A Healthy Serving of Gratitude: 3 Recipes to Nourish Your Soul

Pass the gravy, biscuits, salt, and butter please. Eating with wild abandon this holiday season couldn’t possibly lead to better health, could it? Unfortunately it cannot, but adding a daily dose of gratitude can help you to feel happier, less stressed, and may actually improve your health.

It has been proven that daily practice of gratitude can actually improve your health and happiness by improving your immune system. A gratitude study conducted by Dr. Michael McCollough, of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, and Dr. Robert Emmons, of the University of California at Davis, indicates that gratitude plays a significant role in a person’s sense of well being and health.

This holiday season try to focus not only on your “blessings” before you eat, but make an intention to reflect on what is good in your life instead of worrying about what is wrong. When you dust off your recipe book, create a new section that includes the following recipes, each loaded with a healthy dose of gratitude.

Recipe 1: You already have the ingredients you need:

Ingredients:

3-5 minutes of uninterrupted time.

Most of us spend an enormous amount of time and energy thinking about the things we want, that new car, new job, bigger house. A daily practice of gratitude can help us appreciate not only what we have, but can help us appreciate the things we often take for granted.

Set aside 3-5 minutes a day (about as long as it takes you to brush your teeth). This can be a car commute, during a work out, while taking a shower, really anytime that you are alone to practice being grateful for the things, people, and situations you have in your life.

1. Start by listing the items or things you have in your life that you are grateful for.

Example: I am grateful for my spacious home and working car.

2. Move onto being grateful for the people you have in your life

Example: I am grateful for my supportive husband and spirited daughter.

3. Then practice being grateful for the situations or places you are in.

Example: I am grateful for my sustainable career.

After listing the items you are grateful for take a deep breath and enjoy all of the incredible aspects of your life that bring you joy and fulfillment.

Recipe 2: Sweetening life by acknowledging what you do.

Ingredients:

30-60 minutes of uninterrupted time

1 pen

1 piece of writing paper

1 blank piece of card stock, or thick paper

1-5 magazines

1 glue-stick

There are so many things we do everyday that we take for granted. What would life be like if we didn’t have the ability to use some of the natural abilities and tools that we have? Being grateful for the things we do naturally can help us to refocus our energy from all that we want to accomplish, to appreciating all that we are able to do effortlessly everyday.

1. Start by writing a list of 5-10 things you are grateful you are able to do. These can be simple qualities that you may not often appreciate or even acknowledge.
Example: I am a good dancer, I make people laugh, I make great lasagna, I make people feel good.

2. Find images in a magazine that represent the qualities you are grateful for. Cut out the items.

3. Paste the items on your blank piece of card stock to create a Gratitude Vision Board.

4. Write the sentences from your list next to the image. Start with I am thankful for…

5. Place your Gratitude Vision Board somewhere where you will see it often. When you look at it, remind yourself of all the things you have to be grateful for.

Recipe 3: Gratitude, a healthy way to be.

Ingredients:

1 bed

1 journal (optional)

1 calendar (optional)

1 post-it pad (optional)

Gratitude can be a state of mind, an emotion, an attitude, a condition of the soul, or a prayer (if you will). After practicing gratitude, many people report feeling a sense of peace and a greater connection to themselves and to the divine.

1. Before bed, take a few moments to list everything and everyone you are grateful for. Write this list in a journal or simply say to yourself in your mind.

2. Repeat this nightly for 32-days and notice a deeper sense of peace, better sleep, and a greater sense of happiness.

3. Keep track of each night you practice your gratitude list near you bed, so you can track your progress for 32-days.

4. Write a few of the things you are grateful for on Post-it pages and place in visible place like the mirror, your car, or your computer.

So, go ahead, dig into the buttered potatoes and be sure to top it off with a decadent helping of sweet gratitude. By adding some of these gratitude recipes to your family’s collection you can improve your chances of feeling healthier, happier, and more peaceful all year long.

Happy Thanksgiving,

Shannon and Margalit

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