"Hold your horses," you may be thinking. This is supposed to be a blog about health. What's gratitude got to do with that? Quite a lot, actually. Keeping it strictly physical, for now, research has shown that people who are grateful take better care of themselves, exercising more regularly, eating a healthier diet, and getting regular physical exams more than those who don't look at life with gratitude. Compared to control groups, those who cultivated gratitude got sick less often, had more energy, and slept better. Stress is responsible for up to 90% of doctor visits and, you guessed it, those who practice gratitude have a better handle on stress.
But what to do if you don't naturally appreciate what life has to offer? It's really quite easy to develop that appreciation. One method is to keep a gratitude journal - which simply means that at the end of the day you write down five (or so) things that you're grateful for. The challenge (and fun) is to find new things every day. If you don't like to write, just think them. What many people find is that they start looking for things to be grateful for as they go about their day so they know they'll have their five things by nighttime. I believe it's that shift in your outlook that makes a profound difference in your life. I've also found that once you attune yourself to this attitude, you stop having to look for things to be grateful for, they just pop into your awareness.
Another practice is to write 100 things your are grateful for. You can also take a walk, paying attention to what you see, hear, smell, and feel - you will usually notice some wonderful things to be grateful for, even if you started the walk in a terrible mood.
I've been practicing gratitude for a couple of years now. At this point, I often think of what I'm grateful for as I go about my day, but I also more formally make sure to do this upon awakening, during my meditation, and before going to sleep. Frankly, physical benefits aside, I'd much rather live this way, pointing myself toward contentment and wonder, than not bothering to notice my blessings.
At first, I signed on for the twitter project as a way to support a fellow Integrative Nutrition student (even though I've never met her!) and because I thought it would be an interesting experiment. I started last week and I already see that going public with one thing I am grateful for each day is more interesting than I thought it would be. It gets me even more focused on what I'm grateful for since I know other people will be reading it. And Twitter's 140 character limit forces me to boil it down to its essence.
So, how 'bout you? Where are you on the gratitude scale? Does it come easily to you or do you have to work to feel grateful for things? Do you believe that simply feeling grateful can positively affect your health? I'd love to hear your experiences and views!
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