The Gift of Gratitude
How lucky we are to be able to celebrate a holiday in gratitude. It is so important for our life to put attention on our hearts, especially at this time of year with so much tragedy around the world and uncomfortable change.
In Time Magazine, “Special Edition of Mindfulness: The New Science of Health and Happiness,” Louisa Kamps writes, “Gratitude can calm down the nervous system and rewire the fight or flight stress response, ultimately helping us become more resilient.”
Being intentional in giving thanks includes not only people but also things in our environment that we appreciate, from the smell of the woods on your hike to the new client you received. Gratitude changes our physiology: “In a seminal study by Emmons, subjects who wrote down one thing for which they were grateful everyday reported being 25% happier for a full six months after following this practice for three weeks. In a University of Pennsylvania study, subjects wrote letters of gratitude to people who had done them a major service but had never been fully thanked. After the subjects personally presented these letters, they reported substantially decreased symptoms of depression for as long as full month.”
“Gratitude practices have been associated with reducing blood pressure and stress hormone levels and a stronger heart. Christine Carter, a sociologist at the Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley, notes that gratitude can rewire our brains to appreciate the things in our relationship that are going well. It can calm down the nervous system and counter the fight-or-flight stress response.”
Have you heard the phrase, “You can’t be grateful and resentful at the same time.”
I want to say thank you for following me, reading my blogs, engaging in my services, being my friend and, most of all, allowing me to witness your growth and to hold space for you. It is an honor.
This is a powerful experience for me that keeps me connected to the magic of our lives, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to walk this journey with you.
My gift of gratitude for you this holiday is the poem below. Rumi articulates so beautifully how to hold ourselves in love when our emotions and negative thinking get the best of us.
May your holiday offer you awe-inspiring moments that open your heart, and unending moments to linger in gratitude. May you remember the magic you are made of, and the power that you hold.
Thank you for your impact in my life.
Katie