As Thanksgiving approaches this weekend, it is important to consider what one is thankful for. However, as some may have heard before, an “attitude of gratitude” is a type of attitude that should be adopted year round. This type of grateful thinking on a regular basis can have many health benefits including, but not limited to:
- Increased ability to achieve life goals.
- Increased happiness
- Strengthened and built relationships
- Increase alertness and energy
- Longer and better quality of sleep
- Increased immunity
- Increase overall physical health
For more detail on the mechanism and precise estimates on how much gratefulness can benefit your health, see my previous blog on the health benefits of being thankful. Now that we know what being thankful can do for our health, one needs to know how one can adopt this gratitude mindset. Different individuals may choose to do this differently. For some it will be more of an outward expression, for others it may be more internal. The bottom line is choose what suits you best, and go from there. The list below provides some examples of what has been researched and shown to have positive health benefits, but you do not need to limit thankfulness practices to these suggestions. Get creative and get thankful in the way you deem best! I challenge you to try and conduct a thankful exercise of your choice every day and see how it benefits you.
- Record happy events – improve well – being and positive emotions
- Express gratitude – improve well-being and positive emotions
- Give thanks to God for all you have both tangible and non-tangible – In some studies when expressed toward God caused decreased stress and improved health in stressful situations
- Record things grateful for – improve emotional well-being and interpersonal benefits
- Look in the mirror and say I appreciate you and am thankful for you – For the health benefits of positive self-talk and for some other self-affirmations you can speak over yourself, refer to my past blog on positive self-talk.
Have you benefitted from reading this blog? Know someone that would benefit as well? Share, Like, Comment, or Tweet this article, and let me know what you think.
Some of the information provided above may not be appropriate for everyone, please consult with your doctor before trying any of the above. If you are interested in Naturopathic Medicine and wanting a different approach to your health care needs, contact Elisha Cook via the contact portion of this website.
Sources:
http://ccn.aacnjournals.org/content/29/6/12.full
http://en.cnki.com.cn/Article_en/CJFDTOTAL-XLKX200903022.htm
http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/psp/84/2/377/
http://roa.sagepub.com/content/28/2/163.short