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cultivating gratitude

4 Ways to Practice Gratitude During the Holidays

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Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday tradition that’s been celebrated in the US and Canada since the mid-1800s. At the heart of the Thanksgiving celebration is the universal message of gratitude.

Gratitude is the expression of being thankful. It’s about having an attitude of appreciation, allowing yourself to feel awe, not taking things for granted, and seeing the potential upside of life’s challenges. But did you know that practicing gratitude can have profound benefits to our mental, emotional and physical well-being?

Let’s take a closer look at how practicing gratitude can contribute to our overall well-being and some effective ways to incorporate this practice into our daily lives.

The Link Between Gratitude and Well-Being

Practicing gratitude can benefit the mind, body, and spirit in a number of ways. It can lower stress levels, improve sleep, strengthen relationships with friends and family, and even increase our emotional resilience. Medical research has confirmed this direct correlation between gratitude and well-being:

  • A 2022 study published in Frontiers of Psychology found that women with elevated depressive symptoms who routinely practiced gratitude were more accepting of their condition than those who did not. Similarly, a 2012 study published in Personality and Individual Differences found that people who regularly expressed gratitude reported feeling healthier than their counterparts; a correlation that was mediated by psychological health and an attitude to seek help for health concerns.
  • A 2018 abstract, printed in the journal Psychology, Health & Medicine, found that dispositional gratitude (i.e. the character trait of noticing and appreciating the positive in life and being thankful for those positive aspects of life) correlated with lower levels of stress and loneliness.
  • Practicing gratitude can improve sleep quality by promoting more positive emotions and lessening the effects of anxiety and rumination.
  • In a 2013 study, Dr. Robert Emmons, a leading authority on gratitude, noted that: “Gratitude is a key, underappreciated quality in the clinical practice of psychology, its relevance deriving from its strong, unique, and causal relationship with well-being, as well as its dynamic healing influence on the therapist-patient relationship.”
  • Acts of kindness (public expressions of gratitude) can be linked to an increase in life satisfaction, according to a study published in The Journal of Social Psychology.
  • Researchers who looked at the role of gratitude in asymptomatic heart failure patients found that “patients expressing more gratitude also had lower levels of inflammatory biomarkers,” as well as better sleep and mood, and less fatigue.

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How to Cultivate Gratitude

Practicing gratitude is a conscious choice we make to affect positive change in our lives. There are a number of ways to practice gratitude, such as:

Appreciate nature 

Beauty is everywhere. Taking a moment to stop and experience the beauty in nature can provide you with a greater sense of well-being that can stay with you throughout the day. As you walk or observe, mentally list the things that bring you joy, peace, or fulfillment.

Keep a gratitude diary 

Write down 5 or 6 things daily for which you are grateful. Recognizing what you are grateful for will help keep you focused on what you have rather than what you have not and creates a record of appreciation to look back on when you need a mood boost.

Meditate

A daily meditation practice, for even just a few minutes a day, helps reset your body’s autonomic stress response, which can help to improve sleep, reduce pain, enhance mood, and foster a better sense of well-being.

Say “Thank you.”

Taking the time to thank others, whether through a note, a text message, or a face-to-face conversation, not only uplifts their spirits but also helps reinforce your own sense of appreciation. This practice nurtures social bonds and fosters a greater sense of connection and well-being.

As we prepare for another Thanksgiving holiday in the US, it’s my wish that gratitude and all its benefits be present in your life and the lives of those you care about. And I wish you and yours a very happy and healthy Thanksgiving.

– Dr. Gary

We are here for you, and we want to help.

Our goal is to return you to optimal health as soon as possible. To schedule an appointment please call: 703-532-4892 x2

Updated: November 2024

References

Tomczyk J, Nezlek JB, Krejtz I. Gratitude Can Help Women At-Risk for Depression Accept Their Depressive Symptoms, Which Leads to Improved Mental Health. Front Psychol. 2022 Apr 7;13:878819. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.878819. PMID: 35465539; PMCID: PMC9022718.

Hill PL, Allemand M, Roberts BW. Examining the Pathways between Gratitude and Self-Rated Physical Health across Adulthood. Pers Individ Dif. 2013 Jan;54(1):92-96. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2012.08.011. PMID: 23139438; PMCID: PMC3489271.

O’Connell BH, Killeen-Byrt M. Psychosocial health mediates the gratitude-physical health link. Psychol Health Med. 2018 Oct;23(9):1145-1150. doi: 10.1080/13548506.2018.1469782. Epub 2018 Apr 29. PMID: 29707980.

Emmons RA, Stern R. Gratitude as a psychotherapeutic intervention. J Clin Psychol. 2013 Aug;69(8):846-55. doi: 10.1002/jclp.22020. Epub 2013 Jun 17. PMID: 23775470.

Jia Wei Zhang, Ryan T. Howell, Ravi Iyer, Engagement with natural beauty moderates the positive relation between connectedness with nature and psychological well-being, Journal of Environmental Psychology, Volume 38, 2014, Pages 55-63, ISSN 0272-4944, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2013.12.013.

Rowland L, Curry OS. A range of kindness activities boost happiness. J Soc Psychol. 2019;159(3):340-343. doi: 10.1080/00224545.2018.1469461. Epub 2018 May 15. PMID: 29702043.

Mills PJ, Redwine L, Wilson K, Pung MA, Chinh K, Greenberg BH, Lunde O, Maisel A, Raisinghani A, Wood A, Chopra D. The Role of Gratitude in Spiritual Well-being in Asymptomatic Heart Failure Patients. Spiritual Clin Pract (Wash D C ). 2015 Mar;2(1):5-17. doi: 10.1037/scp0000050. PMID: 26203459; PMCID: PMC4507265.

What I Know About Healing Chronic Pain From 37 Years Of Treating Patients

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There are over 50 million adults in the United States living with some form of chronic pain. The impact of chronic pain on people’s lives is enormous; unfortunately, despite modern medical advances we’re still not that great at treating it.

We may be unsuccessful in treating chronic pain because the way we’ve thought about where it comes from is all wrong. Research demonstrates that chronic pain is frequently a symptom of inflammation in the brain. Finding a cure requires that we identify and treat all the things that are causing the brain to remain in an inflamed state.

Here are seven things you need to do to effectively to deal with your chronic pain:

  1. Get a real diagnosis.

Chronic pain, in and of itself, is not a diagnosis. It’s a symptom of injury or illness, and even more specifically, it’s a symptom of inflammation. For example, over the course of 37 years of practicing family medicine and treating patients suffering from chronic pain, the worst case of acute shoulder pain I have ever seen was in a man who was having a heart attack.

I also have seen patients complain of chronic lower back pain, when their underlying problem was actually Crohn’s disease (an autoimmune disease that causes digestive problems).

Similarly, chronic migraine headaches may be a symptom of a food allergy. When this is the case, eliminating the offending foods can be a straightforward solution.

Today, we are seeing more and more people experiencing pain symptoms as a result of a previous COVID-19 infection. Long-COVID Syndrome symptoms often mimic the pain symptoms of fibromyalgia, ME/CFS and POTS.

Getting the right diagnosis requires a comprehensive history by a physician who can connect the dots. Frequently, what you think is the beginning of your pain problem is not its actually cause.

Bottom line: you must know what to treat if you have any hope of finding a cure.

  1. Get tested for sleep disorders and get enough rest.

If you’re getting seven or more hours of sleep per night, but you still feel exhausted all the time, you may have sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is a condition that means that while you’re sleeping you periodically stop breathing. During these intervals, your brain is deprived of oxygen, which causes inflammation of the neural tissue in the brain. Sleep apnea affects approximately 5% of Americans and it has been estimated that as many as 85% of people with this condition have not been diagnosed.

The inflammation caused by sleep apnea can cause or contribute to joint pain, migraine headaches, abdominal pain, and other chronic pain conditions. Ask your doctor about getting tested for sleep apnea or other sleep disorders. Sleep well and you’ll find you have more energy and less pain.

  1. Eat an anti-inflammatory diet.

To eliminate the dietary causes of chronic pain, I usually recommend that patients limit their food intake to rice, fish, chicken, and fresh fruits and vegetables for a period of six weeks. While this food plan doesn’t eliminate every possible allergen, it does eliminate the major offenders, such as gluten, milk and milk products, refined sugar, processed foods, nuts and eggs.

When you eat, notice if certain foods cause you to experience an adverse reaction such as a stuffy nose, fatigue, headache, bloating, or gas. By eliminating the foods that create inflammation in your brain and body, you’ll find that your pain decreases and your physical energy and mental clarity increase.

  1. Meditate.

Studies show that regular meditation improves brain function and can help the brain recover from inflammatory damage. Regular meditation also has been shown to improve our ability to tolerate and recover from stress. Meditate for 20 to 30 minutes a day and see if you notice a difference.

  1. Make time for manual therapy.

Hands-on therapies such as Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (OMM), physical therapy, massage, and chiropractic therapy can help relieve, and in some cases, completely resolve chronic musculoskeletal pain.

Whatever the pain’s origin — whether its disease, traumatic injury or overuse, or emotional stress — bodywork can help stimulate healthy blood flow into damaged muscles, tendons, and connective tissue, thereby relieving musculoskeletal pain and tension and stimulating the body’s own ability to heal itself.

In fact, manual therapy is so effective in unlocking the emotional stress and trauma stored in our bodies that I often also recommend working with a psychotherapist who can help you process these issues.

  1. Take nutritional supplements that are right for you.

There are supplements on the market that can help address generalized inflammation and joint pain. Supplements are also a great way to strengthen your immune system and help keep you healthy. However, before you start taking any new product, make sure you are buying from a trusted supplier; the U.S. Food & Drug Administration does not regulate the manufacture and marketing of supplements as they do with prescription medication.

Talk with your doctor about the medications and other supplements you are already taking before starting a new supplement because some products can cause drug interactions. 

  1. Practice gratitude.

Although this is sometimes a lot to ask of people whose lives have been devastated by chronic pain, the cultivation of gratitude for family and friends and the other gifts in our lives helps make us more trusting, altruistic, resilient, and just plain happier. It also allows us to live each day more fully.

I recommend keeping a gratitude diary and listing five things for which you are grateful each day. Other gratitude exercises include visualizing and writing about your future, best possible self; putting your gratitude into action by writing a thank-you note or visiting a person to whom you owe a debt of gratitude. Spending time each day contemplating the things for which you are grateful is likely to help reduce not only your stress level but also your experience of physical pain.

Good luck on your healing journey!

We are here for you, and we want to help.

Our goal is to return you to optimal health as soon as possible. To schedule an appointment please call: 703-532-4892 x2

Small Choices, Big Impacts – Technology for Immune System Boosts

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“Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”

  – Viktor Frankl

At this moment we’ve been asked to pause our lives and isolate from most of our family, friends, and colleagues. We are powerless to stop the contagion of disease or the conflict of politics but we are free to choose how we respond in this moment. And we can definitely control what sort of changes we want to see in our future selves when this time of turmoil comes to an end, as indeed it will. Though the world may seem too full of threats and too overwhelming to make any change right now, keep in mind that the biggest transformations are often the result of tiny, almost imperceptible steps we take along the way. And as every gardener knows, fallow ground is actually the most fertile because it has had time to rest and regenerate. This Spring may be just the right time to plant and nurture small seeds that will germinate and grow into the healthy changes we want to see in our lives. And the best news is that the same steps that will result in a healthier future self, will also stabilize our mood and calm our nerves leading to more equanimity in the home, as well as giving a vital boost to the immune system. Small choices that help nurture inner calm can also help bring peace to a not so peaceful world.

Be gentle with yourself

During this time of fear and uncertainty we all yearn to feel loved, nurtured, and safe. Yet the voice we often choose when speaking to ourselves — which is, after all, the person we talk to more than anyone else in the world — is neither kind nor helpful, or even truthful!  Pay attention to the voice in your head and choose kind and respectful communication. In a world full of threat and danger it is important to have a sanctuary where you feel safe and calm, especially in your own mind. A small increase in self-awareness and self-compassion will lead to better self-regulation and management of emotions, which in turn will lead to more harmony and peace within. In this time of global stress, inner peace is our greatest gift and most valuable asset. Choose to nurture inner peace. Be gentle with yourself.

Technology:  Immune System Boost or Bust 

That little phone in our pocket (which is a million times more powerful than the computer that landed man on the moon 50 years ago) has the power to fill us with global and local news that can so overwhelm our nervous system we no longer sleep at night or even think straight. When we are so absorbed in feelings of distress that it robs us of energy and the ability to think clearly, it destroys the immune system’s ability to function at full capacity. Use technology to get absorbed in a more comfortable way of being and reconnect to the great potential that lies within.

Technology for immune system boosts:

Establish a schedule that includes lots of self-care:  This profound disruption to everyday life makes it vital that we re-establish a sense of continuity. Set a firm schedule that includes appointments with yourself to get exercise, go outside, meditate, and connect with people you love even if it’s only on-line. Right now taking care of yourself is taking care of others.

Connect with people:   We grow in connection with others. Reach out and let others know you’re thinking of them, they are important and you are grateful for their presence in your life. This is no time to regret things left unspoken.

Laughter:  A good laugh will increase oxygen to the heart, lungs, and muscles, release endorphins in the brain to improve mood and decrease stress and elevate the immune system. That is good medicine!  Contact a fun friend or watch a movie that makes you laugh.

Stories of triumph over adversity:  Whether through movies, books, or chats, seek out stories where we overcome hard times. Can we get enough of these right now?

Music:  Music is medicine – use it. There’s something especially touching about some of the videos musicians are putting online right now. Stripped of flashy makeup and distracting backups they feel vulnerable and powerful at the same time.

Engage the healing power of creativity:   The creative process can tap into incredible inner strength and art doesn’t have to be perfect, beautiful, or significant to be powerful. One family has a nightly photography contest where the person with the most creative picture on a chosen subject gets bragging rights for a full 24 hours. That’s a great way to ease feelings of isolation!

Heart Rate Variability BioFeedback:  A simple and effective way to interrupt the stress response and shift your heart, mind, and emotions into healthy coherence, you can use Inner Balance technology to replenish your energy, balance your emotions, and increase resilience. Buy the Inner Balance device here at The Kaplan Center or go to HeartMath.com for this fun and efficient bio-hack to your meditation practice.

Gratitude journal:  Relishing good experiences can improve health, outlook, and relationships. A definite boost to the immune system!

Expressive writing:  A form of therapy that can be good for your sleep, your state of mind, and your emotional well-being, all of which bolster your immune system and improve your health. Click here for instructions on this powerful technique.

Benefit finding:  Finding the silver lining in a dark cloud can be a potent boost to the immune system. Then taking the time to write these thoughts is like doubling down on a good bet.

Random acts of kindness:  Nothing makes us happier than to know we’ve touched someone’s life in a positive way. There are many lonely people out there. Reach out and do something kind. It will boost your health and make them feel better.

Pit stop reminders:  Fear, uncertainty, and helplessness can rev the nervous system like a race car so schedule regular pit stops to refuel and make mechanical adjustments so you can stay in it for the long haul. Set a timer that goes off every two hours and stop, stretch, do a minute of deep breathing, and drink water to hydrate. Small steps are giant leaps when it comes to countering fear and balancing the nervous system.

Guided Imagery and Self-Hypnosis:  Tap into the tremendous power of your own mind to relieve stress, relax your body, improve sleep, and elevate immune system functions. The health benefits are numerous and there are no risks or side effects. You can explore different imageries on-line or call for an in-person or video conference appointment at The Kaplan Center.

Or… turn off all technology

Use this opportunity to find the beauty in small things and contemplate what is really important in life. Better days are ahead.  In the meantime, be gentle with yourself, use technology wisely and find ways to control what you can in order to ease the feelings of helplessness and reconnect with the potential that exists within you.

We are here for you at The Kaplan Center. Call to schedule an appointment in person or on-line with the doctors and therapists that can help you get through this change with as much health and resilience as possible. We very much look forward to seeing you.

We are here for you, and we want to help.

Our goal is to return you to optimal health as soon as possible. To schedule an appointment please call: 703-532-4892 x2