Much has been written about how showing Gratitude can positively affect your life. But did you know that there is research that shows Gratitude can actually affect the molecular structure of water? Well there is and after telling you about it, I’ll explain to you how important this can be for your physical and well as mental health.

Dr. Masuro Emoto performed his research on how different stimuli affected the molecular structure of water in the 1990’s. To do this, he would take a regular glass of water and then expose it to different light wavelengths and sound waves. He started by placing speakers right next to the samples of water and played music next to them. Then he would freeze the water to look at the crystal structure it formed under a microscope.

Regular, ordinary water produced some regular looking crystals. Interestingly, water exposed elegant classical music produced huge beautiful crystals. But the crystals formed by water exposed to heavy metal music produced haphazard, disorganized crystals.

So then Dr. Emoto then started placing words on his samples – just words typed on paper and taped to the glass. The water samples that were exposed to the word “hate” again produced crystals that were disorganized and random. The biggest, clearest and most beautiful crystals were produced by the words “Love and Gratitude”.

The pinnacle of Dr. Emoto’s research came when he took before and after water samples from a polluted lake when monks were told to pray upon the water for it to heal. The water crystals looked completely different before and after the monks’ intentions went into the lake.

This shows that our thoughts and our words literally do change the molecular structure of our world.

Remember your body is made up of 60-70% water. So don’t you want your water molecules to be able to form beautiful, love and gratitude crystals?

I have one of Dr. Emoto’s pictures of a “Love and Gratitude” water crystal hanging in my office. It reminds me of the power of intention, of the power of our thoughts and of the power of Love and Gratitude while I am working with people. You can see a gallery of the images he has taken exposing water to different words, photos and music here.

There was a teenager in my practice a few years ago and he was one of the sweetest, nicest, happiest people you would ever wish to meet. Gabriel knew everyone in the office and everybody knew him. He would politely introduce himself, ask how they were and how they were doing. Everyone loved him. He was coming to see me at that time for help with a pretty severe scoliosis. Unfortunately, some orthopedists had already operated on him before he got to me for adjustments and they had caused a lot of damage in his body. They tried fusing the growth plates in his knee and put pins in his joints. He was in a lot of pain and he felt it all day long.

Despite all of this though, he was still optimistic for healing. He was always beaming with gratitude. Gabriel was always saying things like “I am so happy to be here”, “I am feeling better already”, “I am sure I’ll be better soon, Dr. Jay.” I know his Attitude of Gratitude helped change his body’s biochemistry so that more relief and even more healing was available to him while he was there.

This is possible for you too. You can help yourself to create your Attitude of Gratitude by listing out all the things you have in your life that you are thankful for – everything you can think of!

Be grateful the loved ones in your life: your spouse, your kids, your family, your pets.

Be grateful for your home and for having shelter.

Be grateful for your job or your business and to be able to do work.
Be grateful for your current state of health.

Be grateful for eyes to see, ears to hear, nose to smell, mouth to taste, tongue to speak, skin to feel, muscles to move, feet to walk on and jump up and down on when you want to.

Be grateful for a brain to think and for lungs that can bring you this next breath…

Express gratitude for things like the last sunset you saw or the next leisurely walk you take, the sound of children laughing and birds chirping, for transportation to take you where you want to go and for even having places to go. Be grateful for computers and the Internet and all the amazing things they allow you to do. Be grateful for the opportunity to learn and to grow and to improve and to heal and to Be Well!

Start each day with writing down 25 things you are grateful for. Of course you can list more if you want, but acknowledge at least 25 things each day to help put you in this Attitude of Gratitude. Keep a Gratitude journal and see over time which things you are continually grateful for and what new things you become even more grateful for. These are the things to cherish and to pay close attention to because it will serve to bring you more of those things into your life and then you will have even more to be grateful for.

If you would like to learn more about how Attitude can affect your health, you can read these posts about the Attitudes of Optimism, Happiness, Gratitude and Service in more detail.

*Exerpted from the Being Well Lifestyles Home Study Course by Dr. Jay Warren.

Drawing on over two decades of experience as a hands-on holistic practitioner, Dr. Jay Warren is a primary healthcare provider and licensed chiropractor in the San Diego area. He has spent tens of thousands of clinical hours helping his patients achieve their optimal health potential through holistic approaches bolstered by years of personal experimentation, education and research. Dr. Jay creates customized plans integrating exercise, nutrition and stress management strategies to overcome a myriad of health challenges. For more information, email drjay@drjaywarren.com or visit www.DrJayWarren.com.