Give Thanks

Gratitude. Unlike eating leafy greens or practicing yoga, it’s not something we usually consider “good for us.” Yet a recent study by psychologists at the University of California-Davis and the University of Miami shows that giving thanks is indeed beneficial for our psychological well-being.

Conducting “gratitude interventions” with such varied groups as college students and adults with neuromuscular disease, researchers Robert A. Emmons and Michael E. McCullough found that individuals practicing gratitude on a regular (daily or weekly) basis displayed a more positive general outlook, greater optimism, and less stress and depression. Other benefits found were higher levels of alertness, energy, enthusiasm, and determination as well as a greater likelihood of being generous, empathetic, and aware of one’s interconnectedness with others.

Though we may say “thanks” countless times each day, really practicing gratitude requires reflection and open-hearted sincerity. Mark Nasralla, former ayurvedic clinician and current therapist manager at The Crossings in Austin, Texas, notes, “Being grateful intellectually isn’t enough. Gratitude is an emotional, psychosomatic experience. You feel grateful, so you have to put your attention inward and seek out the source of that feeling.”

Similarly, the subjects in the study were not merely thanking others in passing, they were actively engaged in contemplating what and whom they were thankful for by making lists, participating in self-guided exercises, and keeping journals. Not surprisingly, Emmons and McCullough found that the religious and spiritual were more apt at cultivating gratitude, often through the practices of prayer and meditation. But becoming more grateful doesn’t require joining a church, it can be as basic as counting your blessings before bed—a practice anyone can do.

“The simplest way to become more grateful,” Nasralla explains, “is to make lists, every day. This allows you to revisit all the things you are thankful for. As you continue, gratitude becomes a habit.” Not a list-maker? Prayer or a moment of silence before a meal is one way of honoring the food and the person who prepared it. In his book Bless This Food (New World Library, 2007), author Adrian Butash has compiled 160 mealtime blessings from cultures and religions throughout the world, making it easy and educational to say grace. Finally, if you meditate, incorporate gratitude into each session by visualizing one person, place, or thing you truly appreciate.

The more you practice gratitude, the easier it becomes. “It follows the law of attraction—like attracts like,” says Nasralla. “What you [focus] your attention on grows stronger.” To bring more thankfulness into your daily experience, Nasralla offers three steps. One, have a clear intention. Two, take action by meditating, journaling, or speaking. And finally, consciously look for opportunities to feel gratitude during small, everyday events.

Though there is no magic spell to keep stress, troubles, and the bumps of life from happening, there is evidence that bolstering feelings of gratitude can change the way you experience those events. By helping you navigate life’s storms with greater ease, more general happiness, and a brighter sense of optimism, giving thanks can become something to be thankful for.

This post was written by Tanya M. Williams for HealingLifestyles.com.

10 Steps to Starting a New Habit and Creating Lasting Change in Your Life

If you want to change a habit, and make an everlasting change, the first thing to do is raise your standards. Change the belief and desire you have of yourself in the area you wish to change. Write down all the things you’ll no longer accept or tolerate and all the things you want to become and achieve. What do you demand of yourself?

A habit begins with a number of beliefs that together create a strategy. If repeated often enough, the strategy becomes a habit ... so how can you change a habit once it’s been formed?

It’s pointless to raise your standards and not believe you can achieve them; that’s called self-sabotage. Once you’ve raised your standards and decided on the habits you want to change, you must start to modify your limiting beliefs and remove your doubts by following this process:

1. Have a firm belief.

You need to have a firm belief, without any doubt in the achievement and success of your desires. These beliefs need to be like unquestioned commands. They’ll shape every thought, feeling and action you’ll take. Within the strength of these beliefs lies the “core” to real and everlasting change.

2. Your belief needs to be under control.

If not, no matter what you decide to change, you’ll never have the conviction to achieve your goals or the desire to truly change.

3. Create a strategy. 

Once you have the beliefs that will lead to your success ingrained within you, you then need to have a strategy to achieve the results. I’ve provided the example result of getting in shape below; follow this strategy to enhance your belief in your goal.

Set your beliefs that you're in great shape and physically fit; you know what you can accomplish (such as running a marathon); and you can see yourself doing this, you can hear the applause (or whatever sound) and you have the feelings. (Don’t use the phrase “I want ...” as that will result in your goal being pushed further in the future; use “I am ...”).

Enhance the whole image you’ve set in your mind.

• Adjust the brightness to bring it to clarity.
• Adjust the color to enhance its brilliance.
• Adjust the size of the picture to make it life-sized.
• If it’s a still picture, make it a movie; if it’s a movie, make it a still picture. Adjust the speed of the movie until it feels the most realistic.
• If there are sounds, adjust these to make them heard in surround sound.
• Feel the feelings inside you; relishing how good it feels when you can create the body you want.

Allow your inner being to do its part in fulfilling your goal — letting change occur. After these changes have taken place and been performed repetitively, a new pattern will develop that will create the habitual change within you.

Determine what has to happen for you to know that you’ve made the desired changes in your life. What would be the final step? Would it be that you can fit in a dress that you purposely bought for a special day? Would it be that people comment on the "new" you? You'll need to write down this final step as your evidence step.

4. Choose steps.

Choose several steps you can take each day that will assist you on your journey toward the new you, to make this new pattern ingrained into your subconscious mind and ultimately creating new habits. For the exercise example, your steps might include:

• Set the alarm clock 45 minutes early.
• Have workout clothes laid out the night before, for easy accessibility.
• Take the dog on your walk; you’ll get companionship and the dog will benefit from the exercise, too.
• Have a healthy lunch prepared the night before.
• Stock your fridge with healthy snacks you can grab quickly when you’re hungry.
• Plan all your meals in advance.
• Schedule exercise, meals and other healthy activities into your day planner or PDA.

5. Be very specific.

Write down a date when you’ll start this new strategy and how often you'll do it. Choose the route you'll take in the neighborhood or which gym you’ll visit. State exactly in the present tense what you’re doing, as in, “I’m walking three miles today and will do so on Monday, Wednesday and Friday each week.” This is much better than simply saying, “I will exercise each week.” Being specific implies a commitment to your goal.

6. Make a commitment to start.

Think about what’s at stake and focus again on the list you made, thinking about how it’ll feel and what benefits you'll receive when you incorporate this strategic change into your life. We’ve all had the experience of wanting to start an exercise program “next week”; when next week comes and goes, we just put things off, and it never happens. Make the commitment to begin — and follow through.

7. Thank yourself for participating.

It’s OK to be grateful to yourself; this is a wonderful affirmation. Hearing the words "thank you" relaxes the muscles and deepens the resolve. If someone, anyone, thanks you for something, it naturally makes you feel good. You want to keep doing it to get that praise again, so praise yourself. Soon others will see the positive changes in your life and praise you, too.

8. Notice when you don’t follow through.

Ask yourself why, but be careful not to beat up yourself over a lapse. Do you need to alter the motivation or the steps to your new strategy? Was there something that created some doubt in your mind? If so, change it back. The results you get are the product of your thinking, so if you continue to be disappointed at what you achieve, you must be willing to ask yourself some hard questions and change your beliefs.

9. Use your affirmations.

Often people will take the affirmations they’ve created and make an audio recording of them that can be played back each morning as they exercise. This is a great way to start the day on a positive and upbeat note while encouraging yourself to commit to your new habit.

10. Journal your progress.

This is very important. Journaling is a way to keep track of how far you’ve come and how much you’ve accomplished, which can sometimes be difficult for you to remember. Journaling can be as simple as a brief paragraph noting what days you performed a certain habit or task and what the outcome was. You can also use a journal to record specifics of your diet and exercise regime as well as how you’re feeling as a whole and any emotional events that are occurring. It's important to do this daily. The more specific you are with your journaling, the better reference tool it will become.

This post was written by Melonie Dodaro for blog.gaiam.com.

Are You Journaling?

Oprah does it.  So do Nicole Kidman, Richard Branson, Renee Zellweger and Alicia Keys. They all journal. Says Oprah, “Keeping a journal will absolutely change your life in ways you never imagined.” 

Think of a journal as a room for your thoughts—a special place to write down your fears, your dreams, your goals, or simply a place to record how you feel. Journaling is an excellent way to express negative thoughts as well, especially because no one will ever read it except you. Journaling is a perfect way to understand yourself because writing down your thoughts forces you to deal with issues honestly (no one is judging or censoring you).  Journaling can also be a form of meditation—just letting the pen scrawl thoughts in no particular order is a way to quiet your mind.

How to start?  First, buy a journal—it can be lined or unlined, elaborate or plain. Choose one that inspires you. For those not concerned with looks, even a yellow-lined note pad will do. But once you’ve bought your book, where do you start?  All those blank pages can be pretty intimidating. Amanobooks has six suggestions.  Try writing down one of the following thoughts and then let it flow:

“Today, I am grateful for…”

“Right now, I am feeling…”

“Three things I know to be true are…”

“I have faith that…”

“My life is lacking…"

Still stuck? Write down your feelings on a certain event, idea, or person; or write about a change in your life and how you dealt with it. How about this: if you could live five different lives, what would they include?  An artist?  Doctor?  Teacher?  What does your dream life look like?  Try collecting photos or anything having to do with your dream and put them in your journal. Visualizing is an excellent way to actually make your dreams happen.

Sandy Grason, author of Journalation: Journaling to Awaken Your Inner Voice, Heal Your Life, and Manifest Your Dreams (New World Library, 2005), says, “The beauty of journaling is that it’s not just about recording and interpreting, it has the power to change who you are.  Journaling changes the way you think and feel about your world, because you start to notice more of your life. You find yourself more ‘in the moment’ than you have ever been.”

In her workshops, Grason often asks, “If I had a magic wand and I could grant you anything, could you tell me what you truly wanted?” Although participants may have an idea of what they’d like, they often have trouble putting it into words. “Ask yourself now,” says Grason, “Do you really know what you want? If you had to state your greatest desire out loud, in a succinct, passionate sentence, could you do it?” Having a written vision for your life inspires you and guides you in all of your actions.  It also keeps you on track; so when distractions come up, you can re-read the vision you’ve created in your journal and remind yourself of what you really want.

Think of the journal as your special friend who will always be there for you. So grab your pen or pencil, open your journal and start writing!


This post was taken from HealingLifestyles.com and it is entitled Journaling.

Journaling

Journaling involves maintaining a detailed record of the thoughts and feelings surrounding the events in your life.  This process enables you to release, and later explore, why and how you feel about your life’s events.  This practice is a stress reducer that promotes self-exploration and discovery.