By exposing water to positive and negative words, he discovered that the molecules of water responded dramatically, forming beautiful, symmetrical crystals when surrounded by love and gratitude while appearing distorted when exposed to negative emotions.
Emoto’s work highlights a profound truth: the energy we put into the world has a real, tangible effect—not just on others but on our environment and even on ourselves. This principle applies to gratitude, which, like a positive word or thought, has the power to transform our lives, our relationships, and our well-being.
I have written this blog post to help us explore how practicing gratitude can create health, beauty, and harmony in our lives, just as it does in the water around us.
Health Benefits
Studies show gratitude helps reduce stress, improve mood, and even encourage healthy habits. With only 14% of Americans calling themselves very happy, gratitude offers a simple way to improve well-being. Certainly, each member of your family can benefit from these health benefits.
Gratitude benefits every major organ system in your body, and people take medicines for these results. Why not add in a little free gratitude?
Research shows that gratitude:
- Positively changes your brain by boosting mood-enhancing chemicals like dopamine and serotonin, reducing the stress hormone cortisol, and activating brain areas that manage stress and create feelings of pleasure.
- Increases happiness and life satisfaction
- Lowers stress and emotional distress
- Improves emotional resiliency
- Helps ease depression by promoting peace of mind and reducing overthinking
- Reduces pain
- Lowers inflammation by inhibiting inflammatory cytokines
- Lowers blood sugar
- Improves immune function
- Lowers blood pressure
- Improves heart health, reducing the likelihood of sudden death in patients with congestive heart failure and coronary artery disease
- Lowers risk for heart disease
- Improves general health by encouraging self-care
- Improves sleep
- Improves interpersonal relationships
- Boosts productivity
- Reduces materialism
- Increases generosity
Incorporate Gratitude into Daily Activities
Teaching your child gratitude can be fun and meaningful. These activities will help them (and you!) appreciate the small, everyday things around them. The key is consistency—find simple ways to weave gratitude into your family’s routine each week, or even daily, and make it a habit together.
1. Write thank-you notes — When thanking someone, be specific and acknowledge the effort and/or cost involved. Some say that writing thank-you notes is a lost art. There are many benefits to children in this one act.
2. Say grace at each meal - While this can be a perfect opportunity to honor a spiritual connection with the divine, you don't have to turn it into a religious speech if you don't want to. You could simply say, "I am grateful for this food, and appreciate all the time and hard work that went into its production, transportation and preparation."
3. Let go of negativity by changing your perception — Disappointment can be tough for kids, and helping them manage it is essential for their emotional well-being and resilience. As parents, you can teach your children how to handle stress in healthy ways, which can benefit their overall happiness and future success.
Encourage them to focus on letting go of negativity rather than dwelling on what went wrong. Explain that it's not the event itself that makes them feel upset, but how they think about it. Share the idea that situations aren't automatically good or bad—it’s their perspective that shapes their feelings.
For example, you can say, “When something doesn’t go your way, try to think about what you can learn or find something positive in it. Instead of saying, ‘This happened, and it’s terrible,’ focus on, ‘This happened—what can I do now?’” Helping your child shift their perspective can make them more resilient and open to seeing the good, which also encourages gratitude. Practicing this skill together, regularly, will help them navigate life's ups and downs with confidence and positivity.
4. Be mindful of your nonverbal actions — Smiling and hugging are wonderful ways to teach your child how to express gratitude, encouragement, excitement, empathy, and support. These simple actions not only show love and appreciation but also help your child feel and strengthen positive emotions from the inside out.
5. Give praise — Parents, teach your children the power of "other-praising" phrases. Instead of focusing on how their actions benefit you, highlight their effort or kindness. For example, say, "Thank you for sharing your toys so nicely," rather than, "It makes me happy when you share." This approach helps your child feel appreciated and builds their confidence in making a positive impact. Also, encourage sincerity by modeling it—look them in the eye and speak with genuine warmth.
Mom and Dad, strengthen your bond with each other by using "other-praising" phrases with each other. Instead of saying, "It makes me happy when you help around the house," try, "Thank you for taking time out of your day to handle that—it really means a lot." This type of gratitude fosters a deeper connection and makes your partner feel valued. Don’t forget the importance of sincerity—say it like you truly mean it, and establish eye contact to show your appreciation fully. And what a wonderful example for your children!
6. Prayer and/or mindfulness meditation — Expressing thanks during prayer or meditation is another way to cultivate gratitude. Practicing "mindfulness" means that you're actively paying attention to the moment you're in right now. A mantra is sometimes used to help maintain focus, but you can also focus on something that you're grateful for, such as a pleasant smell, a cool breeze or a lovely memory.
7. Create a nightly gratitude ritual — Create a family gratitude jar to encourage everyone in the household to practice thankfulness daily. Any container will work—just keep it accessible. Each family member can write a short note about something they’re grateful for and place it in the jar. Once a year, or more often if you like, gather together as a family to read the notes aloud and relive those special moments of appreciation.
For younger children, consider making gratitude part of the bedtime routine. As Dr. Alison Chen suggests, take a moment each night to share something you’re thankful for out loud. It’s a simple, sweet way to end the day with positivity and connection.
8. Spend money on activities instead of things — Research shows that spending money on experiences rather than material items can foster more gratitude and even encourage greater generosity. As co-author Amit Kumar from the University of Chicago explains, experiences lead people to feel fortunate, and because this gratitude isn’t tied to a specific person or thing, it often inspires a desire to give back to others in general. This could be a great opportunity to teach your children the value of experiences over possessions and the joy of giving to others.
9. Embrace the idea of having "enough" — Many people who embrace a minimalist lifestyle believe the key to happiness is learning to be grateful for having "enough." Often, accumulating material goods is a sign that we're trying to fill an emotional or spiritual void. But material things can't truly fill that space. Instead, what we often need is more love, personal connection, or meaningful experiences that give our lives purpose. As parents, it's important to help your children understand the difference between what they *want* and what they truly *need*. Encourage them to focus on fulfilling their real emotional and spiritual needs in ways that don’t involve shopping or material possessions.
10. Share - Gratitude increases exponentially when shared with others and is a powerful way to strengthen any relationship. Try sharing one to three things you are grateful for with your family at the start of a family meal.
11. Develop resiliency - Taking a few minutes to do this practice or read through your entries from the past week can help you be more resilient in the face of a challenging life situation.
12. Gratitude Essential Oil - While thankfulness is an emotion, gratitude involves acting on that emotion and showing or telling others how we feel. We’ve each been given incredible gifts of life and purpose—are we living in a way that reflects this truth?
One of the benefits of essential oils is their effect on the limbic system of the brain, which controls emotions and memories. This is important because the limbic system plays a key role in how we process feelings, including gratitude. By supporting the limbic system, essential oils can help us develop a greater sense of gratitude and emotional well-being.
In a sense, gratitude releases old patterns that may make us feel unsafe or unable to fully embrace who we are in our current circumstances. When we can be grateful—even for the toughest, most undeserved moments from our past—it helps us let go of them and step into a new present. Every experience, no matter how challenging, has contributed to our growth and shaped who we are. It no longer has the power to hold us back. We are free to move forward and embrace our true selves, and those who are meant to walk this journey with us will see that and choose to accept us.
Gratitude essential oil blend contains nine essential oils that promote gratitude, thankfulness, and appreciation, helping foster a positive attitude and attracting all that is good in your life.
Gratitude essential oil is a blend of the following essential oils:
- Idaho Grand Fir: opens emotional blocks and helps energize the spirit
- Frankincense: carries historical and biblical significance as a grounding and uplifting aroma
- Coriander: supports healthy digestion, which is often affected in emotional stress; also supports a healthy immune system
- Myrrh: A holy anointing oil, myrrh supports the endocrine and limbic system allowing it to support both emotions and hormones. According to legend, myrrh also possesses the frequency of wealth.
- Ylang ylang: balances the energy within the body and promotes relaxation and confidence
- Bergamot: this sweet, spicy citrus oil is uplifting and calming and helps combat stress and anxious thoughts
- Northern Lights Black Spruce: this favorite tree oils incredibly grounding and relaxing and helps to clear the mind.
- Vetiver: high in sesquiterpenes, Vetiver helps to calm the central nervous system to a state of focus or meditation and eases anxious thoughts.
- Geranium: this floral oil helps balance hormones, promotes relaxation, and supports the liver which is where negative emotions such as anger are stored.
Daily Habits with Gratitude Essential Oil
- Diffuse this uplifting aroma while inviting feelings of emotional and spiritual progress.
- Use it during meditation, yoga, or personal spiritual practice while you uplift and elevate your feelings of gratitude. This can be a powerful practice when you combine Gratitude oil and daily intentions. A gratitude journal is a wonderful place to start.
- Apply 1−3 drops topically behind the ears, over the heart, on wrists, on the back of the neck, and at the base of the spine.
- Diffuse while beginning your day with an open, uplifting mindset of appreciation.
(Gratitude is a Young Living essential oil. Here's a link to the page that you can look at Gratitude: Gratitude Essential OilIf you decide to purchase, use this code for a discount SHAREYL)
13. Gratitude Journal
Writing down what you're grateful for can boost your health and happiness. Keeping a gratitude journal—writing down things you're thankful for daily—has been proven to help. A 2015 study found it improved depression, stress, and happiness, and a more recent study showed high school students developed healthier eating habits by practicing gratitude.
“Our brains are continuously being hacked—by the media and by everything around us. At the end of the day, write down three good things that happened to you. That's a way of hacking your brain positively by calling attention to positive features that tend to fly under the radar.” – Dr. Richie Davidson, Contemplative Neuroscientist and director of the Center for Healthy Minds
Reflect on the past 24 hours and journal or list at least three new things that you are grateful for and why you are grateful for them. You can do this in a dedicated old-fashioned journal or create a document that you can access from all of your digital devices.
21-Day Challenge: Consider committing to this practice for the next 21 days. Research shows people testing as pessimists 21 days later tested as low-level optimists. Run the experiment and see for yourself. If you homeschool, this gratitude journal can easily be added to your school routine.
Tips: As you write, here are a few tips for getting the most benefits:
- It is helpful to do this practice at around the same time each day. Let it become a habit like brushing your teeth. Research shows taking a few minutes to do this before bed can help you sleep better that night, or try doing it before you get out of bed in the morning to help you start your day on the right foot.
- Be as specific as possible. Specificity is key to fostering gratitude. “I’m grateful that my friend brought me chicken soup when I was sick” will be more effective than “I’m grateful for my friend.”
- Savor: Close your eyes and imagine that you are experiencing that moment again. Notice colors, tastes, sounds, smells, and the sensations in your body. Notice also how you feel in yourself.
- In addition to just jotting down what happened (example: “I finally finished that project I'd been procrastinating"), add some details like what you did or said, or what others did or said.
- Get personal. Focusing on people to whom you are grateful has more of an impact than focusing on things for which you are grateful.
- Try subtraction, not just addition. Consider what your life would be like without certain people or things rather than just tallying up all the good stuff. Be grateful for the negative outcomes you avoided, escaped, prevented, or turned into something positive—try not to take your good fortune for granted.
Incorporating gratitude into our daily lives is more than just a practice—it’s a mindset that has the power to transform not only our well-being but also our relationships and the world around us. Just as Masaru Emoto’s research revealed the profound effects that positive energy can have on water molecules, the energy we put into the world through gratitude can create harmony and beauty in our lives. By focusing on the blessings we have, big and small, and expressing our appreciation, we not only enhance our own experiences but also radiate positivity that can uplift others. So, let’s take a moment each day to reflect on the things we’re grateful for, knowing that this simple, powerful practice has the potential to shape our world in ways we may not even yet fully understand.
AFFILIATE DISCLAIMER: I’m a proud affiliate for some of these tools and products that are suggested on this page and throughout my site. If you click on a product and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. My recommendations are based on knowledge and experience and I recommend them because they are genuinely useful, not because of the small commission I may receive |
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