Ever wondered how a simple 'thank you' could be a game-changer for your well-being? Get ready to uncover the transformative power of gratitude in our latest Self Care Society episode. We dive into the heart of practicing gratitude, dispelling the notion of it being merely a feel-good gimmick. We reveal how this soulful practice can bolster your immune system, enhance your sleep patterns, and cultivate a more positive mindset. Moreover, we don't shy away from discussing the hurdles one might face when embarking on this journey.
As the season of giving thanks is upon us, we’d like to bring your attention to how gratitude can be a cornerstone in strengthening relationships and enriching your life overall. We've compiled seven practical ways for you to seamlessly infuse gratitude into your daily life - from journaling to expressing thanks to those around you. Let's navigate through this holiday season with a deeper sense of appreciation and care for ourselves and others. So, as we prepare for Thanksgiving, let's raise a toast to gratitude and self-care. Happy Thanksgiving to all our listeners!
Ever wondered how a simple 'thank you' could be a game-changer for your well-being? Get ready to uncover the transformative power of gratitude in our latest Self Care Society episode. We dive into the heart of practicing gratitude, dispelling the notion of it being merely a feel-good gimmick. We reveal how this soulful practice can bolster your immune system, enhance your sleep patterns, and cultivate a more positive mindset. Moreover, we don't shy away from discussing the hurdles one might face when embarking on this journey.
As the season of giving thanks is upon us, we’d like to bring your attention to how gratitude can be a cornerstone in strengthening relationships and enriching your life overall. We've compiled seven practical ways for you to seamlessly infuse gratitude into your daily life - from journaling to expressing thanks to those around you. Let's navigate through this holiday season with a deeper sense of appreciation and care for ourselves and others. So, as we prepare for Thanksgiving, let's raise a toast to gratitude and self-care. Happy Thanksgiving to all our listeners!
Welcome to the Self Care Society podcast with your hosts Celia Williamson, ashley Kutcher, louis Guardiola and Carrie Shaw, a podcast devoted to those whose job it is to help others get or remain mentally, physically and emotionally healthy, but who also need to take care of themselves. How we're going to do this? By first showing you the filtered, pretty version of success and then the real struggles, real work and raw grit it took to get there, how they took care of themselves and also achieved their goals while doing it Together. We will work with you to improve and maintain your internal health and growth, while helping you achieve your external goals and your next professional achievement in life.
Speaker 1:And we're excited to show you how to follow your own individual and unique path and achieve the dreams you have, while taking good care of yourself.
Speaker 2:So let's get started. Hello and welcome to the Self Care Podcast. My name is Isabel Matosian. As it is Thanksgiving week, I think it is appropriate to talk about gratitude. There's a lot that we can talk about when it comes to Thanksgiving Family stress, budgeting issues, the history of the holiday, balancing all of the preparations and our usual responsibilities and more but every year we hear people asking us what we're grateful for this year. I personally hate being put on the spot, so one thing I'm not at all grateful for is being asked that question at a big family dinner. Sometimes the only answers you can think of are so incredibly cheesy that it's hard to spit them out. Ultimately, thanksgiving has developed into an opportunity to spend time with family and express your gratitude to them and whatever other good fortune you have. So let's talk about it.
Speaker 2:Robert Emmons is a psychology professor at the University of California. According to Dr Emmons, there are two key components of practicing gratitude. The first one is affirming the good things we've received, and the second one is acknowledging the role other people play in providing our lives with goodness. According to an article from mindfulorg, there are a wide range of benefits to practicing gratitude, including strengthening your immune system and improving your sleep patterns, feeling optimistic and experiencing more joy and pleasure, being more hopeful and generous and feeling less lonely and isolated. There's another research article by Christina Carnes entitled A Grateful Brain is a Giving One. She explains that gratitude prepares the brain for generosity. Gratitude points us towards moral behaviors, reciprocity and pay it forward motivations. Basically, our brain makes us feel richer when others do well. So we know that gratitude helps us and others.
Speaker 2:But how do we practice it and why is it sometimes so difficult? I'm sure there are more reasons, but today we'll cover three that may be the reason you struggle with practicing gratitude. It may be that a conceived touchy, feely or too sappy, especially in older generations. Feeling vulnerable or recognizing the goodness you receive from others is not always acceptable. It's that pull yourself up by your bootstraps mentality. Another reason is that many people feel they don't have the time. These are the people who are bending over backwards just to get through their days. And lastly, it may be procrastinating to start or struggling to practice gratitude habitually. So, with that respect, here is a list of seven ways that you can approach practicing gratitude according to psychology today.
Speaker 2:First of all, gratitude is as rewarding as you make it out to be. A lot of people may refrain from a gratitude habit when it seems too sentimental or out of step with how they normally approach their lives. The truth is, all of us are seeking to make a satisfying life with the circumstances given. Gratitude, in dozens of studies, has been linked to greater satisfaction and well-being. If satisfaction is what you seek, gratitude is definitely one key ingredient. The more we seek out feelings of gratefulness, the more rewards it brings to our lives.
Speaker 2:Number two gratitude is a form of self-care. We all need time for some degree of self-care, and the notion that gratitude is just for the noble does not hold up these days. When a gratitude habit is sustained, a person experiences more positive emotions. In turn, it seems that one's mood becomes elevated. We all experience feeling down, frustrated, burnt out, stressed and more. With a gratitude habit, our minds can become better adapted to accept difficult things and shift to a more pleasant mood. As Tony Robbins says, you cannot be grateful and angry simultaneously. You cannot be grateful and worried simultaneously. If we cultivate gratitude, we have a different life.
Speaker 2:Number three gratitude, like exercise, is an incredibly rewarding habit that takes regular focus and attention. It may seem difficult at first, but the challenge to feel grateful will subside with regular effort. Exercise is perhaps the number one piece of advice. Patients don't like to hear from their doctors that they need to do. Gratitude, arguably, is just as important of an exercise is wisdom that can be hard to digest. We may find it difficult to shift our focus and attention to what we appreciate. Remember, though your focus and attention on the present moment is enhanced through appreciation. Consequently, gratitude makes it easier to live and be in the present. Shifting focus routinely to what we can appreciate around us can make appreciation second nature for many weeks. If you feel grateful during a walk outdoors, savor that feeling. If you feel hungry before eating, take a second to shift your focus to gratitude for your meal. Your brain will reward you with more positive emotions.
Speaker 2:Number four it's best to have little to no expectations for what a gratitude practice may bring. Expecting too much from a gratitude practice may disappoint. Hence, it may be wiser to have little to no expectations for what a gratitude practice may bring. Yes, a gratitude practice might benefit the same, despite whatever expectations you do have. Nonetheless, if you have high expectations and give up on the practice, you might exit feeling disappointed before giving enough time for your practice to reap the rewards. Number five try to see the fun in scanning your environment for the positive, instead of giving up or feeling impatient. Try to remain focused on helping yourself soak up the good, because that's ultimately what a gratitude practice can do for you. Taking gratitude a habit similar to exercise is easier when considered fun or enjoyable. Giving up or feeling impatient is normal, just like going to the gym can feel like a chore. Yet reaping the rewards just like with exercise comes with regular effort. Try to get creative in thinking about what you're grateful for. Scan your work desk for things small and big. Scan your dressers. Scan your bathrooms. Scan your dinner tables. Scan the outdoors. Bring your focus to feelings of appreciation for whatever you find in these and other environments and savor the appreciation. Your brain will be stronger for this and your stresses could be minimized.
Speaker 2:6. Keep a gratitude list for 3-5 days out of the week and keep this up for 2 weeks. In each list, name 3 things you're grateful for that day and elaborate on what you're grateful for in for at least one sentence, if not more. At the end of 2 weeks, reflect on your lists, see if it makes you feel better. If not, the habit may require a handful of more weeks roughly 6 total to feel an improvement.
Speaker 2:And number 7. You can use gratitude to strengthen your relationships when feeling lonely, isolated or socially distanced, you can use gratitude If you haven't been able to see your family and friends as usual for the past year. Consider reflecting on what you're grateful for in each of your loved ones. Then later you might share a phrase or brief thought, or just an emoji even from your reflection with that loved one on a phone call or in a text. This gratitude reflection can be a great way to strengthen your relationships. So that's everything from that article. I just wanted to share that with everybody. Since it's Thanksgiving week, we want to be mindful of these practices and learn from them as well as we possibly can. And as we go into our Thanksgiving holiday tomorrow, I encourage all of our listeners to carve out some space for yourself to practice self-care and meaningful gratitude. Hopefully this episode will also help you when you get called on at the dinner table. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. That concludes this week's episode. And remember, it's not selfish, it's self-care.