Practice Gratitude
It is not happiness that brings gratitude
It is gratitude that brings us happiness
gratitude
Gratitude is an attitude of appreciation under any circumstance, not just sometimes.
This healthy attitude of appreciation in general is closely linked to your mental health, but what about your physical health?
Improving your mental well-being literally can cause improvement in your physical state of health and can extend your life by years.
Some examples of what gratitude can do:
People that practice gratitude have fewer chronic aches and pains (10%)
20% improvement in overall health: they tend to exercise and eat healthier
25% improvement in sleep quality- falling asleep and staying asleep
Decreased self- induced stress can improve your immune system, so therefore you are less sick
Lowers your blood pressure
Promotes Optimism which has been shown in studies to improve longevity. The optimist generally lives years longer than the pessimist (and has more fun doing it :)
Improvement to your psychological health. There are multiple studies that show a link between gratitude and increased overall happiness and decreased depression by 30%.
Increases your mental strength and has a major role in overcoming trauma and decreasing post traumatic stress disorder.
Appreciate the present
Live in the now instead of yesterday or tomorrow. Find a way to appreciate yesterday no matter what. Was it painful? What can you learn from it? How have you grown because of it?
And don’t worry too much about your future- people who are grateful today still think about the future and have a good outlook studies say. If you appreciate today, then you can truly enjoy it.
How do you start?
Start by taking a few moments every day to focus on all that you have. Gratitude triggers more gratitude and is a positive feedback loop that continues to add on itself. It may take months to change habits, thoughts and reactions. Bonus is that it is free and only takes a few minutes a day.
Changes may occur slowly but developing an attitude of gratitude is one of the simplest ways to improve your satisfaction with life, and of course there’s an app for that.
To name a few apps: gratitude, think up, happier, and live happy are a few examples and then there are plenty of hand written journals and daily planners if you prefer.
Be well, be grateful and be happy xoxo Dr. B
