Appreciation: Why Does My Brain Need It?

APPRECIATION: WHY DOES MY BRAIN NEED IT?

One of my personal goals in life is to invest time and energy into building strategies for success when things are going well … so that when challenges come I am able to use these strategies with greater ease. If you’ve tried to insert a new habit into an already challenging situation you know what I mean.

Appreciation: it’s good for you.

I tend to be the kind of person that sees what needs to be done, instead of celebrating progress already made. I want to celebrate more than criticize so practicing appreciation really appeals to me. The ability to express appreciation or thankfulness is a character trait that is respected by almost everyone. But did you know that it also aids brain health? Chris Coursey* says, “Healthy minds are full of appreciation. Appreciation creates belonging and changes stress to contentment”.

The left hemisphere of my brain stores information. My right hemisphere is focused on emotion and experience. Therefore, if I observe a lovely waterfall and am grateful for the gift of its beauty, I am likely using my left hemisphere. However, if I begin to feel the joy of the musical roaring sound of the water falling on rocks below and I experience the sparkle of the sunlight on the water and feel the wet spray on my face, I am entering into a more experiential appreciation. This more sensory experience requires my right hemisphere. If I go one step further and share with another this sensual experience and the gratitude that tingles in my belly as I appreciate it, this gratitude becomes interactive. As the other person enters into my experience we connect relationally. If I also share this experience with God and perceive His response, the joy multiplies.

Joy multiplies!

In their book, Building Bounce, Marcus Warner and Stephanie Hinman** encourage us by stating, “This right brain appreciation engages all of our senses and shares the joy with others.” This activity trains my brain to focus on positive aspects of relationship rather than fixate on the painful parts. It also trains my brain to look for more people for which to be thankful.

This sharing of experiences filled with appreciation creates connections that lead to a sense of belonging. Belonging is a need all humans share that comes from the deepest part of our brain, the thalamus or attachment center. Consider practicing this skill using the following directions --- but if including God is a stretch for you just practice the appreciation and share with another person. If you are ready for a great adventure, include listening for God.

An example from my life:

In my early 20’s I experienced the joy of a tiny 5lb. baby boy. But with the joy came the fear of ‘not being enough’ ---feeling incapable and inadequate, and lacking another person to support me in my new endeavor. But I found a friend, Mary. Mary was accepting, humorous, and relaxed in situations where I was not. When I see her face in my mind and recall times we shared with our boys I feel warm inside and safe in this new adventure. I feel appreciation for the gift of this friendship.

Dear Jesus, thank you for my friend, Mary. I appreciate her love and acceptance. I feel welcomed and a sense of belonging in this club called, “mothers”. God, what do you want me to know about this relationship? I sense Jesus reply, “Mary is a friend of mine and so are you. Mothering is something you grow into. No one comes knowing how to be a mother.”

When I hear that, the truth of my need for God to walk with me into every new season fills me with the confidence that all will be well.

Thank you for listening to my story.

APPRECIATION EXERCISE

Remember a person who brought you peace, joy, safety, a feeling of being understood.
Savor details: place, feelings, color, smells, etc.
Describe aloud the scene and the person being appreciated.
Aloud tell Jesus thank you and describe to him what you appreciate.
Seek Jesus’ presence there. What is he doing?
Share what you notice. Ask Jesus, “What do you want me to know?”
Wait and use all your senses.
*** Write story here: