A percentage of all sales till the end of Feb. 2012 will be donated to the Miami Children’s Hospital Foundation. Enter code “CB2012″ & SAVE 10% off Everything. We have been donating a percentage of all sales for over 90 days and we know its making a difference! Thank you to all who help to support this great cause!
A percentage of all sales till the end of Feb. 2012 will be donated to the Miami Children’s Hospital Foundation. Enter code “CB2012″ & SAVE 10% off Everything.
A percentage of all sales this month will be donated to the Miami Children’s Hospital Foundation. Enter code “CB2012″ & SAVE 10% off Everything.
I have many readers who are stressed to the point of feeling overwhelmed–that they’re facing so much stress that they don’t know where to even begin to relieve it, and …Read Full Post
I started keeping a gratitude journal several years ago, and, though I go through phases where I write more often or skip a few nights, I’ve found that I tend to drift to sleep more easily and happily after I’ve gotten myself into the ‘warm and fuzzy’ place that comes from counting my blessings. That’s why I wasn’t completely surprised when I ran across this research study about gratitude journaling: researchers have found that differences in gratitude levels actually affect sleep quality!Researchers assessed 186 men and 215 women (40% of which had clinically impaired sleep), and measured their level of gratitude, their quality of sleep, and five main personality traits (to see if differences in sleep quality could be tied to personality differences). (The five personality traits, which have been generally accepted as definitive to personality, are: openness to new experience, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness and neuroticism.)Researchers found that gratitude predicted better self-reported sleep quality, as well as duration of sleep, and less ‘sleep latency’ (the amount of time it takes to fall asleep after the lights have gone out) and daytime dysfunction. The relationship between gratitude and each of these variables was mediated by the thoughts people had before falling asleep: more positive before-sleep thoughts and less negative ones. all of these results were found to be unrelated to personality traits, including neuroticism, (which one might expect to affect sleep quality and ability to fall asleep). This research is pretty big news for those who need better quality sleep, and those who need more of it (which, according to a sleep poll on this site, includes the vast majority of us)! We can use this information to help ourselves and our children in many areas of our lives, since sleep deprivation affects not only our stress levels, but our daytime functioning. (See this article on the importance of sleep.) Here are some things to try:Gratitude JournalingI recommend keeping a gratitude journal for general stress relief and overall happiness, but now that we know this practice can lead to better sleep, I consider it a must. see this article for tips on maintaining a gratitude journal, where you’ll have a record of all that you have to appreciate in your life–great for reading when you’re feeling blue.Gratitude with KidsIf you have children, and if you’re not doing this already, it’s a great idea to get in the habit of reviewing three things that you have to be grateful for before you tuck them in and turn out the light. This can be done in the form of a sharing conversation, a prayer, or a family gratitude journal that you keep together. you may find bedtime reluctance diminishing and daytime moods and productivity improved.Tweet your GratitudeJoin me on Twitter, where I’ve started a daily gratitude practice–you can maintain a daily gratitude announcement there, where you ‘tweet’ three things for which you’re grateful at the end of each day, and can see what others are grateful for. (You can also share your list on this blog or in the Stress Management Forum if you’re still working up to making it a nightly habit.)Additional Sleep and Gratitude Resources:Join my Gratitude Program!Power Naps and the Importance of SleepHealthy Habits for Better SleepQuality Sleep for the StressedBenefits of GratitudeKeep a Gratitude JournalSource: Wood AM, Joseph S, Lloyd J, Atkins S.Gratitude influences sleep through the mechanism of pre-sleep cognitions. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, January 2009.Like this post? want to use it to start a discussion with your friends? Pass it on!Ongoing Stress Reduction Resources – Free Personality Tests – Subscribe to the Newsletter
Recently I was asked an intriguing question: “If you could only recommend one thing for stress relief, what would your best recommendation?” It’s a great question because sometimes stress …Read full Post
I have many readers who are stressed to the point of feeling overwhelmed–that they’re facing so much stress that they don’t know where to even begin to relieve it, and …Read full Post
All marriages have conflict at some point in time, as couples struggle to make important decisions and move through life. how we handle this conflict can define a relationship, …Read full Post
When dealing with challenges in life, we tend to find situations more stressful if we have less control over our circumstances. often, we may feel that we have virtually no control in some of the situations we face, but we always have some control over our responses to these situations. the one thing we can control is our thoughts. we can control our thoughts, and on what we focus on in any situation, which can help control how we react.Because the body’s stress response is triggered by perceived threats as opposed to objectively verifiable ones, we know that shifting our focus away from seeing every stressor as a threat, and toward seeing stressors as challenges or even potential opportunities, can make a significant difference in how stressed we feel. However, it can be difficult to find a way to alter our thoughts and patterns of thinking about things, especially when stressed. it helps to know what to do.That’s where positive psychology research can help. one study in particular shed some light on a few areas of how to change your perspective and feel less stress and depression. The study, built upon previous research that showed that finding the hidden benefits in a difficult situation can be an effective way to reduce depressive symptoms and associated stress, examined a couple of unique ways to achieve this state of mind. Specifically, the researchers looked at two routes to gaining a ‘benefit-finding’ frame of mind: optimism, and maintaining a good mood (also known as ‘positive affect‘) in patients who had been diagnosed with MS. In this randomized clinical trial, 127 MS patients were given telephone counseling, and assessed at the beginning of the study, at 8 weeks, and 16 weeks into counseling sessions, using four separate assessments. After adjusting for time since MS diagnosis and type of treatment, assessments affirmed that decreased depression was associated with increased benefit-finding over time, and that benefit-finding was affected by both increased positive affect and increased optimism. This study not only affirms that finding the positive in a negative situation can indeed bring real benefits for mood, but sheds some light on effective ways of altering your perspective long-term. The following resources can help you to put this research to use in your own life, and create greater resilience to stress by increasing your optimism, maintaining a more positive mood, finding the positive in negative situations, and ultimately feeling better when the going gets rough. you can share your own best tips on how to do this as well, in the comments section or in this page of readers’ tips for resilience.Recommended Reading:Are you An Optimist Or a Pessimist?Developing OptimismHow to Maintain a good MoodPleasures In LifeHow Resilient Are you?Maintain Greater ResilienceShare Your thoughts:Do you have a favorite way to stay positive? Share your best tips in the ‘comments’ section. if you enjoyed this post, please pass it on with the ‘share’ button………………………………………………………………….Join The Conversation or get More Information:Facebook – Twitter – Newsletter – Bio – More Options…………………………………………………………………Photo from iStockPhoto.comHart, Stacey L.; Vellan, Lea; Mohr, David C. (2008) Relationships among depressive symptoms, benefit-finding, optimism, and positive affect in multiple sclerosis patients after psychotherapy for depression. Health Psychology, 27(2), 230-238.
