there is a practice which has made its place in the human race for centuries, A topic of interest to the ancient, medieval and modern philosophers. It has a master reputation by some of the most successful in the world gratitude, Oprah Winfrey, the legendary talk show host and tv personality says in quote, the more thankful I become, the more my bounty increased. Jack Canfield, author and motivational speaker says quote gratitude is the single most important ingredient to living a successful and fulfilled life. While this wisdom has been passed on to us from reliable sources, a big question surfaces, how is gratitude changing lives? What is the rationale behind this unwavering wisdom? We will find that out in today's episode as well as uncover for ways through which you can incorporate gratitude in your own life. My name is Sarah Hussein and this is the track your life podcast. Yeah, the modern day signs has many researchers at this time, all of which show that gratitude can benefit us emotionally mentally and also physically.

There are a few researchers which caught my eye. One of them showed that people who observe gratitude were when scanned with an FmRI FmRI is an imaging technique that is used to scan the brain and monitor it's activities. It showed that people with gratitude had higher functioning prefrontal cortex pretty worthy, but it's the part of the brain that is associated with decision making, future planning, learning and impulse control. So it is a very crucial part of the brain. It was also observed the gratitude mirrors the activity of an antidepressant by releasing serotonin and dopamine which are known as the happy hormones in everyday language. So people who express gratitude verbally have a chemical reaction in their bodies which makes them happier, which makes it an effective exercise for any time you're feeling low, just taking out a moment to count your blessings will elevate your mood pretty much instantly. Gratitude also lowers the levels of stress. And stress is a common cause behind many illnesses. So practicing gratitude can be an effective way of keeping a stress at bay and therefore all the diseases that it may cause and like any habit, the more you practice gratitude, the stronger its neural pathways become in the brain.

In other words, you can wire your brain to be more positive in all situations over time. While these are promising findings, there is still a big part of the puzzle missing. How is gratitude changing lives? How are people bringing favorable opportunities, events, emotions and people into their lives? So, my search continued and I found all my answers in quantum physics, yep, we're talking more signs. So let's dive in, shall we? Quantum physics? S that everything is energy, the visible, invisible, the audible, inaudible, the tangible intangible and in this energetic plane there is a law in effect which is like attracts like also known as the law of attraction, this law says that positive energy is attracted to positive energy and negative energy is attracted to negative energy. So when people practice gratitude, they put themselves in the positive plane of energy and it's no surprise that they attract positive people, situations, opportunities and events now.

Think about what happens if someone harbors and negative emotions, they simply attract negative people situations, thoughts and so on. No wonder people who practice gratitude quite literally changed their lives at times. We see those people and we call it luck, miracle Destiny or something, but it's simply the Universal law in effect consistently and perfectly just like the law of gravity as Neil Degrasse Tyson says the good thing about science is is that it's true whether we believe in it or not, and if you're ever in doubt, I recommend reading about the lives of Jack Canfield, Oprah Winfrey or Maya Angelo. Their lives are testimonies of gratitude. They start from rather dark beginnings and pretty much transformed their lives beautifully. It's like watching the Universal Law exhibit its efficiency, it's pretty impressive and it's also an opportunity for us to learn that no matter how difficult our situation is, no matter how difficult the reality seems to you, if you muster up the courage to change it and start focusing on the positive, the entire universe operates behind the scenes to make it happen.

So you will be successful in changing your situation. There is no way you won't. The great thing about gratitude is that you can start practicing it right here right now, just looking around and saying thank you for the things that you may be taking for granted, like the cup of coffee in the morning, your family, friends, good health, maybe the weather you get the point, it may feel weird in the beginning, but hey, the results are totally worth it to get started. I've narrowed down four ways for you through which you can practice gratitude. The aim is to train the mind to be focused on gratitude throughout the day and this will keep you in the positive clean of energy and that in turn will attract positive things to you. Method number one the gratitude Journal. This was inspired by Oprah Winfrey who started writing down five things she's grateful for in a day. This practice was introduced to her by book called Simple abundance by Sarah Ban. Oprah promises by this practice. She says it has changed her life in an incredibly positive way.

She also encourages to write it down with a pen on a journal rather than typing it on your phone or laptop. I personally have tried it and I agree that writing it down does give you an elevated sense of satisfaction. It's also this really nice practice of sitting down being focused in writing your thoughts of gratitude. I find it very pleasant yet powerful. If you look closely this practice and all others that I will mention will keep you focused on the positives throughout the day. So much so that you might not even have the time to dwell upon anything negative that happens during the day and if you do think about it, you will learn to seek the positive in that situation as well. Okay, method number two gratitude cues. The cue can be anything. It can be a photograph, a sticky note with a quote on it or even a small pebble. The queue is meant to remind you to be grateful. I personally have my graduation photos around. That was the time when I was achieving a milestone after years of study, hundreds of exams.

Hi sugar and caffeine doses. I was finally able to call myself an engineer. I was also traveling and having great experiences with friends. So looking at those photos puts me in a similar energetic space where I know that hard work and determination pay off and that you can also enjoy yourself along the way, sticky notes are also very effective just having them in places where they don't miss your site is key like on the wall across your bed, on the mirror or on your work desk. The message on the sticky note must be something that you resonate with on a deeper level. It genuinely lights you up. Makes you feel motivated and purposeful. These cues in our environment are noticed by us consciously and subconsciously and our environment has a massive impact on our behavior. I'll give you an example, imagine having a cookie jar in your room. How long do you think you can go without having a cookie? Not very long and before you know it.

You're having it every single day after dinner. Apply the same analogy to these cues since our environment affects us on a subconscious level, we don't even realize how our daily habits are tailored to it, so might as well use this to our advantage. Yeah, prime in your environment in your favor is one of the most intrinsically intelligent things you can do for yourself. Method # three The gratitude jar. This one is really exciting because for this one you just write down whatever you're grateful for in a day and place it in an empty jar and make it a practice to go through the jar every few days. This works particularly well for relationships. So every time someone does something nice for you or says something nice to you write it down when you go through these notes, you will realize how there are so many positive components in your relationships that you didn't even notice before. And if you ever feel disconnected with someone going through the jar will remind you of the good they have done towards you which may also neutralize any negative emotions that you may have for them.

It might also encourage you to connect with them again. Method # four and this one might not come easy with some people who don't usually express, but it's worth the effort expressing gratitude to others and to yourself as Charles. Schwab says the way to develop best that is in a person is by appreciation and encouragement, expressing gratitude to others for things big and small will only encourage them to do the same or even better. It will also open them up to expressing gratitude to you in return and it's always very nice to be on the receiving end of that. I think we often leave ourselves out from the mix but expressing gratitude to yourself is very important. The relationship that you have with yourself is the most important relationship you've ever had and ever will have. So say thank you to yourself every time you do something that is right for you versus that is easy to do. For example going on a run rather than staying in or having a healthier meal rather than ordering take out this will have a very positive impact on your self esteem and it will also help you build self respect and with every new habit, I think it's very important to be patient and forgiving to ourselves because oftentimes when we want to start something new, we want to do it every single day and if we're not able to do that, we give up easily.

But the idea here is to lower the threshold of gratitude to make it a habit. So from doing it occasionally to doing it regularly to doing it daily until it becomes second nature uh huh. You know, personally gratitude has helped me a lot, it's proven to be an effective and healthy coping mechanism, especially with what's happening around in the world. I think we all are in this together, it can get really hard at times, so it's very important to protect our head space. I hope this episode helps you do that. If you think someone else might find this useful, please go ahead and share and I would really appreciate if you rate and review as that will support the podcast and this brings us to the end of the first episode of the Track your life podcast. It's very exciting for me, as you probably can tell if you have been with me so far, thank you so much. It truly means a lot. Let me tell you a little bit more about myself and how the track your life podcast came about when I finally graduated from union at the age of 22.

About some just over five years ago I wanted to use all of my talents and all of my skills to make a positive impact to make a difference, to help others and in the years following that I think I didn't achieve that. So last year I finally sat down and thought that okay, well I really like researching and science and I love talking and so let's create a podcast which is going to be a source of rationalized knowledge on all topics related to well being, personal development and mindset almost like a toolkit, which will help you live your life to the highest quality to tap into your genius and reach your best potential. With having this aim in mind, I create all the episodes of this podcast. This is a research based podcast so you can expect to receive another in firm a tive episode next week, same day. So let's connect Then. I hope to see you here till then, look after yourself.