Practice Daily Gratitude for Improved Health
Did you know that gratitude is good for your health? It’s true! Physiologic changes take place in your body when you pause to give thanks. Holding onto those feelings of gratitude and caring for just 15-20 seconds is enough for you to experience these health benefits:
Decreased levels of stress hormones cortisol and norepinephrine, which results in other beneficial metabolic changes, such as an enhanced immune system.
Increased blood supply to your heart.
Deeper breathing, which increases your body’s oxygen level.
Another benefit of gratitude is that you feel more relaxed and joyful. As you might imagine, noticing and appreciating the gifts in your life, large and small, simply feels good. Best of all, practicing daily gratitude is simple and doesn’t require any special skills or equipment. Take the time to notice what’s around you, and pause to be thankful for the things that enrich your life -- your friends and family, a job well done, the flower that brightens your yard, your healthy body, your child’s laughter.
Research shows that heart-centered feelings associated with gratitude, appreciation and caring—essentially, love—enhance health.
An easy way to get started is to not only notice the blessings around you, but to also reflect on them by jotting them down in a gratitude journal. According to research by Robert A. Emmons, professor of psychology at the University of California, Davis, practicing gratitude each day can lead to “higher levels of alertness, enthusiasm, determination, attentiveness and energy.”
During this season of giving thanks and giving gifts, slow down to savor the many gifts in your life. The more you practice daily gratitude, the easier it will become, and the more you’ll enjoy its many benefits.
Read the full article, Gratitude Enhances Health : A Thank You A Day, which was published in Pathways to Family Wellness magazine, Issue #26.