practicing gratitude as a habit and build neural networks of resilience for all challenges that turn up in life - including not sleeping.