Did you know? Being GRATEFUL has numerous benefits. I am going to touch on those benefits for you to see how you are implementing gratitude in your own life.
Gratitude has been known to help individuals build connections to others, increase optimism, helps increase happiness and increases resiliency. There are also a variety of benefits on HEALTH that I wanted to share with you!
6 Health Benefits of Gratitude
1. Lowers Blood Pressure
The calming influence of gratitude can lower blood pressure. You don't even need to have a daily practice to receive the benefits! Just doing so once a week resulted in a significant decrease in systolic blood pressure for participants in a 10-week study. The group that implemented gratitude were less hostile and had more healthy habits.
2. Decreases Risks for Depression
Gratitude increases happiness and decreases the risks for depression, increases your resiliency to stressors and is considered a protective factor against both anxiety and depression, as gratitude increases dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin, the feel-good transmitters!
3. Inflammation Reduction
Long term, or chronic, inflammation is detrimental to our health but gratitude can lower inflammation! Control studies that looked at heart symptoms over 8 weeks showed inflammatory markers were lower in those that practiced gratitude.
4. Improves Sleep
Gratitude helps us to sleep better, even without a conscious gratitude practice. Studies show that those with the gratitude practices had more quality sleep and less fatigue, as well as getting to sleep faster!
5. Lowering Stress
Stress is reduced with re-framing and gratitude! Stress has a significant negative impact on our health, as it is harmful to hormonal health, gut health and overall health. Stress hormones like cortisol are 32% less in those that practice gratitude.
6. Builds Immune Response
When you are reducing inflammation, improving sleep and lowering stress, your immune system is stronger! Studies surveying first year law students found that optimistic students had higher fighter cells and a greater immune response with gratitude!
When these elements improve, sleep and lowered stress, less inflammation and depression, many people improve other areas of their life by default. They feel better and make better choices, like adding in exercise, nutritious foods and avoiding unhealthy behaviors like drinking and smoking. Adding gratitude into your routine has a lot of significant payouts on your health! Even if you are not doing something every day, find ways to implement gratitude regularly.
Some easy tips for adding in gratitude can be sharing appreciation for others, write thank you notes, reflect on your day either in thoughts or journaling, Or just taking time adding in gratitude to something you are already doing keeps it easy- what are some positives about your day? Reflect on your day in the shower or laying in bed before you fall asleep. Or start your day with a cup of coffee and the positives about the day ahead. However you add it in, keep doing it! The benefits are well-worth it!
Do you have some gratitude tips?
Anxiety plagues SO many people. Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) affect 6.8 MILLION ADULTS or 3.1% of the U.S. Population. Yet, only 43.2% are receiving treatment.
The percentage of adults who experienced mild, moderate or severe symptoms of anxiety is the highest among those aged 18-29 and generally decreased with age.
Women are generally more likely to experience more symptoms than men.
Oof.
These stats MIGHT even be higher, since the past couple years seems to have increased the number of people with Anxiety. As a professional counselor, Anxiety is the #1 reason most people seek counseling.
So, what is anxiety anyway?
Anxiety is often described as a feeling of being “keyed up” or “on edge.” This can manifest itself in physical symptoms such as a racing heart, sweating, and difficulty breathing. Anxiety can also cause mental symptoms such as racing thoughts, intrusive thoughts, and difficulty concentrating. It’s not unusual for someone with anxiety to feel like they’re constantly in fight-or-flight mode. This state of being can be extremely exhausting and make it difficult to relax or even sleep. If you’re feeling anxious, know that you’re not alone. Anxiety is a very common condition that can be managed with lifestyle changes, therapy, and medication.
Anxiety is more than just feeling stressed or worried. It's a real and debilitating condition that can have a profound impact on your life. But the good news is that there are treatments available that can help you manage your anxiety and live a healthy, happy life.
So, what can you do about anxiety?
Well, first, it's important to understand that some degree of anxiety IS normal. Everyone feels anxious at some point in their lives. And anxiety can even be helpful in some situations. For example, anxiety can help you perform better on a test or presentation by providing a shot of adrenaline.
That said, there are also times when anxiety is excessive and can interfere with your life. If you're struggling with anxiety, there are a number of things you can do to get it under control. You can try relaxation techniques such as deep breathing or progressive muscle relaxation. You can also talk to a therapist or counselor who can help you develop healthy coping mechanisms and many more tools. There are a lot of lifestyle changes, dietary interventions and natural remedies that can also help support a reduction in anxiety. Finally, you can try medication if other interventions don't work. Whatever route you choose, know that help is available and anxiety doesn't have to rule your life.
(If you or someone you know are struggling with anxiety, however big or small, reach out for help. Once of my favorite supports is targeting GUT HEALTH that supports mood (another post coming on the gut!). If you want to grab a HAPPY MIND Pack, try it here with a $10 off coupon. It might be just enough to calm the nervous system and work on developing other tools to conquer ANXIETY for good!)
You CAN #liveyourbestlife!
xoxo, Judith
