The Amazing Science of Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving can be about more that putting up with annoying relatives, gorging on a dead bird, and passing out in a football-enhanced stupor. In fact, Thanksgiving can be an opportunity to practice one of the most powerful health-promoting actions that exist.

Giving thanks.

Gratitude, it turns out, makes you happier and healthier. If you invest in a way of seeing the world that is mean and frustrated, you're going to get a world that is more mean and frustrating. But if you can find any authentic reason to give thanks... anything at all that you're grateful for in your life or in the world and put your attention there, an overwhelming body of research indicates you're going to experience more joy, vitality, and inner peace.

Gratitude doesn't just make things feel better -- it also makes them get better. According to recent research, gratitude is good for your physical, emotional, and mental health. People who express more gratitude have fewer aches and pains, better sleep, and stronger mental clarity.

If Thankfulness Were A Drug...

"If [thankfulness] were a drug," Dr. P. Murali Doraiswamy, head of the division of biologic psychology at Duke University Medical Center, tells us, "it would be the world's best-selling product with a health maintenance indication for every major organ system."

As Dr. Doraiswamy explains, studies have shown how the expression of gratitude leads to measurable effects on multiple body and brain systems.

These include:

• Mood neurotransmitters (serotonin, norepinephrine)
• Reproductive hormones (testosterone)
• Social bonding hormones (oxytocin)
• Cognitive and pleasure related neurotransmitters (dopamine)
• Inflammatory and immune systems (cytokines)
• Stress hormones (cortisol)
• Cardiac and EEG rhythms
• Blood pressure, and
• Blood sugar

Does Gratitude Really Cause Good Fortune?

When I heard all this, I was skeptical. What if people who are fortunate, or who are particularly healthy, just feel more grateful? Does gratitude really cause good fortune, or is it just a byproduct?

The answer surprised me, and it may surprise you, too.

In a study conducted by Robert A. Emmons, Ph.D., at the University of California at Davis and his colleague Mike McCullough at the University of Miami, randomly assigned participants were given one of three tasks. Each week, participants kept a short journal. One group briefly described five things they were grateful for that had occurred in the past week, another five recorded daily hassles from the previous week that displeased them, and the neutral group was asked to list five events or circumstances that affected them, but they were not told whether to focus on the positive or on the negative.

Keep in mind that these groups were randomly assigned and that nothing about their lives was inherently different, other than the journaling they were doing.

The types of things people listed in the grateful group included: "sunset through the clouds," "the chance to be alive," and "the generosity of friends."

And in the hassles group, people listed familiar things like: "taxes," "hard to find parking," and "burned my dinner."

After 10 weeks, participants in the gratitude group reported feeling better about their lives as a whole and were a full 25 percent happier than the hassled group. They reported fewer health complaints, and they were now exercising an average of 1.5 hours more per week.

In a later study by Emmons, people were asked to write every day about things for which they were grateful. Not surprisingly, this daily practice led to greater increases in gratitude than did the weekly journaling in the first study. But the results showed another benefit: Participants in the gratitude group also reported offering others more emotional support or help with a personal problem, indicating that the gratitude exercise increased their goodwill towards others, or more technically, their "pro-social" motivation.

What's The Brain Science Behind All This?

Neuropsychologist Rick Hanson puts it this way: "The neurons that fire together, wire together ... The longer the neurons [brain cells] fire, the more of them that fire, and the more intensely they fire, the more they're going to wire that inner strength -- that happiness, gratitude, feeling confident, feeling successful, feeling loved and lovable."

And what's going on in the brain leads to changes in behavior. Grateful people tend to take better care of themselves and to engage in more protective health behaviors, like regular exercise and a healthy diet. They're also found to have lower levels of stress. And lowered levels of stress are linked to increased immune function and to decreased rates of cancer and heart disease.

So it seems, you take better care of what you appreciate. And that extends to your body, and also to the people around you.

Good For Your Relationships

Not only does saying "thank you" constitute good manners, but showing appreciation can also help you win new friends, according to a 2014 study published in Emotion.

The study found that thanking a new acquaintance makes them more likely to seek an ongoing relationship. So whether you thank a stranger for holding the door or you send a quick thank-you note to that co-worker who helped you with a project, acknowledging other people's contributions can lead to new opportunities.

In a 2012 study conducted by the University of Kentucky, study participants who ranked higher on gratitude scales were found to have more sensitivity and empathy toward other people and a decreased desire to seek revenge.

But What About Tough Times?

As I was learning about this research, I was still a bit skeptical. Life can at times be brutal. Sometimes just surviving can feel like an accomplishment. Can you really feel grateful in times of loss?

Yes, you can.

In fact, findings show that adversity can actually boost gratitude. In a Web-based survey tracking the personal strengths of more than 3,000 American respondents, researchers noted an immediate surge in feelings of gratitude after Sept. 11, 2001.

Tough times can actually deepen gratefulness if we allow them to show us not to take things for granted. Dr. Emmons reminds us that the first Thanksgiving took place after nearly half the pilgrims died from a rough winter and year. It became a national holiday in 1863 in the middle of the Civil War and was moved to its current date in the 1930s following the Depression.

Why would a tragic event provoke gratitude? When times are good, we tend to take for granted the very things that deserve our gratitude. In times of uncertainty, though, we often realize that the people and circumstances we've come to take for granted are actually of immense value to our lives.

Dr. Emmons writes: "In the face of demoralization, gratitude has the power to energize. In the face of brokenness, gratitude has the power to heal. In the face of despair, gratitude has the power to bring hope. In other words, gratitude can help us cope with hard times."

In good times, and in tough times, gratitude turns out to be one of the most powerful choices you can make.

Putting Gratitude To Work For You

If you want to put all this into practice, here are some simple things you can do to build positive momentum:

1) Say Grace: This Thanksgiving, or anytime you sit down to a meal with loved ones, take a moment to go around and invite everyone to say one thing they are grateful for. Even if you eat a meal alone, you can take a moment to give thanks.

2) Keep A Daily Gratitude Journal: This really does work. And yes, there's an app for that.

3) Share The Love: Make it a practice to tell a spouse, partner or friend something you appreciate about them every day.

4) Remember Mortality: You never know how long you, or anyone you love, will be alive. How would you treat your loved ones if you kept in mind that this could be the last time you'd ever see them?

Thank You

Thank you for reading this. Thank you for being grateful for the blessings and even for the challenges that come your way. When you express gratitude, you make your world, and our whole world, better and brighter. Thank you.

Follow Ocean Robbins on Twitter: www.twitter.com/oceanrobbins

MORE:

Gratitude Thanksgiving The Science of Gratitude Brain Science Gratefullness

Is ADHD Making You Procrastinate?

The problem has been defined as “voluntarily delaying an intended course of action despite expecting to be worse-off for the delay.” Sound familiar?

Why do we procrastinate? According to one team of experts—made up of Drs. Joseph Ferrari and Timothy Pychyl—and quoted on psychologytoday.com, there are three basic types of procrastinators:

1. Arousal types or thrill seekers who look for the euphoric rush of getting something done at the last minute.

2. Avoiders who may be acting out of fear of failure, or otherwise avoiding painful emotions they have attached to the task at hand.

3. Decisional procrastinators, who struggle with—you guessed it!—making decisions.

And while the vote is split on whether procrastination is learned or biological or both, everyone agrees there’s a proven link between procrastination and ADHD.

If you struggle with procrastination, time management strategies can help you compensate for poor attention and decision-making skills. (Check out this slideshow filled with tips to help you prioritize and organize your life better!)

A growing number of kids and adults struggling with ADHD and/or procrastination, however, are turning to personal, one-on-one brain training. Brain training strengthens weak attention skills that are associated with ADHD. In fact, the most common diagnosis among families seeking help at LearningRx is ADHD.

Brain training doesn’t just alleviate the symptoms of ADHD or compensate for the weak skills that are creating the problem. Instead, it strengthens the underlying brain skills of attention and decision, eliminating the problem altogether. In fact, LearningRx, the premiere personal brain training company in the world, says that more than a third of kids and adults who come to them on ADHD meds are able to stop or reduce medications before even completing the 12 to 32-week brain training programs.

Want to get more done in your life? Click here to find a LearningRx Brain Training Center near you, then give them a call and ask for a free brain training demonstration. 

- See more at http://www.learningrxblog.com/adhd-and-procrastination/#more-950

Blink Patterns of Autistic Toddlers Reveal Fascinating Insights

We don’t think much about blinking. For the most part, it’s an involuntary process that keeps our eyes hydrated. But when we blink, we lose information, even if it’s just for a fraction of a second. In fact, during a typical day, blinking means you spend about 44 minutes with your eyes closed.

This is why, when we’re watching something that interests us, we tend to blink less often. Again, it’s not something we think about, just an involuntary response to not wanting to miss out on whatever has captured our attention.

A recent study of the blink patterns of two-year-olds –some of whom were typically developing children and some of whom had an autism spectrum disorder—revealed fascinating insights on what is actually happening in their brains.  Noticing that children blink less often while watching videos, researchers wondered if toddlers with autism, who have impairments in social communications, would show the same blink patterns as typically developing kids.

They showed 93 toddlers a video featuring two children in a wagon who get into an argument over whether the wagon door should be open or shut.

What they discovered was that typically developing toddlers blink less—indicating increased interest—during the emotional exchange between the two children in the video.

Toddlers with autism, however, blinked less—indicating increased interest—during the parts of the video that showed physical objects in motion, such as the wagon door being slammed.

Geraldine Dawson, chief science officer for Autism Speaks, says that if a child is not visually engaged with the social world, it can “impact the development of neural systems that underlie social behavior which rely on social stimulation for development.”

One of the benefits of the study is that it provides a way to measure a child’s interest and engagement with various stimuli, and can even be used to gauge the effectiveness of various therapies. 

- See more at: http://www.learningrxblog.com/what-do-blinking-patterns-tell-us/#more-1073

Sand Art Activities to Help Children Cope with Feelings

By Guest Blogger Kim Peterson, MA, LPC-S, RPT

Understanding feelings, being able to identify our feelings, and sharing our feelings are important for a person’s emotional and psychological wellness. Happy, sad, angry, proud, afraid… these are all normal feelings. As a psychotherapist, I spend most of my day helping others sort out and cope with these feelings, and as a mom, I take time to teach these skills to my children as well. I’ve written before about the impact of sand play in a child’s life, but I especially love the idea of using colored sand as a tool for teaching and coping with feelings.

Sand art has been around for quite some time now. I love it because the final products are beautiful and each different in their own way. I incorporate sand art activities into therapy sessions, as well as to help my own children learn about and cope with their feelings.

GETTING STARTED

Here’s what you’ll need:

1. Various Colored Sand
2. Sand art bottles- Various kinds includeSand Art Bottle Assortment packs,Under The Sea Theme, and Melissa & Doug Sand Art Bottles (my favorite).
3. Funnels. I use this3″ Sand Art Funnel
4. Sand Art Bracelets
5. Art tray (optional) to keep the mess contained. I keep various sizes of the Creativitrayson hand. They are a life-saver for cleanup, whether it’s sand, paint, or other crafts.

IDEAS FOR USE:

“Happy Feelings” Bottle or Bracelet:

• Identify five or six positive feelings. Examples include:Happy, Peaceful, Proud, Excited, Thankful, Loved, Looking forward to__________.
• For each positive feeling, choose a color of sand and ask your child to talk about aperson, place, thing, or time when he or she felt that particular feeling.
• While talking about the memory or story associated with that emotion, the child pours the colored sand into the bottle or bracelet. He or she can fill the bottle with one sand color (representing one positive emotion) or lots of colors (representing many positive emotions). Let your child know he/she can look at or hold the bottle any time they need help remembering these positive feelings and memories.

“Mixed Emotions” Bottle:

• 
• Have the child identify an experience during which they felt mixed emotions. An example might be starting a new year at school and feeling scared, excited, and insecure. Or welcoming a new baby brother or sister and feeling happy and proud, but also anxious and neglected.
• For each feeling, choose a color of sand.
• While talking about the memory or story associated with those emotions, the child pours the colored sand into the bottle. Your child can layer the colors, use more of one color than the others, even mix the colors before pouring in the bottle.
• Talk with your child about how the filled bottle represents that we can have many feelings, sometimes about the same experience or even all at once. Talk about how sometimes feelings get all mixed up until we’re not even sure what feelings are in there. Explain that talking to someone, like a parent or counselor, can help us sort out mixed up feelings

“I’m Loved” Sand Bracelets:

We have all heard of friendship bracelets, and this idea is an extension of that idea done with a parent and child. This is especially good for children with separation anxiety or who have to be away from a parent for an extended amount of time.

• The parent and child each make a bracelet.
• Each person chooses a few colors that represent something they love about the other person. For example: “I love how you hug me tight when we are together and will choose purple to remember that.”
• Each person, while talking about what each color means, pours the sand into the plastic bracelet.
• Encourage your child to wear the bracelet to feel close to you when you are apart. You can each wear the bracelets you made representing how you feel about the other person, or exchange the bracelets to remind yourselves how much the other person loves you.

To the right is a picture of my daughter’s sand bracelets (she wanted to make more than one!).

Kim Peterson is a Licensed Professional Counselor, Clinical Supervisor, and Registered Play Therapist with a private practice in Kingwood, Texas. This article originally appeared on her blog at Kim’s Counseling Corner.

- See more at: http://www.learningrxblog.com/sand-art-activities-to-help-children-cope-with-feelings/#more-1976