Title: Does an Attitude of Gratitude Affect Recovery?
Headings: Does an Attitude of Gratitude Affect Recovery?
Does an Attitude of Gratitude Affect Recovery?
Physical
Psychological
Social
The Importance of Gratitude in Recovery
Developing an Attitude of Gratitude
When relating your gratitude efforts to your recovery, consider these ideas:
Gratitude-Enhancing Tools
Practice this Gratitude Meditation:*

Content: Does an Attitude of Gratitude Affect Recovery? Does an Attitude of Gratitude Affect Recovery? by Rita Milios on November 22, 2016 in Health and Wellness, Living in Recovery, Love and Relationships
With Thanksgiving quickly approaching, many of us may be reflecting on people and circumstances in our lives that we are grateful for. Examining our feelings of gratitude is certainly a nice thing to do. At times when it is all too easy to focus on the things that are not going right in our lives, it is good to remind ourselves that we do have things to be grateful for, and to be appreciative of the people who are associated with those things. Now, science is giving us even more compelling reasons to cultivate an attitude of gratitude. Research from the Greater Good Science Center in Berkeley, CA tells us that grateful people are more optimistic, more in control of their lives, can deal better with challenges and have less stress than people for whom feelings of gratitude seem to be lacking. Robert Emmons, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Davis, has made the study of gratitude a focus of his work. He says that people who consistently maintain a sense of gratefulness report a number of personal benefits: Physical
Stronger immune systems
Reduced sensing of aches and pains
Lower blood pressure
Increased interest in exercise and taking care of health
Better, more restful sleep
Psychological
Increased levels of positive emotions
of being more alert, alive, and awake
Increased sense of joy and pleasure
Increased feelings of optimism and happiness
Social
Increased desire to be helpful, generous, and compassionate
Increased feelings of forgiveness
Increased interest in being outgoing
Reduced feelings of loneliness and isolation
Studies by Emmons and others, including researchers from Indiana University, led by Prathik Kini, who gave study participants a “Pay It Forward” gratitude task and measured results in a brain scanner, found that that gratitude is “likely a unique emotion… akin to empathy or consideration of another’s point of view, but {having } more of a pro-social component… gratitude motivates and reinforces the making of choices that lead to mutually beneficial behaviors for those involved;