Establish a gratitude practice grounded in a story where you genuinely received thanks, or observed someone else genuinely receiving thanks. Write 3-4 bullet points as cues for this story, then for 1-5 minutes, deeply feel into that genuine experience, repeating this practice about three times a week at any time of day.
Understand that receiving gratitude is the most potent way to activate pro-social brain circuits, and when giving thanks, ensure your intention is genuine and wholehearted, as the brain differentiates between sincere and reluctant expressions.
Utilize powerful narratives, either personal recollections of receiving genuine thanks or stories of others receiving significant help, to activate your gratitude circuits and enhance empathy by putting yourself in the mindset of someone receiving aid.
Engage in effective gratitude practices to repeatedly shift your neural circuits, allowing pro-social feelings to dominate your physiology and mindset by default, leading to increased calmness, happiness, and responsiveness even when not actively practicing.
Perform a regular gratitude practice (even once a week) to build resilience against trauma by reframing prior negative experiences and inoculating against future ones, which is achieved by shifting the function of fear and defense networks in the brain.
Commit to a regular, brief (5-minute) gratitude practice to shift functional connectivity in emotion and motivation-related brain regions, reducing anxiety and fear circuits while increasing positive emotions and enhancing motivation and pursuit.
Implement a regular gratitude practice to reduce amygdala activity, thereby dampening threat detection and fear responses, and significantly lower inflammatory cytokines like TNF-alpha and IL-6 in the body, contributing to overall health benefits.
Do not rely solely on common gratitude practices like merely listing or thinking about things you’re grateful for, as these are not particularly effective in shifting neural and physiological circuits for long-term benefits.
If engaging in listing-based gratitude practices, enhance their effectiveness by first increasing autonomic arousal through methods like cyclic hyperventilation, cold baths, or chanting, to bring more detail and richness to your perceptions.
To potentially amplify gratitude and pro-social feelings, explore legal over-the-counter supplements like Kanna (25-50mg), which likely increases serotonin and is associated with reduced anxiety and enhanced executive function, but consult a doctor and be aware that precursors like 5-HTP can disrupt sleep.
Take Athletic Greens once or twice a day to cover basic nutritional needs, address potential deficiencies, and support microbiome health with probiotics, along with vitamin D3K2.
Dissolve one packet of Element in 16-32 ounces of water upon waking and during physical exercise to ensure adequate hydration and essential electrolytes (sodium, magnesium, potassium) without sugar, vital for brain and body function.
Use a meditation app like Waking Up for various meditation programs, mindfulness training, yoga nidra, and NSDR protocols to learn to place your brain and body into different states and restore cognitive and physical energy.