Gratitude - be thankful for what you haVe
BY DR ELENA ROSSEEL
When life does get a bit hard - and we are facing up to those challenges - it can be easy to become stressed, look at things quite negatively, and get stuck into a downward spiral. Practising gratitude can help to see the positive things in your life and to be thankful for what you have.
When you practise gratitude, it stimulates the release of serotonin and dopamine, two neurotransmitters known as the brain’s pleasure chemicals that promote feelings of well-being. People who regularly practise gratitude have been shown to experience more positive emotions and less envy, sleep better, extend more compassion and kindness to others, and even have a stronger immune function (Allen, 2018).
Consistent practice is required for neuroplasticity to occur (Kini et al., 2016). Regular gratitude practice works to slowly change how we perceive situations by modifying what we focus on. Rather than constantly focusing on what we do not have, we learn to focus on what we do have.
There are many ways to practise gratitude and for some people it comes easier than for others. Below are some exercises that can help.
Journaling
Write down 3-5 things you are grateful for. You can do this daily, every few days or once a week, but make it regular. To make it easier to begin, you can use prompts that cover multiple areas of your life. We have made an example worksheet for weekly gratitude journaling, available to pick up when you are in for your next adjustment or by requesting in reply to this email.
Gratitude Vision Board
Similar to a gratitude journal, but a more visual record of the things you are grateful for. Taking a picture of one thing every day, to look back upon at the end of the week to reflect on how it makes you feel. You could also print photos to put on the fridge or save them as your screensaver for a regular reminder and lift your spirits.
Gratitude Jar
Spend some time writing things you are grateful for and put them in a nice jar. When you are feeling down or something negative has happened, take a few notes out of the jar and remind yourself of what’s good in your life.
Gratitude Rock
Find a pleasantly shaped rock and carry it with you or place it in a spot you will see often. Whenever you see it or touch it, pause to think about at least one thing you are grateful for.
Meditation
Meditation can provide some great tools for visualising the things in your life that you are grateful for. Practising gratitude with your children can also help them develop skills that they will take throughout their lives. These three exercises are adaptations that work well with many kids.
Gratitude Tree
Cut leaf-shaped pieces out of colourful paper, punch a hole and string them together with twine or ribbon. Place some branches from the garden or a park into a vase, or plant pot. Use the leaves to write or draw things that you are grateful for. Hang the leaves from the branches in the vase and place the vase in a spot in your house that everyone can see to be reminded of the things to be grateful for in your lives.
Gratitude Flower
Similar to the gratitude tree above, use colourful paper to make flower petals of gratitude. Write ‘I am grateful’ in the centre of the flower and arrange your petals around that. These flowers can be stuck to a bigger piece of paper or glued together and taped to a stick to stand in a jar or vase
Gratitude walk
Inspired by Japanese Forest Bathing, take time with your family on a nature walk observing all of the wonderful and curious things around you. Leave behind the phones and any distractions to fully appreciate your surroundings. Make sure you take it all in, and debrief together about the things that you observed and appreciated during your walk.
If practicing gratitude is new and you are hesitant, take it from the FCC team that once giving it a try, you’ll be surprised by the positive impact on your outlook. If you do get the kids involved, share with us some photos of their gratitude tree or flower!
Yours in health,
Elena and The Family Chiro team xx
References:
*Allen, S. (2018). The science of gratitude. John Templeton Foundation.
*Kini, P.; Wong, J.; McInnis, S.; Gabana, N. and Brown, J.W. (2016). The effects of gratitude
expression on neural activity. NeuroImage, 128;1-10.
