Contributed by Rebecca Hunting Pompon, Ph.D.,  NAA Board Member

Gratitude. Thankfulness. Appreciation. Did you know that gratitude can be a powerful moderator of resilience and well-being?

Gratitude practices are activities that produce and develop a state of gratitude. They can include meditation, journaling, creating lists, and even telling someone “I appreciate you.” Over time, gratitude practices can help regulate emotions, improve motivation and relationships, boost well-being, increase resilience in times of stress and challenge, and more.

There are multiple ways we can engage in a daily gratitude practice, including meditation, expressing gratitude, and gratitude journals and lists.

Gratitude Meditation

A gratitude meditation can help regulate emotions and improve motivation. Gratitude meditation is a mind-body activity focused on maintaining reflections about a person or thing for which you are thankful. For example, Kyeong and colleagues (2017) asked participants to reflect for 4 minutes on a person whom they loved and appreciated while taking slow, deep breaths. Participants reported improved emotional well-being and self-motivation following this intervention.

Expressing Gratitude to Someone You Appreciate

Expressive gratitude to someone you appreciate, especially when sharing the details of your appreciation, can help boost a sense of well-being. For example, Regan and colleagues (2023) reported that participants who wrote detailed letters and essays about someone they deeply appreciated demonstrated a notable positive change in their well-being, mood, and life satisfaction.

Gratitude Journals and Lists

Gratitude journals and lists are widely used gratitude practices. A gratitude journal is a place to identify and describe in writing anything for which you feel grateful. A gratitude list can also be written in a journal or shared with friends and family as a meal-time or end-of-day conversation. Notably, participants who focused on personally meaningful gratitude items reported greater positive outcomes compared to participants who focused on easy, top-of-mind gratitude items (Purol & Chopik, 2024).

Practicing Gratitude

An important part of a gratitude practice is practice. Just like building any skill, consistent practice is important. Gratitude is like a muscle that needs repeated and regular challenge to strengthen. Similarly, a gratitude practice will show greater results if it is considered somewhat deeply, such as considering the what, why, how, and personal meaning of the source of gratitude. In other words, the gratitude muscle will respond better to an engaging and sustained workout than a quick set of reps.

Is there a gratitude practice that you’d like to add to your day? Maybe challenge a friend or family member to build a gratitude practice together? As you build upon your gratitude practice, you may notice more frequent grateful thoughts and emotions, a noticeable sense of well-being, and greater resilience in the face of stress and challenge.

For more information on gratitude practices, check out these online Psychology Today articles: Gratitude, The Power of Gratitude, and Cultivating a Gratitude Habit.

References and Resources

• Articles:
  • Kyeong, S., Kim, J., Kim, D. J., Kim, H. E., & Kim, J.-J. (2017). Effects of gratitude meditation on neural network functional connectivity and brain-heart coupling. Scientific Reports, 7(1), 5058. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-05520-9
  • Purol, M. F., & Chopik, W. J. (2025). List Length, List Content, and Gratitude List Intervention Outcomes. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 16(4), 457–468. https://doi.org/10.1177/19485506241232717
  • Regan, A., Walsh, L. C., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2023). Are Some Ways of Expressing Gratitude More Beneficial Than Others? Results From a Randomized Controlled Experiment. Affective Science, 4(1), 72–81. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42761-022-00160-3
  • Dang, A. V., Coles, N. A., Oishi, S., & McCullough, M. E. (2026). The efficacy of seven gratitude interventions for promoting subjective well-being. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 21(3), 517–535. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2025.2502483
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