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Taking Gratitude Further… for your Health
Gratitude And Grief
“Gratitude makes sense of your past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow” – Melody B.
Many of you know that I am not stranger to grieve lately as I lost my dad right after Christmas 2018. Losing a parent has easily been one of the most difficult things that I’ve ever endured. And as difficult as it may sound, grieving with gratitude can bring in a ray of hope in the darkest times in life. Finding a reason to be thankful in days of despair may seem impossible. In her article on gratitude and grief, Kelly Buckley mentioned how she found the meaning of her pain and her life after losing her 23-year old son.
While it is true that practicing gratitude makes us resilient to negative emotions and distress, it cannot be denied that mundane misfortunes are inevitable and are bound to affect our well-being.
Grief Management With Gratitude
1. Cry your heart out
Crying doesn’t make us weak. Instead, it is an act of acceptance and awareness of our emotions. We cry because we know how we are feeling and why we are feeling so. It gives a vent to the pain and helps us to step up and change our lives.
2. Collect the broken pieces
Grieving with gratitude lets us appreciate the things that we still have. For example, for a person who just got fired from his job, thanking his family and friends, who stand by his side during the crisis, can help in reducing the pain. By consciously acknowledging their love and support, he can feel grateful and regain the motivation to look for other employment opportunities.
3. Ask for help
Do not hesitate to seek professional help when all your coping mechanisms fail. Studies have shown that people who practice gratitude are more willing to participate in counseling and therapy for managing their depression, and the prognosis is much brighter in such instances.
4. Keep a gratitude jar
Keep a glass jar or a transparent box and some small pieces of paper beside it. Take up one paper everyday and write about one thing that you are grateful for today. It may be your family, good health, loving friends, your home, or yourself for enduring so much – anything that made you feel blessed that day. As the jar gets filled up, you will naturally feel more gifted and hopeful.
The grief may still be there, but you will gain the strength to look beyond it.
https://positivepsychology.com/neuroscience-of-gratitude/
Simple Gratitude Practices For Building Emotional Resilience
1. Meditation and breath control
Starting any gratitude practice with a brisk meditation and breath control session is a good idea. Deep breathing and constant focus allow the mind to settle down and gather itself. You feel more relaxed and more connected to yourself, and now is a good time to start your practice.
Here is a 2-minute meditation session that you can follow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLhOGEnEedk
2. Gratitude list
Much like the gratitude journal, the gratitude list will help you come face-to-face with your blessings. Take a pen and paper (or your mobile notepad) and make a list of all those people who offered their support when you needed it the most. While you are writing, try to revert to the days and feel the thankfulness in your heart again. Once the list is made, look at it for 2 minutes and go back to work.
3. Gratitude notes
Once your gratitude list is completed, start writing small thank you note to each of the people you mentioned in the list before. The notes can be as short as you want, but make sure you are pouring your feelings into them. Send the messages to the people concerned – either as handwritten notes, or SMS, or emails. Just make sure your message reaches them and do not expect responses.
4. Reminiscence Meditation
Notice how this makes you feel more grateful and appreciative of the present. The time travel that we do with this meditation instantly exposes us to our fortitude – we start feeling more confident of ourselves and gain the strength to fight stress in the same way we did before.
A Take Home Message
Practicing gratitude is synonymous to expressing our feelings for others and ourselves. By simple words of love and praise, we not only make others feel good, but we also feel a lot better of ourselves and our lives. Gratitude is about feeling the right way, about the right things, and at the right time. It is inseparably linked with self-discipline and motivation. It may not give us instant relief from pain and stress, but it brings the feeling of control back to us.
By acknowledging and appreciating our assets, gratitude gives us the charge of our own lives. As Robin Sharma has beautifully put it:
“Gratitude drives happiness. Happiness boosts productivity. Productivity reveals mastery. And mastery inspires the world”.
https://positivepsychology.com/neuroscience-of-gratitude/
Why do I spend so many months talking about gratitude? It must be obvious by now, we KNOW that positive thinking impacts your health, just like negative thinking. We are starting to understand the science behind our thoughts and how our body reacts to each thought with a chemical change. YOU are in charge of your health. You are the only one controlling the words you say in your head, make sure to speak with intention and love and support to yourself.
Your body is powerful, your body is capable. You are created to be amazing and full of life and function. An interference in your nervous system is called a subluxation, and these impact and diminish your health and life. Our sole focus is on removing interference and restoring health…from the inside out. You deserve to be healthy; you deserve to raise your children free of interference…health is your birthright. We are here to help you reclaim that right.
SOO…
If you are tired of being stuck in the traditional “health” care model and want another approach, contact us today! We can’t wait to welcome you into the Prime Chiropractic family!
And as always, if you have any questions, or would information on any health topic, it would be my pleasure to help you!