Gratitude Improves Your Health

Probiotics and Omega-3s, move over! Researchers have proven the effectiveness of a magic word: “Thanks!” A daily dose of gratitude is said to strengthen the immune system and create a feeling of abundance that fends off illness to both, body and soul. My mom is 92 and has overcome many health challenges. She starts every day with a prayer of thanks. 
“Gratitude is part of a constellation of interrelated attitudes,” says Renown Hospital’s behavioral health psychologist Peter Frohman in Reno, Nevada. Drawing from clinical experience and published research, he says grateful people are more optimistic, have a better mood, are happier and have fewer conflicts.
“Their social relationships at a granular level are better,” he says.
Not only do positive people appear to be healthier, they also get well faster if they do become sick. Frohman says there is proof that patients with a positive orientation recover faster after heart surgery and live longer.
People believing in the “scarcity model” on the other hand will be unhappy.
“We have a higher standard of living than anyone in history," Frohman says. "But instead of being grateful they focus on what someone else has that they don’t have. Instead of celebrating the microwave and flush toilets, they can’t help but live in fear that we’ll be running out of oil.”
What can they do to fill up their tank?
Frohman has a few ideas: Exercise, take special holidays, seek out pleasant social events, spend time with friends and family, and pamper yourself with little indulgences.
“All you have to do is whatever makes you feel special, for some that may be boating on the lake, for others it’s walking in the mall,” he says.
He also suggests spreading little acts of kindness. "By taking care of other people, you take care of yourself."
Or in the words of American educator Booker T. Washington, “If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.”
While health is linked to more than gratitude, and variables like nutrition, sleep, or heritage are impossible to isolate for scientific research, Frohman encourages his patients to be their own scientists and run their own experiments.
“Try doing something. If you like the outcome, keep doing it! If the outcome is bad, stop! Make small changes, one at a time,” he says.
Cognitive behaviorists avow that daily affirmations work as a means to supplement health through gratitude. Two psychology professors, Robert A. Emmons, University of California, Davis and Michael E. McCullough, University of Miami, found out in an experimental comparison that grateful people exercise more, get better sleep, report more energy and vitality.
“We have people keep gratitude journals – writing down things in their lives for which they are grateful or thankful – and then simultaneously and subsequently ask them about their physical health. We found physical benefits to a grateful focus,” Emmons says.  “People often report feeling grateful for their bodies – for the ability to see, smell, hear and so on.
“Gratitude works because, as a way of perceiving and interpreting life, it recruits other positive emotions – like joy, contentment, and hope – that have direct physical benefits, most likely through the immune system or endocrine system.”
In his book “Thanks! How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier,” Emmons argues that the secret to happiness and fulfillment lies in recognizing that all of life is a gift. He recommends three main behavioral changes to increase a sense of heart-felt gratitude.
“Keep a gratitude journal. Most people choose the evening because as their day draws to a close they find themselves in a reflective mood. The important point is to find a time to "fit" your schedule so that you get in the habit of doing this on a daily basis,” he says.
“Use visual reminders. Post reminders around your house, office, car that trigger thoughts of gratefulness or that remind you to see life as a gift.
”Go through the motions. Say ‘thank you’ and mean it. Going through the motions can trigger the emotion. Write a gratitude letter to someone that you have never properly thanked for how they influenced your life in a positive way, and send it to that person.” You’ll be glad you did.

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