Could Thanksgiving be the best night’s sleep you’ll get all year?
According to research, the answer might be yes . . .
. . . but it isn’t because of the turkey.
You see, a pioneering study from 2009 looked at whether another Thanksgiving staple could have sleep benefits.
I’m talking about gratitude.
Alex Wood, PhD and a small team from the UK gathered a cohort of 400 participants to look at the impact of gratitude upon sleep.
His team measured sleep quantity and quality with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (a self-report questionnaire measuring sleep quality). They also used the Gratitude Questionnaire-6 which measures the frequency and intensity of experienced gratitude.
Here’s what they found . . .
Participants with more gratitude reported better quality and longer-lasting sleep than those with less. Gratitude was also associated with reduced time to fall asleep. Plus, it correlated with less irritability, fatigue, and inability to concentrate during the day.
Now it’s important to keep in mind that this study was based entirely upon self-report. There was no control group or random assignment which is, of course, the gold standard of research.
However, the volume of participants does help to strengthen the study’s findings.
If you’d like to read this study for yourself, you can find it in the Journal of Psychosomatic Research, volume 66, pp. 43-48.
Now I’d like to hear from you. How have you experienced gratitude in your life? And what effects have you seen gratitude have on your clients?
Please leave a comment below.
This is encouraging. I have looked closely on the gratitude and the exercise research and tried to find ways to share this information with the faculty and families with the independent school where I am the consulting psychologist. This encourages me to think more about sharing the small practices of gratitude many teachers introduce in their classrooms.
I know I’m out of time, but anyway I want to let you know. My mother is 83, healthy, beautiful, and with the best attitude. She always talks about being grateful, just about everything . She studied a Masters degree in Psychotherapy, along with me , and a PHD too, feeling grateful of being able to do it. I am so grateful to have learned that from her, and I pass it on to my children too. That, of course, brings us wellbeing!
Let’s not leave out the Turkey completely…..Turkey meat is a great source for
L-tryptophan, which is a precursor of Serotonin and Melatonin. Both of these neurotransmitters are helpful for a good nights sleep. Serotonin for a feeling
of ‘well being’ and Melatonin for putting your brain in the sleep mode.
Thanks everyone for your comments. Your comments help me to learn and continue in my practice of gratitude. I would like to have somme gratitude exercices for children. I do work with vulnerable children in a humanitarian association which I preside. Thanks a lot and lots of love
Susana Lopez Roque
The school where I am consulting psychologist has been closely allied with the development of a program called SEE Learning at Emory University. It was initiated by the Dalai Lama and is now a fully developed curriculum and easily accessible for free. Gratitude practices are part of the curriculum.
Barbara Dunbar
Gratitude practice will bring about lot of changes in the well being of the person. If at the end of the day, if you dont feel happy for anything. Just practice feeling gratitude even for the smallest event in the day, or small tasks that would have brought about happiness. If you want to feel the day was good just practice feeling the gratitude. It is one form of therapy to uplift the individual in motivating and staying connected with oneself.
I have a simple practice of thinking of 3 situations/events/people that i am grateful for, as i lay down to sleep. I place my hand over my heart and i feel the gratitude flowing through me and out to them. In the morning, I offer gratitude to 3 simple things – like the comfy bed, an insightful dream, warm bedclothes, etc. i find that this creates a stable inner world based on awareness and appreciation. research indicates that it strengthens the heart-mind matrix. With clients, i often encourage them to do this, even though they may think that there is nothing to be grateful for, especially in some really trying circumstances. i find that it shifts the energy into a better-feeling space 9even if just slightly) and they begin to feel a tad easier. this simple little step opens the doors to deeper and more profound healing.
I have recently moved to a new community and my days are songs of gratitude for the beauty and the welcome that surround me. I am sleeping better than I have for years!
But there may be confounding variable as I am also working less. 🙂
When we focus on the positive, our life becomes more positive. Our stress levels go down and we become a happier, productive human being.
Thank you for reminding us of gratitude. I imagine we feel the intimacy between the one who gives life (Spirit) and the one who receives life (Soul) when we experience gratitude. It makes a lot of sense that it would help our bodies relax and sleep better.
This a very timely message in the Bay Area, since the wild fires have impacted us all: major losses for those in the fire zone and poor air quality hundreds of miles away. I hear over and over again how grateful people who have lost everything are for those who have come forward to help.
Making a gratitude list of 10 things each day made a major shift in The direction of my thoughts. Previously worry, for me a form of being a victim, would lead to self pity and more fear. I truly feel new neuropathways have developed and sleep comes easier and lasts longer. PS.. exchanging lists by text helps too!
When my clients are able to turn their minds from negative self talk to gratefulness their hearts open and there arises a softening of defenses, a tenderness toward themselves and others that allows the spaciousness necessary for them to move toward freedom from pain.
I have a gratitude journal that I write in each night. I write all that I am grateful for for the day. I have done this journal since 20015 and it has changes my life and how I look at things. I feel more happy and connected to myself and the world .
The ability to be present and to connect with other like-minded individuals thank you for the reminder Tammy
The experience of gratitude has open me a new path. A path full of wonderful people, great experience and a life full of meaning. I highly recomend to start this new season with a Big Thanks.
And thank you all for having made possible to listened and participate in you courses.
God bless you
Teresa
I think the mind can’t do 2 things at once, so if you are intentionally thinking about the things you are grateful for, it drowns out anxiety, self criticism, blame, judging,
Grateful for your efforts on my behalf. Appreciating your class on dealing with trauma. Appreciating your reaching out.
I find it very helpful to assign clients to come up with 10 things they are grateful for each day and to do this for a month. I prefer they come up with 20 things, an AA assignment, but that seems to be pushing it.
I work with survivors in alcohol rehabilitation. AA sponsors working 12 steps advocate a ‘gratitude list’ to be done last thing at night. It helps to orientate them in their world. I like this so much I also use it with traumatised people who are not addicts to encourage development of internal positive resource. It helps them explore and change their thinking, develop empathetic skill and Adult functioning by becoming aware of their nacesistic thinking and behaviours and what it invites. It works because it calms their head, gives them a way to self forgiveness and helps them make sense, especially if done in conjunction with a column exercise to look at resentments- ‘what’s my part in this?’ I imagine a lot of people in recovery do this and it helps their sleep- me too.
Dear Ruth,
I am grateful beyond words for you more than words can say. The offering of the treating trauma master series came into my inbox when I needed it most in my life. It has been an anchor for me and the clarity and knowledge you offer has helped me weather some difficult storms in my life. I love hearing your voice and visually seeing you via the video streaming. Meeting all the wonderful practitioners you have gathered in NOW time has brought me comfort, learning and more. Thank you for continuing to give me the tools I need t o help the people I love. I am filled with gratitude for YOU!!!!!
b’vracha (blessings!)
b’ahava, (love)
margie:-)
Thanks Ruth, I’ve finally managed to do a gratitude practice the last few months, and it is changing me. I hate journaling. But I have a dear friend who I am transitioning away from being the caregiver for as he recovers from / learns to live with a major brain injury. We talk every evening and tell each other what we are grateful for about each other, about ourselves and about the world on this day.
Better sleep can be one of the many gifts of practicing daily gratitude. However, I don’t know that it always helps me to fall asleep faster and prevent me from waking up in the twilight hours but it certainly can’t hurt. Practicing gratitude has its very own benefit even if you don’t have improved sleep.
I finally got a satisfying ending to the story I’ve been writing.
I always feel grateful for a good nights sleep, if I get one. Chickens and eggs here!
Gratitude helps you process even the worst experiences, not by being delusional but realistically grasping a broader perspective. At the end of the day, we’re still standing, to God be the glory.
Working on gratitude to replace anger, more restful experience.
I go through the ritual each night to mention all the things that I am grateful for that ocured that day and sometimes I go to sleep quicker like 10 minutes, other nights it takes me an hour to fall asleep.So I can’t really say it works.
Thanks Ruth. I love when research helps us to become better “salespeople” on the practice of mindfulness. Great affirmation for practice of gratitude before bedtime and other times throughout the day for our patients. And to emphasize the focus on increasing the intensity of that gratitude through mindfulness. This practice and habit may have the same benefit in those that don’t normally have it high in their list in their daily lives and better sleep would be a great measure.
Thanks for this, Ruth – a lovely thing for me to send to my US citizen friends (which I just did), and great encouragement for my own gratitude practice, which I’ve been trying to ramp up. At the very least, thinking about things to be grateful for as you go to sleep helps to short-circuit negativity biased ruminations.
I’m most grateful for the wisdom that you share – I really appreciate your efforts. I’m retired (International Development) and teach meditation / dharma (Shambhala – voluntary), so I don’t tend to go for the in-depth programs for professional psychologists, but do I get a lot out of what’s available for free. It’s helpful for me personally, and infuses the teachings I’m able to offer each week.
Warm wishes for the holiday,
Suzanne
Thank you for this,
I quite agree that gratitude is extremely important both in my personal life and in my clinical work!
Best,
Bodil
Great word. Let us live a life of thanks-living with a grateful heart and a smile on our face. As a Christian Writer and Speaker, I find the best way to face a mountain in your life is going up, one step at a time. Sometimes baby steps and minus the smile.
Yes, sense of gratitude makes the life beautiful, lovable and joyous. It certainly promotes peaceful sleep
Gratitude is my number one, go-to tool whenever anything throws me off track. When life demands a reaction I reach for gratitude and it helps me to gain perspective before I choose my response. Using gratitude I have learned to manage my emotions and stay in the present which is wonderfully stress-reducing; as fear lives in the future and regret in the past. but the present is where all opportunity lies. Gratitude helps me get to sleep at night and stay bright in the day, no matter what the challenges. I believe that gratitude helps me heal and even helps me heal others. It is my way of keeping my attitude positive and resilient, and I recommend it unreservedly as a means to contentment and joy.
I’m going to try it tonight!