Being Grateful is Good For You! GRATITUDE AND HEALTH
Feeling thankful can improve your health in both direct and indirect ways. Some research shows that the experience of gratitude can induce a sense of relaxation, improve the immune system, and decrease blood pressure. But grateful people also tend to cultivate better health habits, like eating more nutritious food, exercising, and avoiding risky behaviors. In addition, the optimism that stems from gratitude can create a healing attitude: research shows that people with optimistic attitudes have better outcomes after medical procedures. GRATITUDE AND JOY Robert Emmons, an internationally renowned scientific expert on gratitude, has found that acknowledging the good in life has a tendency to amplify positive emotions, such as joy and contentment, because it helps us slow down. “I think gratitude allows us to participate more in life,” he says. “We notice the positives more, and that magnifies the pleasures you get from life.” Consider the last time you had a good cup of coffee—did you pay attention to the warmth of the cup on your hands, or the feeling of pleasure as you took the first sip? It’s easy to ignore these small moments of positivity in our day as we rush from one activity to another, but stopping to appreciate them makes them more powurful.
“We notice the positives more, and that magnifies the pleasures you get from life.”
GRATITUDE AND RESILIENCE Practicing gratitude can also make you better equipped to handle the difficulties of life that inevitably arise. In fact, according to Emmons, it’s an essential part of the process of healing from trauma. Even despair can be mitigated by the experience of appreciation for the good, however slight it might be. Many survivors of the Holocaust, when asked to tell their stories, remember most strongly the feelings of gratitude for food, shelter, or clothing that was offered to them. This sense of thankfulness for the small blessings helped them maintain their humanity despite experiencing a horrific tragedy. Many people with life-threatening illnesses also report decreased distress and increased positive emotions when they practice gratitude. Recent MRI studies have mapped the gratitude circuitry in the brain, which activates a sense of reward, fairness, and decision-making— all aspects that help facilitate survival and post-traumatic growth.
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You Can Be Pain Free This Holiday Have you already met your out of pocket max for the year? Take advantage of the opportunity to feel better and it might not cost you a dime! Patients with family plans or those who have had major surgeries or have a chronic illness are especially likely to have a $0 balance remaining on their out-of-pocket expenses. This means that the cost of physical therapy could be minimal or completely covered by the patient’s insurance plan. If you are close to or have met your insurance deductible for the year, then now is the time to come in for Physical Therapy! Are you feeling aches & pains? Need to work on your core? Let us help you get a head start for 2018. Contact us today to schedule your appointment.
Special Thanks to Those Below Who Gave the Gift of Health, by Referring a Friend or Family Member 1. Naomi Goodman 2. Linda Lemond 3. Ada Hiller 4. Karen Czapla 5. Alyssa Schmidt 6. Penny Pappas 7. Karen Vine 8. Kristin O’Connor 9. Mary Simkins 10. Leah Kensey 11. Darlene Schoon 12. Pat Bernacchi 13. John Rhame 14. John Bush
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