Gratitude: The Gift That Keeps On Giving

Thanksgiving is around the corner and then we go right into the Christmas season. It is easy to let the hustle and bustle of the holiday season dampen our spirits. Last minute shopping, all-night cooking marathons, and hectic holiday travel can lead to stress and discomfort. Thankfully, the cure for the holiday humdrums is easily found in all of our homes. The secret is graciousness. Thanksgiving gives us all an opportunity to reset our mindsets and focus on the things we have. Being thankful is an often overlooked strategy for feeling and looking our best. The Norman day spa experts at White Rainbow Spa are here to help explain how being thankful this holiday season can leave you looking good and feeling good. 

Gracious & Health: Lessons from a Norman Day Spa

Every major religion, including the Christian tradition, places great value on the idea of graciousness. What does it mean to be gracious? It means to be kind, patient, and above all, thankful. It should really say something all of the world’s ancient cultures believe that being gracious is a hallmark of high character. 

Being gracious means expressing gratitude. According to Harvard Medical School, gratitude is all about being thankful for what we receive. This means being thankful for tangible things, like gifts, or intangible things, like love. Having gratitude does not mean that we gloss over the difficulties of life. Rather, it is looking directly at life’s challenges, searching in-between them, to find the things that make life worth living. It could be as simple as a vacation with the kids. It could also be a continued streak of good health. Even finding a close parking lot on your way to a facial treatment at Norman day spa is reason enough to express gratitude. If you look hard enough, there are reasons to be thankful all around. 

Health & Beauty Benefits of Gratitude

There is a mountain of research that demonstrates the very real and material benefits that graciousness has on our health. Research is conclusive that those who count their blessings and take note of reasons why they are thankful have better mental and physical health. What are some of these benefits of gratitude? 

Releasing Negative Emotions

Negative emotions are sticky. What I mean by that is negative emotions have a tendency to linger around longer than we’d like. Think of it like the sticky hands of kids. Their fingerprints and handprints can be found on anything from faucets to refrigerator doors. Negative emotions are sticky in the same way. Their fingerprints and handprints can be felt in nearly every aspect of our lives. Expressing gratitude for the positives in your life helps your brain release negative emotions. Think of gratitude as a cleaning wipe that takes away all of the nasty handprints that have accumulated around your life. 

Improved Long Term Mental Health

Expressing gratitude and being gracious have long term mental health benefits. How do we know? Well, scientists have used MRI scanners to look at the brains of those who consistently write letters of gratitude compared to those who do not. What these scientists have found is astounding. The group who wrote letters showed less activity in the parts of the brain that activate when we are depressed. 

Gratitude Improves our Physical Health and Beauty

There are very few aspects of our health that cannot be improved by being more thankful. Research shows that people who journal to themselves about things they are thankful for tend to have lower blood pressure and better sleep. Other studies show that it improves circulation and heart health, while decreasing inflammation all throughout the body. How many times have you wanted to book a Norman day spa appointment because you feel puffy? Gratitude can help turn a facial treatment into a luxury instead of a necessity. Still not convinced? Well, another study demonstrated that people who express gratitude regularly have healthier skin. Honestly, being thankful is better than a trip to a day spa. Norman residents can get the health benefits of spa treatments right from their own homes. All you have to do is be thankful.  

Final Thoughts

The holidays can be hard but that does not mean we do not have a ton to be thankful about. In fact, the harder times become the more important it is to be grateful for the parts of your life that are not difficult. An important thing to remember about graciousness and its health benefits is that it takes time to see results. It is just like eating right or exercising, it takes time. 

So, what can you do to become more gracious? The team at White Rainbow Spa has a few things you can do right away. First, write in a journal. All of the studies we cited earlier highlight the impact of journaling. It turns out that you do not have to share your gratitude with others in order to receive the benefits. You can write about them to yourself. Second, thank others. While you do not have to express gratitude to others to get the benefits, sharing gratitude is the gift that keeps on giving. Everyone loves to hear someone say thanks. Everyone loves to hear that they are important to someone else. Merely telling someone you’re thankful for them goes a long way. If you want to do more, then give them a gift to express your gratitude. 

A great way to say thank you to those you love is by giving them something you love. If you love facial treatments or massages, then give them to others. You’d be surprised how much a gift card for spa treatments can go with others. If you want help figuring out which spa treatment is the best way to say thank you to those you love the most, contact us. We will help you come up with the perfect way to give gratitude.