Did you know that feelings of gratitude and appreciation are good for your health?
It’s true.
We now know that our emotions directly effect our physiology. Using biofeedback we can measure how positive feelings, like gratitude, improve our health and well-being.
The Institute of Heart Math has been on the forefront in collecting science based research on emotions and health. (See the store for Heart Math biofeedback tools and additional information.)
Here are a few science based facts on what happens in the body when we experience positive emotions, such as gratitude:
- Synchronize brain and heart rhythms
- Balance the autonomic nervous system
- Improve function of the immune system
- Decrease the inflammatory response
- Lessen cell aging
So, Happy Thanksgiving!
Thanksgiving is a day set aside to reflect on all that we have to be grateful for.
For me it’s: Family and friends, colleagues and clients, work I feel passionate about, good health, and of course, each of you reading this.
Thanksgiving also marks the start of the Holiday Season.
For some, this time of year may bring up feelings of excitement, joy, and anticipation. For others, the feelings are sadness, loss, loneliness and/or disappointment. For many of us, there is a mix of all these feelings.
Often the Holiday Season is a time when everything in life speeds up. There are more deadlines, things to “get done”.
As we head into this busy time of year, when we may feel more pressured and stressed, here’s one thing that might help:
Remember to bring the message of Thanksgiving with you.
- Practice gratitude. Reflect on giving thanks.
- Frequently during each day, consciously bring yourself into the present moment and experience a positive emotion.
- Experience the feeling of appreciation for something or someone in your life.
So here’s the prescription: 30 to 60 seconds, 5 times a day- think/feel appreciation, gratitude. That’s 2 1/2 to 5 minutes a day, do-able for just about all of us.
See if this little treatment improves your ability to deal with the stress that is frequently part of the Holiday Season. Let me know how it goes.
More Holiday De-Stress tips to come.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Take care,
Kate
