Scrubbing bubbles for the brain!
Let’s talk about appreciation - not as a feel-good afterthought, but as a core part of mental hygiene.
We’re all used to the idea of brushing our teeth, washing our hands, or cleaning our gear after a dungeon run. But how often do we clean up our thought loops? Because, honestly, the human brain collects mental grime faster than an unwashed keyboard.
Appreciation is how you rinse out the residue - the tiny emotional toxins that accumulate when you’re stressed, disappointed, or constantly scanning for what’s wrong. From a neuroscience standpoint, appreciation activates the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex - regions associated with emotional regulation and reward. It also boosts dopamine and serotonin, which means your brain is literally bathing itself in balancing chemicals when you take a moment to say, “Wow, that’s beautiful,” or “I’m lucky to have this.”
Psychologically, appreciation interrupts the negativity bias - that ancient survival subroutine that keeps us on alert for danger. Useful in the jungle. Less useful in traffic or when your raid queue takes forever. When you deliberately focus on what’s working, what’s beautiful, or what’s meaningful, you’re not denying problems - you’re preventing mental mildew from taking over the walls of your mind.
Here are a few ways to make appreciation part of your daily mental hygiene:
Micro Moments: Notice something small and good - the warmth of your coffee, the way sunlight hits the floor, the texture of your pet’s fur. Name it. That’s a neural snapshot of calm and gratitude being filed for future reference.
End-of-Day Reset: Before sleep, list three things that didn’t totally suck today. Doesn’t have to be profound. “Didn’t spill my drink” counts. You’re training your brain to balance its threat tracking with joy tracking.
Appreciate Yourself: Not in a “woo” way - in a “holy crap, I handled that” way. Acknowledge your small wins, your restraint, your effort. Self-recognition reinforces neural pathways for confidence and motivation.
Verbal Appreciation: Tell people you appreciate them while they can hear it. That not only strengthens relationships but also creates a feedback loop of oxytocin - the bonding hormone that calms the stress system.
Appreciation doesn’t erase the hard stuff; it keeps it from becoming all you see. It’s like clearing fog of war on the mental map - you’re expanding your awareness of what’s already good and strengthening your capacity to experience joy.
So yeah, gratitude journals and thank-yous aren’t just “nice.” They’re psychological flossing. They keep your inner world from gumming up with resentment and exhaustion.
Wash your thoughts daily in appreciation - it’s cheaper than therapy, faster than caffeine, and has no cooldown.
#Appreciation #GratitudePractice #Neuroplasticity #MentalHygiene #MindsetShift #EmotionalWellness #NeurospicyWisdom