Courtesy of Yahoo! Shine:
On Thanksgiving, everyone in my family goes
around the table and shares what we're grateful for. There answers range from
sentimental to appetite-driven (my
personal go-to: semi-soft cheeses). It's one of my favorite parts of the
holidays and something I only wished we'd carried on every day of my childhood.
That was before I heard about the additional health
benefits. According to multiple studies, gratitude is mentally and physically
nutritious for kids.
"We know that grateful kids are
happier [and] more satisfied with their lives," explains Hoftra University
psychology assistant professor Jeffrey Froh in an article this week
in The
Washington Post. "They report better relationships with friends
and family, higher GPAs, less materialism, less envy and less depression, along
with a desire to connect to their community and to want to give back."
That's not all. It's also believed to boost immune
systems and lower blood pressure over time. In a Temple University
study, patients with hypertension lowered their blood pressure just by calling
a "gratitude" hotline everyday. If it's that effective on adults with
health problems, imagine what announcing the good things in life at early age
can do.
In a study of early adolescents, Froh found that
kids who journaled daily about their good fortune, over a period of two weeks,
were less prone to depression and more satisfied with their lives overall. And
that optimism and satisfaction made them more likely to take care of themselves
physically in the long-term.
Psychologist Robert Emmons,
author of the book "Thanks!", explains it this way: "Our
emotional systems like newness, [but] we adapt to positive life circumstances
so that before too long, the new car, the new spouse, the new house-they don't
feel so new and exciting anymore. Gratitude makes us appreciate the value of
something, and when we appreciate the value of something, we extract more
benefits from it. "
But like anything else, gratitude takes getting
used to. Developing a 'thanking' routine, from journaling to dinner time
shout-outs, is an essential element to all the studies that noted improvements
in patients.
A straightforward assignment for kids and their
parents can kick-start
the uptick. For starters, write down five things you're grateful for
every day. If you can't think of five things, hone in on the senses, suggest
Emmons. What is the best thing you've heard, tasted, touched, seen and smelled
that particular day?
"You can also use concrete reminders to
practice gratitude, which can be particularly effective in working with
children, who aren't abstract thinkers like adults are, " writes Emmons.
"For instance, I read about a woman in Vancouver whose family developed
this practice of putting money in gratitude jars. At the end of the day, they
emptied their pockets and put spare change in those jars. They had a regular
reminder, a routine, to get them to focus on gratitude. Then, when the jar
became full, they gave the money in it to a needy person or a good cause within
their community."
Another way to focus on gratitude? Put a turkey on
the dinner table. It's always a good reminder that being a member of the human
family is way better than being a member of the bird family, particularly
around Thanksgiving.
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