About Grateful Hippo
The Grateful Hippo is about making Gratitude your Attitude. It is about rewiring your brain, training your hippocampus (Hippo) and building memories that help you to feel more positive about your life. This website is dedicated to cultivating gratitude.
Gratitude does not change what you experience - it wont make cancer go away, it wont fix an abusive relationship and it wont improve your human rights. What gratitude can do is give you something to hang on to. It can help you get through tough times - or thats how it worked for me.
Gratitude does not change what you experience - it wont make cancer go away, it wont fix an abusive relationship and it wont improve your human rights. What gratitude can do is give you something to hang on to. It can help you get through tough times - or thats how it worked for me.
About Gratitude
Gratitude is about appreciating what we have, rather than craving what we don’t. Gratitude is worth cultivating because there are stacks of benefits. Gratitude researcher Dr Robert Emmons, has demonstrated that Grateful people feel better physically, are more optimistic, more alert, enthusiastic, determined, attentive and energetic. They also have a greater sense of connection to others, and longer and better quality sleep. Others have linked Gratitude to less stress, less anxiety and depression, higher long-term satisfaction with quality of life and greater capacity to cope with life changes. Other research has discovered that Gratitude can be cultivated as a habit.
The role of the Hippocampus
The Hippocampus (Hippo) is an important part of the brain - its involved in forming new memories. An article in Psychology Today described how negative words - or negativity - can result in the release of stress producing hormones that interrupt normal brain function. In particular, the production of cortisol - which breaks down in the Hippo. The more cortisol that is released, the more difficult it becomes to form positive memories. Research has also shown that complaining shrinks the Hippo. Stress producing hormones can result in a highly anxious or depressed person feeling worse. The more we focus on negativity, the more we damage key structures that regulate memory, feelings and emotions. It also disrupts sleep, appetite and ability to experience happiness and satisfaction. On the other hand repetitious and conscious focus on positive thoughts can rewire our brain - and build positive memories.
Grateful projects
- Grateful ageing - coming soon
- Grateful life - Launched Dec 2018
- Grateful rainbow - launched Nov 2018
Contact us
Project Coordinator Dr Catherine Barrett on 0429 582 237 or email: [email protected]
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