Episode 21: The Neuroscience of Gratitude: Feel It, Don’t Just List It – Entrée

→ Download the 1-1-1 Gratitude Practice!

Most of us were taught to “be grateful.” But if you’ve ever written a gratitude list and felt nothing, you’re not alone—and you’re not doing it wrong. You’re just missing the part that actually changes the brain.

In this special Thanksgiving-week episode of Relish, Alyssia Sheikh dives into the real neuroscience of gratitude: how taking 10–20 seconds to actually feel a good moment is what rewires your emotional patterns, shifts the negativity bias, and signals safety to your nervous system. This isn’t a bypass, and it’s not about pretending everything is fine. It’s about giving your brain a chance to register what is good too.

You’ll learn why gratitude activates parasympathetic pathways (“rest-and-receive”), boosts dopamine and serotonin, supports immunity and sleep, and helps you show up to the holidays grounded and intentional. Alyssia also shares a 90-second guided practice, a beautifully simple 1–1–1 daily gratitude ritual, and practical ways to pair gratitude with boundaries—so you can bring presence into real life, not just onto paper.

✨ In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why gratitude is a state of being, not a list
• How 10–20 seconds of “staying with it” rewires your brain (experience-dependent neuroplasticity)
• The science behind why gratitude softens the negativity bias
• How to practice gratitude without minimizing your real feelings
• A 90-second guided embodiment practice
• A 1–1–1 Gratitude & Appreciation ritual you can use with partners, kids, or at the holiday table
• How gratitude + boundaries help you navigate challenging family dynamics

💭 Reflection:
What’s one tiny moment in the past 24 hours that brought you ease, warmth, or connection? And what happens when you let your nervous system stay with that for just a few seconds longer?

Relevant Episodes:

• Ep 20: Stop Fixing Yourself / 80–20 Shift
• Ep 10: Compassion In Action | From Self-Kindness to Fierce Boundaries

Follow & Connect:

• Join the Newsletter
• IG: @alyssiasheikh
• TikTok: @alyssiasheikh
• YouTube: Alyssia Sheikh
• Email me: [email protected]
• Call our hotline and leave a voicemail! (213) 632-9972‬
• Book a Self-Trust Session with Alyssia
• The Hoffman Institute (Alyssia is a Hoffman Process teacher; podcast is not affiliated)
• The Hoffman Process Instagram

Relevant Links & Resources:

• The Hoffman Process Instagram
• Emmons, R. A., & McCullough, M. E. (2003). Gratitude and well-being research; psychological and physical benefits of gratitude practices.
  https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/why_gratitude_is_good
• Algoe, S. B. (2012). Find, Remind, and Bind: The social and relational functions of gratitude. https://compass.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1751-9004.2012.00439.x 
• Fox, G. R., et al. (2015). Neural correlates of gratitude: fMRI research on how gratitude shifts the brain toward prosocial and reward networks. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01491/full 
• Greater Good Science Center (UC Berkeley). Research summaries and accessible science on gratitude and wellbeing.
  https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/topic/gratitude
• How to Overcome the Negativity Bias (Dr. Rick Hanson) https://rickhanson.com/topics-for-personal-growth/the-negativity-bias/ 
• Negativity Bias Review (Baumeister et al.)
  https://assets.csom.umn.edu/assets/71516.pdf
• Dr. Rick Hanson. “Take in the Good” — experience-dependent neuroplasticity & internalizing positive states.
  https://www.rickhanson.net/take-in-the-good/

📘 Books Referenced

• Hanson, R. & Mendius, R. (2009). Buddha’s Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love & Wisdom
  (A central text explaining Hebbian learning, “neurons that fire together wire together,” and how to transform states into traits.) https://a.co/d/1p25W6l (include amazon affiliate link)