Health at the Crossroads

Christian Science Committee on Publication for Indiana - Media and Legislative Liaison

Grace and gratitude: a healthy combination by Wendy Margolese for OurWindsor.ca

By Leave a Comment

turkey-966496_960_720It’s that time of year when our hearts are full of gratitude for family, friends, church, our work, and the general beauty and joy of life. But there can be challenges for those who seem to be alone or unwell during the holidays. My friend, Wendy Margolese, writing for the November 21, 2016 edition of OurWindsor.ca, helps us to see more clearly the inspiring and health-giving role of gratitude, no matter what the outward circumstances. Her conviction that good has a constant source in God shines out in a healing she shares. Here’s Wendy:

Many cultures around the world have unique ways of offering grace before a meal, whether over a bowl of pasta or a plate of Pad Thai. As a Baby Boomer, I remember saying grace at the family dinner table each evening – a moment to reflect on not only the bounty before us, but also on other blessings of the day.

However, statistics show the ritual of saying grace before a meal is trending downward with less than half of us today taking a quiet moment to express gratitude.

This shift is happening for lots of different reasons. I have wondered if one of the reasons for this reticence to give gratitude is a fear that goodness can be limited in our lives – that we can experience limited health, limited income, limited happiness.

Why is gratitude important? How can it impact this limited feeling?

Ask Robert Emmons, professor at the University of California, Davis, who is acknowledged as today’s pre-eminent expert in the study of gratitude. His studies have shown that a conscious focus on blessings improved moods, coping skills and overall physical well-being.

Emmons says, ‘Gratitude is one of the few things that can measurably heal….”

Please Click Here To Read The Entire Article

Is gratitude a natural impulse? by Linda Ross for Norwalk Patch

By Leave a Comment

2015115650c16c3a313Are you filled with gratitude? This time of year, with the approach of the American Thanksgiving holiday, the focus is on declaring aloud or silently what you’re grateful for. For some people, gratitude seems to flow out so naturally. For others, it’s a bit more challenging to cultivate that heart that overflows with thanks and praise. My colleague, Linda Ross, writing for the November 21, 2015 edition of the Norwalk Patch, reports on some “natural” gratitude ( a whale!) and how we all can learn to be more grateful. Here’s Linda:

What can nature teach us about gratitude?

It can teach us that being thankful is normal, according to the Greater Good Science Center.

This University of California Berkeley campus research centre has studied the natural occurrence of gratitude in nature and one of their stories is particularly impressive.

“In December of 2005, a 50-foot, 50-ton, female humpback whale got tangled in crab lines and was in danger of drowning. After a team of divers freed her, she nuzzled each of her rescuers in turn and flapped around in what one whale expert said was ‘a rare and remarkable encounter,’” rescuer James Moskito recalled.

“It felt to me like it was thanking us, knowing it was free and that we had helped it,” he concluded.

But what if our natural “gratitude gene” seems to be lost amid life’s troubles?

According to Julie Ruchniewicz, of the Parish Nurse Ministry of Advocate Health Care in Evanston Illinois, there is something we can do about it and doing so is beneficial. She writes, “Interestingly enough, it has been determined that you can cultivate a positive attitude, with a little practice. Working on your sense of gratitude can help you maintain a more positive mood in your daily life and add to emotional well-being…..”

Please Click Here To Read The Entire Article

Insomnia? Count Your Blessings by Tim Mitchinson for Fit for Life

By Leave a Comment

 

B6s7nkMIcAAq1u1

Insomnia. Did you know that people sleep 20% less than they did a century ago? What keeps you awake when you’d like to be sleeping? What helps you sleep? Many people turn to sleeping pills. Here in Indiana malls, as in many states, you can try out the latest ‘sleep number’ mattress“ which gives the promise of a good night’s sleep. Is there another way? My colleague, Tim Mitchinson, writing for the February 3, 2015 Fit for Life blog, gives us a simple answer for sleeplessness: gratitude. Read more. Here’s Tim:

If people count sheep when they can’t sleep, what do sheep count?” That may be an old joke, but insomnia is no laughing matter.

People today sleep 20% less than they did 100 years ago. More than half of Americans lose sleep due to stress or anxiety, with more than 30% of our population suffering from insomnia. To combat this, approximately 10 million people in the United States use prescription sleep aids (better-sleep-better-life.com).

But an NBC TODAY piece by Linda Carroll asked if we are too reliant on prescription medications for sleeplessness and pain. The report stated that Americans are taking more prescription medications than ever – with a full five million prescriptions being written each year for sleep aids.

“We seem to be a country that turns to drugs for solutions more than many other industrialized, wealthy countries do,” said Dr. Jerry Avorn, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and chief of the division of pharmacoepidemiology and pharmacoeconomics at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, in his interview with Carroll in the same Today segment.

Avorn says drug advertising is a big part of the problem.

Please Click Here to Read the Entire Article

A Holiday Season Aflame With Gratitude! by Tony Lobl for The Third Metric

By Leave a Comment

2014-12-19-22AGlobalGlow22byTonyLobl-thumb

Is gratitude your “go-to” state of mind? Maybe you keep a ‘gratitude journal.’ Maybe it’s an ‘every-so-often’ list. Maybe it’s that constant grateful feeling that God is in control. Here in Indiana, the University of Notre Dame is involved in studies that are ‘expanding the science and practice of gratitude.’ My colleague, Tony Lobl, writing for the December 29, 2014 edition of The Third Metric, inspires us to seek that grateful heart that enlightens the holiday season with the warmth of love. Here’s Tony:

Picture this.

You gather family and friends of all ages in a large room and ask each person to hold a single, unlit candle.

Then you turn out the lights.

In the darkness, you ask someone to tell you about something they’re grateful for – whether it’s another person, an event or anything else. After sharing their story they light their candle. The next person does the same, and so on, right around the room, story by story.

After each expression of appreciation, the room grows a little brighter. By the time the last person has spoken, it’s ablaze with light!

This idea is not new. One Christmas, a friend of mine heard a young woman reminiscing on a late night radio show about her family and friends doing just this.

“As I listened, I could almost see how beautiful their faces were, lit up with the joy of gratitude … and with the glow of candlelight. Thinking about it still gives me goose bumps”, she said.

Sadly, of course, that’s not the way it is for everyone during the holiday season. But have you ever thought, we can still be grateful even if we feel our heart is breaking?

Please Click Here To Read The Entire Article  

The healing power of gratitude by Wendy Margolese for the York Region

By Leave a Comment

thank_you___Content

 

Remember “the two little magic words?” Please and thank-you? Gratitude has become a much studied state of thought in recent years. Here at Indiana University, researchers are participating in a two-year study (2012-2014) on the impact of gratitude ‘intervention’ in psychotherapy. The potential effects of gratitude on health are the topic of today’s blog by my colleague from Canada,Wendy Margolese, writing for the October 8, 2014 edition of York Region.  I’m grateful for Wendy’s article and I think you will be too! Here’s Wendy:

Who would have thought that a simple ’thank you’ is worthy of a scientific study?

Robert Emmons, Ph.D., and professor at the University of California, Davis, has written the first major scientific study on gratitude – its causes, and potential impact on human health. Published findings from his studies have shown that a conscious focus on blessings improved moods, coping skills and overall physical well-being. Emmons says, ‘Gratitude is one of the few things that can measurably heal, energize and change people’s lives. It is a turning of the mind, not what I don’t have, but what I have already.’

As Canadians head into their Thanksgiving holiday, many will gather around a family table and acknowledge their blessings. Still, for many, there will be a ‘but’ after the ‘thank you’. It sounds like this: ‘Thanks, BUT I really need a bigger house, more friends, that promotion,’ etc. Ingratitude blocks the ability to see what we already have. Inspiration from a well-used guidebook in my life asks the question: ‘Are we really grateful for the good already received?’ And follows with the promise: ‘Then we shall avail ourselves of the blessings we have, and thus be fitted to receive more.’

Please Click Here to Read the Entire Article