Giving thanks has health benefits as well

Kathleen Hall, contributor

“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.”

— Cicero

Can gratitude enhance your health? A growing body of research says it can.
Gratitude, as a mindful practice, offers many health benefits.

It is physiologically impossible to experience stress and gratitude
simultaneously. So boost your health with a dose of gratitude.

• Gratitude research shows grateful individuals experienced less stress
  and depression and improved their ability to cope with stress.

• Grateful people are more optimistic and optimism boosts your immune
  system.

• Grateful people exercise more regularly
• Positive emotions enhance heart health by stopping the stress response
  caused by negative emotions.
• There are a lot of easy ways to begin expressing gratitude:
  • Waking up: Open your eyes, take a deep breath and be thankful
    for your body and the healing sleep you received.

• Bathroom mirror: Put a note on your bathroom mirror reading, “Thank
  you for my life,” or a famous quote you like on gratitude.
• Office note: Put a gratitude saying on your desk or on your wall to
  remind yourself to return to your grateful self.
• Meals: Be grateful for your food, the people and work it took to
  bring it to your table.
• Other people in your life: Tell others that you are grateful for
  them in your life, and why you are grateful for the gifts they bring into your
  life.
• Office: At weekly staff meetings, begin the meetings by going
  around to each person and each tells what they are grateful for in their lives
  that week.
• Bedtime: Close your eyes, take a deep breath, smile and say, “Thank
  you for this day of my life, my family, friends, the people at work. Thank you
  for my health. Thank you for my prosperity. What a gift!”
• You can teach your children gratitude too:
  • Gratitude journal: Teach your children to keep a gratitude journal
    and have them write three things they are grateful for each day.

   

• Before meals: Teach your children to be thankful for their food,
  the people who labored to bring the food to their mouths and the animals that
  gave their lives.
• Lunch napkins: Hand-write “Thank You” on your child’s lunch napkin
  when you pack their lunch.
• Bedtime: Before bed, have your children give thanks for their day
  and specific things that happened.
• Follow @WTOP and <a
  href=”http://twitter.com/wtopliving”>@WTOPliving on Twitter and <a
  href=”https://www.facebook.com/wtopnews”>WTOP on Facebook.