Whether you’re a keen Turkey-lover or are a passionate vegetarian, whether you are spending the holiday with your wacky relatives or are planning a scrumptious Friends-giving, Thanksgiving offers all of us a lovely opportunity to be grateful. The practice of gratitude has been linked to multiple mental and physical health benefits, such as feelings of satisfaction and general well-being, better sleep quality, and stronger immune systems.

For your health during this season, then, here are three simple ways to engage in gratitude:

1) Repurpose a mason jar, and label it “Gratitude Jar.” Get a pack of post-it notes, and commit to writing once a week one thing that you’re grateful for. Try not to set the goal of once a day, even if you’re tempted at first, because you’ll more readily follow through on a once a week habit than a more frequent one. Then, sit for a couple of moments once a week and reflect on something that you did or that happened to you in the past week, and that you’re thankful for. Once you’re done, drop it in the jar and put the jar back on your spice rack or bathroom shelf. Having the jar right there on a daily basis will act as a quiet reminder for you to be thankful. What’s more – at the end of a year, you’ll have 52 gratitude statements to savor while sipping on next year’s pumpkin spice latte!

2) Do the “Touch Smell Breathe” exercise. It takes 30 seconds. Put a reminder on your smartphone and set it to noon or any time mid day that you know you’ll have 30 seconds to yourself. Once the reminder goes off, make sure that you Touch something and appreciate its texture against your skin for 5-10 seconds; that you Smell something in your vicinity (your smoothie, a lotion that you keep in your office drawer, you kid’s hair – if she’s open to that, an old book from a shelf, or anything that you could sink into for 5-10 seconds); and lastly, Breathe for 10 seconds – notice the air around you filling your lungs, getting some oxygen in you, and exhale with relief and appreciation of a 30-second privacy moment with two lovely senses and one awesome nose!

3) Say “Thank you” loudly, boldly, and intentionally to someone who helped you in the past hour, day, week or month. Even if you said it already, trust me, they wouldn’t mind hearing it again. Saying it more loudly than you normally would and with more focus that you usually would gets your system to really wake up and notice – “hey, I’m grateful!” instead of just going through the motions of “Thank you and have a nice day.” You may find yourself wanting and being able to say it more often and to more people. Also, something about saying it loud and proud really makes the other person feel like he or she are not taken for granted and that he or she seen by you. Who knows – that person may decide to pass it forward, and before you know it, it’s a gratitude epidemic around you! ☺

Feel free to add anything that feels personally relevant to this list or tweak it in any way that makes sense to you. Happy Holiday and THANK YOU!

 

 

I’m Eva Patrick, one of the therapists you could see at Wright Institute Los Angeles where we offer Affordable Therapy for Everyday People!

Eva is a doctoral candidate at the California Institute of Integral Studies who embraces considerations from mostly a relational orientation, along with implementation of psychodynamic, Time-Limited Dynamic Therapy, and behavioral concepts. Eva is specifically interested in utilizing her clients’ stories of transitional periods and their perception of self (their personal myths) – as a vehicle to discover new possibilities for thought and action.