Narrative as a gratitude practice

When it comes to practicing gratitude, which do you think is most effective:

• Focusing on what you’re grateful for?
• Listening to a story about someone who performed a kind act for another person? 

It might surprise you to learn that the answer is “B”, “Listening to a story about someone who performed a kind act for another person,” in short, a gratitude narrative. In The Huberman Lab Podcast, Stanford professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology Andrew Huberman discusses recent research conducted by DiMassio showing that gratitude narratives shift the neural and somatic circuitry in the brains of the listeners. However, this is not the case for other gratitude practices, like gratitude journaling or savoring. It’s not that there are no benefits to these practices; rather, it’s that there are no benefits from a neurological perspective. 

Why narrative is so effective

According to Huberman, the reason why narrative is so effective in affecting the brain’s circuitry is that story is one of the major ways we organize information in the brain. The brain is wired for storytelling, for narrative. This gratitude narrative could be either a personal experience or someone else’s experience that you’ve heard about. 

How to use a gratitude narrative

• Fully recall, in detail, either a personal gratitude narrative or a gratitude narrative you’ve heard about someone else and write it down.
• Read it through once. You’ll benefit from that first reading.
• Then distill it into three (3) basic bullet points by noting:
  • 1.) What was the struggle in the story
  • 2.) What help did the person in the story receive,
  • 3.) My reaction to that story. 

Reviewing the bullet points once a day for a few times each week appears sufficient to have positive, long-lasting effects on the brain, thereby cultivating gratitude. 

You can gain potent neurological benefits from just reviewing these bullet points; you don’t need to review the entire narrative, as other studies have shown. For example, test subjects have experienced a positive shift in breathing and heart rate as well as positive changes in the pro social centers of the brain. Practitioners of this technique have also reported that they feel more joyful and experience a sense of awe about their lives. These last two effects need to be better scientifically defined and further studied before any conclusions can be made; however, it is helpful to note. 

You can learn more by watching Huberman’s podcast. 

Conclusion

Whether you wish to find your gratitude narrative, distill it, and practice it or use more common ways to cultivate gratitude like gratitude journaling, the most important thing to remember is to start, and start today.