Can Gratitude Help Your Health?
Are you wondering what is a free way to lose weight, improve your mental health, reduce stress, improve sleep, and improve your relationships? Science shows all of these things can be achieved with: Gratitude.
People who practice daily affirmations of gratitude experience less aches and pains than their counterparts, are more likely to exercise, and are more present in their personal health by attending annual and preventive visits.
Suffering from depression or anxiety? Persons practicing daily gratitude show improvement in their mental health, motivation, and sense of peace. Also, sleep is improved allowing your mind to rest from racing thoughts.
Suffering from stress? Daily gratitude affirmations are shown to reduce stress, improve self-esteem, improve relationships with others, and also reduce resentment and stress. Stress is known to cause inflammation and subsequently contribute to multiple chronic disease states including not but limited to: high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, insomnia, depression, anxiety, obesity, and more.
How can you practice gratitude?
- Thank the “little things:” Someone holding the door for you, someone bagging your groceries, excellent customer service. Making handwritten notes for those you see consistently can go even further: Your UPS/FedEX/USPS provider, your co-worker, your pet sitter, even family members who help you with day-to-day projects.
- Get a Gratitude Journal (we have some on site): Write down five things you are thankful for. These can be a sunny day, less traffic, how happy a song makes you feel, etc.
- See the Positive: We live in a hard world. It is only getting tougher. Try to come from a place of light and spread this positivity with others.
- Express Yourself: Keep your thoughts in your Gratitude Journal. You can reflect on these later. Tell the people you love that you love them.
- Don’t Make Thanksgiving a Special Occassion: When you sit down to eat, share what you are thankful for with others at the table and have them share as well.
Take care of yourself and be grateful for the opportunity to be able to.
Best–
K