Give Thanks, Rest, and Digest
/“It’s not happy people who are thankful...
But thankful people who are happy.”
There is a new generation of gratitude researchers out there who are examining the health effects of gratitude. Some of the findings are really amazing (read more here).
The Expanding the Science and Practice of Gratitude program, a collaboration between UC Davis and the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley, which studies the the psychology, sociology and neuroscience of well-being published research that shows, "when we think about someone or something we really appreciate and experience the feeling that goes with the thought, the parasympathetic (calming-branch) of the autonomic nervous system is triggered.”
This is the part of the nervous system that kicks in our Rest and Digest. Keep in mind that when the other branch - fight and flight - is activated, your body's digestion and elimination systems are stunted.
In short, pausing in gratitude, allowing yourself to connect with compassion and warmer states of heart actually help you process every thing you ingest more fully.
Today, I offer you ways to choose to open your heart more...
YOU CHOOSE... 10 MINUTES TO BIG CHANGE:
Roshi John Daido Loori has said that expressing gratitude is transformative, just as transformative as expressing complaint. Imagine an experiment involving two people. One spends ten minutes each morning and evening expressing gratitude, while the other spends the same amount of time practicing complaining. One subject is saying things like, "I hate my job. I can't stand this apartment. Why can't I make enough money? My spouse doesn't get along with me. That dog next door never stops barking and I just can't stand this neighborhood." The other is saying things like, "I'm grateful for the opportunity to work; there are so many people these days who can't even find a job. I'm grateful for my health. What a gorgeous day; I really like this fall breeze." They do this experiment for a year. Guaranteed, at the end of that year the person practicing complaining will have deeply reaffirmed all his negative "stuff" rather than having let it go, while the one practicing gratitude will be a very grateful person.
MORE SCIENCE OF GRATITUDE
5 Scientific Facts That Prove Gratitude is Good For You
WHEN 'THEY' MAKE YOU TENSE...
Sharing Thanksgiving with some one who usually kicks up feelings of rigidity, tension or anger for you... escape to the bathroom and watch my TEDx Talk to you soften your knee jerk reaction to armor up. Then start your own metta practice!
REST AND DIGEST AFTER THE FEAST
Take the load off. After the feast, enjoy this digestion enhancing restorative practice with me on-line. You will need a bolster and two blankets or you can use pillows under your back and knees. Enjoy!
