So a friend of mine recently shared an article from Time.com on Facebook about 4 Rituals that will make you Happier! So of course I checked that out – who doesn’t want to be happier? (It’s not about Pilates, shockingly…)

Turns out that neuroscience has demonstrated that feeling gratitude boosts levels of serotonin in your body. Ok, so big whoop, being grateful makes you happier. But it’s not just being grateful, it’s finding things for which to be grateful that can help as well!

From the article quoting The Upward Spiral:

It’s not finding gratitude that matters most; it’s remembering to look in the first place. Remembering to be grateful is a form of emotional intelligence. One study found that it actually affected neuron density in both the ventromedial and lateral prefrontal cortex. These density changes suggest that as emotional intelligence increases, the neurons in these areas become more efficient. With higher emotional intelligence, it simply takes less effort to be grateful.

Cool!  So don’t forget to just look for opportunities to be thankful – and mean it! Yet another reason to come to Pilates – then you can thank yourself for that!