Gratitude has been shown to have a positive impact on health in several ways. When we express gratitude, it activates the brain’s reward system, releasing dopamine and serotonin, which are neurotransmitters associated with feelings of happiness and well-being. This can help reduce stress and anxiety, which in turn can have a positive effect on physical health.
Gratitude also promotes better sleep. When we focus on the positive aspects of our lives and express gratitude for them, it can help calm the mind and promote relaxation, making it easier to fall asleep and stay asleep.
Additionally, gratitude has been linked to improved immune function. Studies have shown that people who regularly practice gratitude have higher levels of immunoglobulin A, which is an antibody that helps fight off infections.
Furthermore, gratitude can improve heart health. It has been found that people who regularly practice gratitude have lower blood pressure and a reduced risk of heart disease.
Overall, cultivating a sense of gratitude can have a profound impact on both mental and physical health.
We all need to incorporate relaxation/mindfulness/stress management into our lives.
1. Start your day with a mindfulness practice: Set aside a few minutes each morning to practice mindfulness or meditation. This can help you start your day with a calm and focused mindset.
2. Take regular breaks: Throughout the day, make sure to take short breaks to relax and recharge. You can use this time to practice deep breathing exercises, stretch, or simply take a few moments to close your eyes and relax.
3. Create a calming environment: Make your living space a sanctuary of relaxation. Use soothing colors, play soft music, and incorporate elements like plants or aromatherapy to create a calming atmosphere.
4. Practice self-care: Make self-care a priority in your daily routine. This can include activities like taking a warm bath, reading a book, or engaging in a hobby that brings you joy and relaxation.
5. Incorporate physical activity: Regular exercise can help reduce stress and promote relaxation. Find an activity that you enjoy, whether it’s yoga, walking, or dancing, and make it a part of your daily routine.
6. Disconnect from technology: Take regular breaks from screens and technology. Set aside specific times each day to unplug and engage in activities that promote relaxation, such as going for a walk in nature or spending time with loved ones.
Remember, everyone’s relaxation needs are different, so it’s important to find what works best for you. Experiment with different techniques and activities to discover what brings you the most relaxation and incorporate them into your daily life.
Mindfulness Meditation: A Powerful Tool for Managing Stress
Stress is an inevitable part of life, and it’s something that affects everyone at one point or another. Whether it’s work-related stress, financial pressures, or relationship issues, stress can take a toll on our physical and mental health. However, there is a powerful tool that can help manage stress: mindfulness meditation.
What is Mindfulness Meditation?
At its core, mindfulness meditation is a practice that involves focusing one’s attention on the present moment and accepting it without judgment. It involves paying attention to the experiences and sensations of the present moment, without getting caught up in thoughts about the past or worries about the future. The practice is often accompanied by deep breathing and relaxation techniques, which help to calm the mind and body.
How Can Mindfulness Meditation Help with Stress Management?
Studies have shown that mindfulness meditation can be an effective tool for managing stress. Here are some ways it can help:
Reducing anxiety: Mindfulness meditation has been shown to reduce symptoms of anxiety. By helping to calm the mind and focus on the present, it can help reduce feelings of worry and stress.
Improving emotional regulation: Mindfulness meditation can help us regulate our emotions in a healthy way. By being present in the moment, we can observe our emotions without getting caught up in them, which can help us respond to stressful situations more effectively.
Improving physical health: Chronic stress can have a negative impact on our physical health, leading to issues like high blood pressure, weakened immune systems, and inflammation. Mindfulness meditation has been shown to improve these physical health markers.
Changing the brain: Research has shown that mindfulness meditation can actually change the structure of the brain. It can increase activity in areas associated with attention and emotion regulation, and decrease activity in areas associated with stress and anxiety.
Starting Your Own Mindfulness Meditation Practice
If you’re interested in starting a mindfulness meditation practice, there are a few simple steps you can take:
Find a quiet, comfortable place where you can relax without distractions.
Begin by focusing on your breath, noticing the sensation of each inhale and exhale.
As thoughts or emotions arise, simply observe them without judgment, letting them pass like clouds in the sky.
Keep your attention on the present moment, without worrying about the past or future.
Try to practice for at least a few minutes each day, gradually increasing the length of your sessions over time.
Overall, mindfulness meditation is a powerful tool for managing stress. By helping us focus on the present moment, regulate our emotions, and improve our physical health, it can be an essential part of a healthy lifestyle.
the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology researched the effects of lunchtime activities on mental health. It concluded that a walk in the park was associated with better concentration and less fatigue in the afternoon. A “listening stroll” will further your meditative practice. Simply walk in silence while listening to your surroundings. Focus on every sound you hear, such as rustling leaves, car horns, and skittering animals. This easy exercise clears your mind, making you feel refreshed to tackle the rest of your to-do list.
The study also concluded that engaging in relaxation exercises lead to better concentration, as well as decreased strain and fatigue.
Meditation is a mind-body practice that focuses on slowing down to achieve emotional stability and mental clarity. In this exercise lets calm the mind and the body and rejuvenate and refresh to start back into the day after lunch.
Be seated in a comfortable position
Take a long slow, deep breath in. Hold it for a moment, and then slowly exhale.
Allow any tension to melt away as you gradually begin to soften your muscles, letting go with each breath.
Continue to breathe slowly and gently as you bring your awareness to the top of your head. Just sense or imagine a feeling of warmth and softness beginning to spread down from the top of your scalp…. feel the muscles in your forehead and temples relax.
Allow your eye to relax to release. Let your cheeks and jaw soften and let go of all tension.
Now let this peaceful feeling flow down into your neck. With each breath you take, this relaxing feeling becomes deeper and warmer. It works its way deep into the muscles in your shoulders…soothing them…releasing them. It loosens the muscles in your arms… your hands…relaxing and soothing…all the way to the tips of your fingers.
As your body softens, your thoughts seem to become lighter. You are slipping further and further into a dreamlike state of stillness.
Now, bring your awareness to your chest and your stomach. The peaceful sensation flows throughout this area of your body, soothing every muscle and relaxing every organ.
Now put your attention to your upper back, and feel this softening sensation flow all the way down your spine. As it gradually works its way down your body, feel every muscle in your back let go and unwind.
Feel that your entire upper body has become loose, limp and soft. Sink into this serene sensation. Now feel your hips soften as the peaceful feeling starts to work its way through your lower body.
Release the muscles in your buttocks…the backs of your thighs…the front of your thighs. Soothing feelings flow down through your knees, and into your calves. Your ankles let go. Now your feet let go. Allow your entire lower body to let go completely, and allow any remaining tension from anywhere in your body to flow out through the tips of your toes. Feel the deep state of calmness and register it in your mind so that you can remember it.
Allow your body to be rooted in this moment with your breath.
As you breathe, I want you to imagine that every breath in is cleansing you, clearing space that is taken up by emotions or physical sensation. And every breath out is exhaling those emotions or physical sensations out of your body.
Breathing in, clearing space.
Breathing out, letting it go.
feeling the cleansing inhale refresh you,
And exhale everything else out.
Now bring your breathing to its normal rhythm…
And feel as your body vibrates softly with a cool, fresh energy.
Now, take a deep breath, and as you exhale, bring your attention back to the room, your awareness is in the present.
I am 58 yrs old and just now accepting the reality that I have adult ADHD
One factor that is affecting my life is my clutter!
Clutter is that pile of mail waiting for me.
Clutter is that stack of paper on my desk.
Clutter is in the laundry room, bedroom, and basement.
Clutter is the struggle in my brain of where do I start?
If you struggle with clutter like I do, you are familiar with the voices in your head that are friends of the ones in mine.
I can’t get rid of it! I know I’m going to need it at some point. It has sentimental value.
And the pile gets bigger and bigger and bigger.
There is a bigger Problem though. I can’t make a decision to get the process of organizing started.
Lets tackle the piles of paper.
Should I start with separating and the filing or just touch it once and file it?
Do I have enough room in this file.
Should I have 2 files one for business one for personal?
Should I do a keep pile and a throw pile? But if I throw it away I know I’m going to need it!!!!
Forget it! I will figure this out later.
And there it is, the procrastination.
I get overwhelmed, I feel like I have a pinball game going on in my head. I get exhausted and I haven’t even completed anything. And here I am taking a nap cuz my head hurts.
My space does not inspire me. My space drains any energy I have. There is so much STUFF competing for my attention I can’t focus on anything.
Neuroscientists at Princeton showed that physical clutter competes for your attention, resulting in decreased performance and increased stress.
Clutter fills our mind with excessive stimuli causing our senses to work overtime on unnecessary or irrelevant stimuli.
Clutter constantly distracts us.
Clutter constantly reminds us that our work is never done.
Clutter, inhibits, creativity, and productivity by invading the spaces that allow us to think, brainstorm and problem solve.
Clutter makes it harder to relax, both physically and mentally
Where am I going with this? Honestly I don’t really know. Probably another facet of adult ADHD I need to research.
I do know one thing…. my mind cluttered is always there. I have spaghetti brain. Some days is foggy spaghetti brain and other days it’s sunshine spaghetti brain.
Here is where I am going to start.
Right it down. Hopefully this will free my mind of constantly repeating it in my head so I don’t forget but always forget.
I will set alarms to manage my time.
Small goals. I can put away 10 things. And then maybe 10 more.
Try the one minute rule. Take care of it immediately if it takes less then a minute.
5 minute clean up at the end of the day
Focus on one thing at a time.
It’s already getting overwhelming, so I will stop here and try and work on this.
If you Have ADHD or suspect you do, what tips do you have?
I am not a doctor. These are my opinions. If you suspect you have ADHD talk to your Dr and see if he can help you
Studies have shown that feeling gratitude can improve sleep, mood, and immunity. Gratitude can decrease depression, anxiety, difficulties with chronic pain and risk of disease.
Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, and improve their health.
With gratitude, people acknowledge the goodness in their lives.
Being grateful also helps people connect to something larger than themselves as individuals — whether to other people, nature, or a higher power.
Gratitude helps people refocus on what they have instead of what they lack.
Self-gratitude can build confidence and help you face challenges in ways no else can. Reminded yourself of your own strengths and abilities. This will motivate you to keep going and take on the next challenge.
A few activities for practicing gratitude
Morning Coffee / Tea Gratitude – Feel the warmth of the cup. The smell of the drink. Start your beautiful day with positivity as you drink it in.
A Gratitude Letter – This can be emailed but from personal experience, a handwritten letter in a card will greatly affect the receiver with heart felt joy.
Gratitude Rock – keep a rock that brings you joy. It doesn’t matter the shape or smoothness, it’s your rock. I keep mine in my pocket. Each time I reach in and pull it out I think of something I an grateful for before I put it back.
Share family memories at a family get together.
Gratitude garden – pick a special area that makes you feel good, plant your favorite plants and flowers, add a bench or tree stump where you can sit. Relax and look around and be grateful for the beauty around you.
Keep a gratitude journal – Each day write down things you were grateful for that day. Research shows the more detailed you are the more beneficial journaling with be to your happiness and health.
The Gratitude jar – This can be any container that brings you joy. Examples, a jar , a vase, a box, a bowl, a basket… If you want, decorate it and make it special to you. Every day write down something that made you grateful that day. Try and do more than 1. Write them on special paper to make the contents look colorful on the outside. When you look at this container you will see just how much you have to be grateful for. On special occasions share some of your moments.
Keep calm. Remember when things are not going right to step back and breathe. Think about something that makes you happy. Think about something to be grateful for.
