Be Grateful, It’s Good for You

Be Grateful, It’s Good for You

When we think of Thanksgiving, family, football, fun, food and more food come to mind. A day of heavy eating may not be good for your waistline but the act of being thankful and showing gratitude is very beneficial for your both physical and emotional health.

If you already take time to name something or things, you’re thankful for, at your Thanksgiving table, keep it up! But practicing gratitude shouldn’t be an annual thing. Here are a few compelling reasons to incorporate gratitude in your life and easy steps to make gratitude part of your daily routine.

This story from Seniors Lifestyle Magazine shares the benefits of a gratitude practice:

  • Gratefulness is good for your health. It helps to cut stressand the inflammation that stress causes in your body.
  • Gratefulness can benefit your immune system as well as your heart.
  • When you are grateful it means that you recognize emotions within yourself and others.
  • Gratitude helps you to be happy. When you are grateful for things in life, whether good or bad, it can change your life for the better

“Study after study shows that people who choose to focus with gratitude on the events of their daily lives, big and small, tend to be happier, healthier and live longer,” according to Sixty and Me.

Incorporating gratitude into your routine is easier than you think. Sixty and Me suggests these Five Gratitude Practices:

  • Take a deep breath-inhale and exhale slowly while saying “thank you” either silently or out loud
  • Put it in writing-get a pretty journal or any notebook to list the simple things you’re grateful for: family, a warm bed, a kitchen filled with food, etc.
  • Look Around You-there’s so much in nature we can be thankful for: the sun came out today, the birds are flying by your window.
  • Be surprised-life is filled with small but meaningful surprises. We can appreciate our neighbor’s smile when exchanging pleasantries in the hallway.
  • Use your senses -Look around and focus on what you see, hear, smell and feel. When you’re eating, take the time and appreciate how things taste.

Take a page from Oprah’s gratitude journal. Oprah kept a special gratitude journal for ten years, in which she listed five things for which she was grateful every day. While some of Oprah’s list from a day in 1996 might not be relatable to the rest of us (a run around Fisher’s Island, Florida and or a phone call from someone like the late Maya Angelou), a few things are relatable and easy to accomplish. Oprah recalled a funny conversation with her best friend Gayle King. We can all be inspired to which call a friend for a long chat.

Here at Eastcastle Place, we have so much for which to be grateful. Everyone’s gratitude list includes: this beautiful building we call home in the heart of a vibrant Milwaukee neighborhood, an attentive and professional staff and of course, our warm, welcoming community. Check out our upcoming events and plan to be part of all the action. You’ll be thankful you did!