For All the Scholars: Using Thankfulness Against Stress

People often aren’t bothered to do the most simple things for themselves and just concentrate on their daily grind. One of the groups that this holds the most truth for is students and academics. Picturing the prototypical university student, for example, conjures up someone eating convenient foods, the patchiest of sleep schedules, simultaneously working a part-time job, struggling with their grades they are scraping for, and last-minute cramming for any upcoming exam. With the academic schedule the way it is, there is plenty of opportunity to build up stress. While stress, anxiety, and neuroticism have purposes in manageable doses, many tend to let them go overboard. Thankfully, there are ways that we can relieve stress through being grounded and rooted in your reality constructively. So, if you are a stress-plagued student, I’m here to talk to you about one of them: gratitude rituals.

You’ve heard about being thankful, I’m sure, especially if you have grown up in North America. Thanksgiving, whether it’s the American or Canadian version, hopes to tap into your gratitude. However, have you ever sincerely given thanks? It’s not necessarily about what you are grateful for but about genuinely recounting a time when you expressed genuine gratitude. Or do you feel at this present time like you appreciate the academic and life opportunities you’ve been given? There is likely a significant amount of people that haven’t felt that. Don’t jump to conclusions that you are a psychopath because of that. Relax. Many things in human life can be taught and strengthened like a muscle. Feeling and expressing gratitude is one of them. The exercises that can help strengthen your gratitude can be called ‘rituals. ’ Rituals are typically associated with religions and prayer but can also be adopted in a more secular way that can have a positive effect on your psychology. So I will tell you about several kinds of gratitude rituals that are easy to work into a busy academic schedule that as a student, or maybe teacher, you might find useful to reduce stress.

One popular gratitude ritual is gratitude journaling. Gratitude journaling is different from keeping a free-flowing journal in that the content of the journaling concerns things that the individual in question is grateful for. Do it for a short time, like 2 minutes, for example, in the evening when you are less likely to be distracted from doing it and the day has come and gone. Try writing down 3 things you are grateful for. Maybe you were reminded of these things during the day, or they are things that stretch through your whole life (Oppland, 2017). When writing, focus on specific details you recollect and the feelings you associate with them. Establishing this as a regular ritual helps shift your mind away from stressors in your ruminations at the end of a day and towards the positive aspects of your lived experience (Chowdhury, 2019; Rider, n.d..). This has been demonstrated to help reduce anxiety and enhance people’s overall well-being. Additionally, doing it regularly might help with rewiring your brain to adopt more positive perspectives on certain circumstances. Negativity is often given more weight than positivity in people’s lives due to its perceived practicality. Many people tend to go overboard with the necessities in life, though.

If journaling isn’t to your liking, then maybe short breathing breaks might suit you better. This can be helpful during the day and requires only your mind and body. Do the following during a small opportunity in your day. Inhale for about 5 seconds, pause, holding it in for a moment, then exhale for about 10 seconds or until what was in your lungs is fully emptied. Inhaling through the nose and exhaling through your mouth is good to do. Then repeat. During this cycle, concentrate on what you are grateful for and try to paint a vivid picture of it for yourself. It is recommended to do the exercise for 90 seconds a few times a day (Santas, 2023). This controls your stress and lets you get control of your heart rate. The short exercise will aid in creating a sense of calm as well as cultivating your patience and mindfulness. Remember to do this in a position where you can be comfortable physically, where you can think clearly to engage your mind, and where it is easy for you to relax.

Expressing gratitude in the form of gratitude notes is another gratitude ritual that is simple to fit into a student’s repertoire. You might be more familiar with these by the term ‘Thank you Notes’. The notes are easy to write and, if short, can be sent at any time of the day when you feel inspired to share your gratitude. A good opportunity could be to give your favourite professor one at the end of a class. Think about the thanks you would give important people in your life, such as a family member, friend, significant other, mentor, or colleague, and construct a succinct message. To make it more convenient, you can draft and send this message via email, text message, or your choice of direct messaging app (Oppland, 2017). If structure helps in your delivery, you can make the note in the style of a semi-formal letter. Benefits for doing this not only extend to your ability to feel gratitude and healthily release your emotions but also to strengthening your relationships as well as cultivating a positive discourse in them (Chowdhury, 2019; Mako Mindfulness, n.d..).

If you are a student who is looking to get in touch with your surroundings more, then this next ritual may be more suited to you. Gratitude walks are something that can fit into a day easily if you are traveling by foot from one part of campus to another. If pressed for time, take a 5-to-15 minute walk outside and be sure to dress for the weather. If the walk is practical for your day (e.g., you take public transit to school and need it to travel), then that could be advantageous. Clear your mind and consciously observe the natural environment that surrounds you. Whilst doing that, go over several things that you are grateful for. Merely conjure up whatever springs to mind. Don’t feel forced into thinking about many things. It is all about feeling it out and engaging the mind gently. What’s beneficial about this is threefold: you are getting outside and breaking away from your study environment, you are getting physical activity into your day, and you are cultivating your mindfulness (Mako Mindfulness, n.d.). All of these are important for the student since this is where you are establishing the work ethic and mentality that you’ll be taking through your life. Remember that physical activity is also good for easing anxiety in addition to stress.

The last gratitude ritual I will explain is reminiscence meditation. Memory is a vital cognitive function, and, like anything, it improves if you engage it. Performing this form of meditation is essentially the same as any other form of meditation. No, you don’t have to sit cross-legged on the floor with your two hands resting on either leg and little circles formed by your index finger and thumb. That’s not necessary. Just find a calm place somewhere, whether at school, work, home, or elsewhere, where you can enter a reflective frame of mind. Sit or lie down in a comfortable position and close your eyes to be less distracted from your meditation. Once in that position, try to think of past experiences that you are now truly grateful for. That might be the initial moment you met a good friend or when you stuck it out during a difficult time in your studies. Focus on the other emotions you felt at those times, especially the ones that fortify your gratitude for them. After a few minutes, you will feel more gratitude, self-awareness, well-being, and resilience in the face of stress (Chowdhury, 2019; Oppland, 2017).

All of these are ways that you as a student can reduce academic stress via demonstrating your gratitude. Schedules change as you go throughout the semesters and your academic journey, so their short duration will help them remain flexible for you. I’ll just say a few things that are key to remember as well when you are engaging in these gratitude rituals or if you are looking to establish one or two of them in your routine. The important thing to remember is that not all of these exercises might work for you, or gratitude rituals just aren’t effective, and that’s okay. There are plenty of other ways that you can handle stress when you have an intense school schedule. It’s also always good to communicate positive thoughts you have, like your gratitude, to the supportive people in your life as well as the more negative thoughts you have, the distressful ones. Moreover, the stress that you have is a response. When you characterize stress in that way, you can gain more control over it. Also, if you can, taking breaks is always recommended. Receiving an education is a privilege oftentimes not extended to many, so remain humble. The journey of life is rarely a straight line, and there are others with you in similar situations. Anyhow, all you academics out there, take it easy and keep doing your best work.

References:

Chowdhury, M. R. (2019, April 9). The Neuroscience of Gratitude and Effects on the Brain. Positive Psychology.com https://positivepsychology.com/neuroscience-of-gratitude/.

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