How gratitude rewires your brain | Christina Costa | TED Talk

The TED Talk "How gratitude rewires your brain" by Christina Costa tells the story of how the practice of gratitude helped her deal with her brain tumor diagnosis and recovery. Costa, who has a PhD in psychology and teaches psychology to undergrad and high school students, talks about how she first introduced the practice of "kissing your brain" to her middle school science class as a way of showing gratitude. Years later, after being diagnosed with an anaplastic astrocytoma, she found herself relying on gratitude to help her cope with the situation, rather than the fight narrative that often surrounds cancer. She describes how a positive attitude and practicing gratitude helped her reframe her thoughts and emotions about her illness and helped her develop resilience.

Learning objectives:

• Identify potential benefits of practicing gratitude
• Apply gratitude practices in your daily life and use them as a tool to reframe negative thoughts