All of us at MyoBuddy Products wish you a healthy and happy Thanksgiving! This week, we’re sharing a week of Thanksgiving wellness tips to help you enjoy a healthy holiday, and if you do over do it, tips to help you post-binge.

Today’s topic is gratitude. Did you know that it’s not happiness that brings us gratitude? It’s rather gratitude that actually brings us happiness. Emerging research has shown that just having a spirit of gratitude and thankfulness can go a long way towards improving your outlook and even your health. So be thankful for the lessons and blessings in life’s challenges.

Robert Emmons, a psychology professor at the University of California at Davis and leading researcher, has found that those who adopt an “attitude of gratitude” as a permanent state of mind experience many health benefits.

Emmons’ research suggests that grateful people may be more likely to:

• take better care of themselves physically and mentally
• get more regular exercise
• eat a healthier diet
• have improved mental alertness
• cope better with stress and daily challenges
• have stronger immune systems
• maintain a brighter view of the future
• feel happier and more optimistic

With that list of healthy benefits, who wouldn’t want to try it? To get started giving thanks, consider integrating some of the following steps into your life.

Focus Outward
Your attitude plays a big role in determining whether you can feel grateful in spite of life’s challenges. According to Emmons, gratitude is defined by your attitude towards both the outside world as well as yourself. He suggests that those who are more aware of the positives in their lives tend to focus their attention outside of themselves.

Be Grateful for What You Have
You may assume that those with greater wealth and more material possessions have more to be grateful for. Research, however, suggests otherwise. Edward Diener, a psychology professor at the University of Illinois, found that a high percentage of affluent people in Japan reported lower levels of life satisfaction, just as those living in poverty in India do. These findings suggest that it’s not how much you have, but how you feel about what you have that makes the difference.

Keep a Gratitude Journal
Recording what you feel grateful for in a journal is a great way to give thanks on a regular basis. Studies have found that those who listed five things they felt grateful for in a weekly gratitude journal reported fewer health problems and greater optimism than those who didn’t; those who gave thanks daily with regular writing led to a greater increase in gratitude than weekly writing.

Re-frame Situations as Positive
It’s not actually a challenging situation that is upsetting; it’s how you perceive it. The next time you find yourself overwrought about life’s struggles, mentally “flip the switch” to frame things differently in your mind. For example, rather than getting down about not getting that new job, try to see the positive side. You might now have more time to start your own business or there may be something better on the horizon.

We’d love to hear from you! What are you thankful for today?