I am grateful that my test results give me hope. I am grateful that I found a specialist who gave me a concrete treatment plan. I am grateful for the help of the shop assistant. I am grateful that the flowers on the balcony bloomed beautifully... There are many things we can be grateful for. Why is gratitude worth practising? Read the post prepared by psychologist Sylwia Blach from InviMed Katowice.

Be prepared for difficult situations

One effective way to prepare to deal with stress and its effects is to build mental resilience (resilience). Mental resilience is built by:

systematic practice of mindfulness meditation, among other things,
showing self-compassion,
looking for 'bright sides' in difficult situations.

These are very important skills that are needed to balance negative thoughts.

Nurture positive thoughts

Psychologist Rick Hanson uses a metaphorical comparison to Teflon and Velcro to illustrate how our brain works. He argues that the brain works like Teflon for positive thoughts and positive information, and like Velcro for negative thoughts and information.

Precisely because our thoughts gravitate towards negative emotions and quickly become indifferent to positive ones, an effort should be made to build resilience. So that it does not have to be titanic, it is worth learning the right techniques with which to support ourselves in difficult situations. One such technique is the exercise of gratitude.

Practice gratitude

In practising gratitude, we focus on the things that are good in our lives, without which our lives would be poorer, that give us pleasure. We can be grateful for life, for having functioning arms, legs, eyesight and hearing, for parents, a good job, friends. At the same time, we can be grateful that someone smiled at us, that the driver, seeing us running for the bus, waited for us and thus we were at work on time. Whatever is important to us is a good reason to express gratitude for it.

I encourage you to practice the gratitude exercise every day. Studies have shown that being grateful for the good things in our lives reduces tension, increases energy levels, has a positive effect on mental and physical well-being and, additionally, practised just before going to bed, improves the quality of sleep (source: https://positivepsychology.com/gratitude-research/).

All of this builds our mental resilience , so that in stressful situations we have more resources to cope.

NOTE: Jacobson training, or progressive muscle relaxation, can help in the fight against stress. You can learn it in a workshop at InviMed Katowice.

Practising gratitude

List 3 things that are good in your life for which you are grateful/thankful.

What nice, pleasant thing happened today? It could be something as small as having a cup of your favourite aromatic coffee or a delicious cup of tea, a kindness you experienced from a stranger or the fact that the sun is shining and with its brilliance it lights up the world and makes you instantly have more energy to live.

I am grateful for ...
I am grateful for ...

You may already be smiling to yourself 🙂

Throughout the day capture the good moments, write them down in your notebook or phone. You'll be pleased to see how revisiting the little things will make a significant difference to your quality of life.

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Sylwia Blach, MA, Psychologist

Graduate of clinical psychology at the Faculty of Pedagogy and Psychology of the University of Silesia in Katowice and SWPS University of Humanities and Social Sciences in Katowice, where she completed postgraduate studies: Psychological assistance and systemic interventions in the family. At the InviMed clinic in Katowice, she provides consultations for couples trying to have a baby and conducts psycho-educational workshops, including learning Jacobson progressive muscle relaxation.