Many studies support the positive impact the practice of gratitude has on mental health.  I’ve made a short video of a fun gratitude exercise to improve your sleep, mood, and mindfulness. Enjoy!

Robert A. Emmons, Ph.D. is a leading researcher in gratitude.  In multiple studies, he has confirmed that gratitude increases happiness and reduces depression.  In addition to publishing peer-reviewed journal articles on the subject, he’s written several books.  He ran an experiment in which he put folks into three groups. One group was asked to write about things they were grateful for that had happened over the course of the week.  Another group wrote about things that displeased or irritated them over the week. The last group wrote about things that had affected them, positive or negative.  After just ten weeks, he found that those in the group asked to write about gratitude were more optimistic and felt better about their lives. A surprising side effect was that they also exercised more and had fewer visits to physicians than the group that focused on aggravations.

There is quite a bit of wonderful research about the effectiveness of mindfulness on improving a variety of mental health concerns: Fun Research

You might also enjoy this video, but grab a tissue first: