LITTLE ROCK - During the rush of the holiday season, it can be helpful to slow down and appreciate elements of everyday life that are often overlooked. Brittney Schrick, extension assistant professor and family life specialist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, said practicing gratitude has numerous benefits for mental, emotional and physical health.
"Gratitude is the act of feeling thankful for what you have," Schrick said. "It doesn't have to be a big thing. It can literally just be that you woke up this morning or that you have food on your table. And practicing gratitude has a lot of benefits. Anything that you can do where you're focused on feeling gratitude and being thankful for what you have has been proven to benefit your body and your brain." One can practice gratitude in many ways, including through journaling or keeping a daily gratitude list, because "gratitude is a practice, much like yoga or any other sort of exercise," Schrick said.
"It can help you focus on positive things, especially on days when that's not where your brain is trying to go," she said. "If you're having a struggle, forcing yourself to think of something good can completely turn your brain around and your day around." Establishing a daily gratitude practice can also be a helpful teaching tool for children, Schrick said. As part of an established routine – at bedtime, bath time, or around the dinner table – ask your child, "What was something good that happened today?" or, "What is something you're grateful for today?" This can help children learn to be grateful and practice positive thinking.
"If you're constantly being negative, your kids are going to pick up on that," Schrick said. "If that's something that you want to work on, it's okay to be open and say, 'You know what, mom shouldn't have said that that way.' Giving yourself the grace to correct, rephrase or reframe something also teaches your kids that that's okay. ...
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