Saturday, Feb 12th   -   Workshop in Philadelphia:
 Calm Your Inner Critic &
Quiet Your Anxious Mind

Designed for the general public, CE credits available for participants who are Pennsylvania licensed social workers. Visit SelfMatters.org for more information and to register. 

SelfMatters Newsletter Winter 2011

Attitudes of Gratitude Boost Confidence and Well-Being


On Thanksgiving Day, Melinda Beck, health writer for the Wall Street Journal wrote:  "It turns out, giving thanks is good for your health. A growing body of research suggests that maintaining an attitude of gratitude can improve psychological, emotional and physical well-being." She goes on to say that "adults who frequently feel grateful have more energy, more optimism, more social connections and more happiness than those who do not, according to studies conducted over the past decade. They're also less likely to be depressed, envious, greedy or alcoholics. They earn more money, sleep more soundly, exercise more regularly and have greater resistance to viral infections. Researchers are  also finding that gratitude brings similar benefits in children and adolescents. Kids who feel and act grateful tend to be less materialistic, get better grades, set higher goals, complain of fewer headaches and stomach aches and feel more satisfied with their friends, families and schools than those who don't, studies show."

Beck points out that "the research is part of the 'positive psychology' movement, which focuses on developing strengths rather than alleviating disorders. Much of the research on gratitude has looked at associations, not cause-and-effect relationships; it's possible that people who are happy, healthy and successful simply have more to be grateful for. But in a landmark study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology in 2003, Dr. Emmons and University of Miami psychologist Michael McCullough showed that counting blessings can actually make people feel better.

In their research study, Emmons and McCulough randomly divided more than 100 undergraduates into three groups. One group was asked to list five things they were grateful for during the past week for 10 consecutive weeks.  The second group listed five things that annoyed them each week and the third group simply listed five events that had occurred. They also completed detailed questionnaires about their physical and mental health before, during and after. Those who listed blessings each week had fewer health complaints, exercised more regularly and felt better about their lives in general than the other two groups."

Gratitude is about being thankful and appreciative. It is a way of stopping the fast pace of life and reminding ourselves of the beauty around us, of the kindness of others, of the sun on our faces, of our body's ability to move, or of a friend's call to check up on us. Noticing that which we appreciate is an effective way to counter our natural tendencies toward being negative, critical or judgmental. When we tune into that which we are grateful for, we tune into our interior reservoir for positive energy. Even during stressful moments and  times of grieving, when we identify what we feel grateful for, we have much greater chances of  fortifying our strength, enabling us to persevere in ways that would otherwise be more difficult.

Attending to gratitude is one of the best ways to quiet our Inner Critic, that voice we hear in our head that can initiate complaints and bring our spirits down.. While we are all prone to hear our critic's negative voice, we also have the power to counter it and diminish its impact. As we quiet our critic, we simultaneously open our hearts; when we open our hearts, we open the door to gratidude.

Angeles Arrien, a cross cultural anthropologist reminds us that all cultures throughout time have practiced forms of gratitude. She suggests that one form of a daily practice is to track four universal questions each day:  What moved me today? What challenged me?  What surprised me? What inspired me? In asking these questions we reflect about our day from different vantage points, illuminating the ways we are glad to be alive.

As we begin a new year, we invite you to experiment with cultivating your own attitude of gratitude and engage in more deliberate acts of acknowledging appreciation. As the research suggests, you just might find yourself feeling a whole lot brighter in your outlook on life.


Here are some suggestions for practicing gratitude:

  1.  Try Angeles Arrien's four questions each day.
  2.  When you wake up in the morning identify one small thing that you can look forward to (it might even be that when the day is done you can get back under those yummy covers).
  3.  Before you go to bed at night, scan your day for one moment that brought joy, satisfaction or relaxation.
  4. Each day think of one person who has been important to you in some way and let them know-send a card, make a call, write a text. Your initiation of gratitude may be the very thing that brings them pleasure.
  5.  Look at your book shelf and remind yourself of something you read in one of those books that has had meaning for you. Find it and read it again. Consider sharing it with a friend.
  6.  Reflect on your appreciation for your own body-that it gets you where you want to go, or that it can walk a few miles a day, or that you have the flexibility to turn your neck. While each of us may have challenges with our bodies, it is also important to be grateful for that which our miraculous body manages to do for us.
     
Inner Critic workshop participants say:

"This was a life changing experience for me."
"Throughout all my years of counseling and facing difficult life situations, this workshop has been  most beneficial in providing me with concrete tools to help myself."
"Thank you so much, this workshop was the answer to questions that I've longed for."
"Jane & Beth work so well together, like a lock & key."
"I feel truly blessed to have had the opportunity to be in this workshop."
"Jane & Beth are a fabulous team. I learned so much - they are  knowledgeable, creative and compassionate. " 

Jane Shure,PhD,LCSW & Beth Weinstock, PhD

co-creators of SelfMatters, are psychotherapists, authors, and leadership development coaches, nationally recognized for their

effectiveness in helping  people break negative patterns and achieve positive change.

They lead workshops on Calm Your Inner Critic at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Stockbridge, MA. & The Athena Center for Leadership Studies at Barnard College, NYC, and speak their mind writing for the Huffington Post. SelfMatters.org


You are receiving this message because SelfMatters believes you will benefit from this information.  You are not receiving this message because you are subscribed to an electronic list. SelfMatters encourages recipients to pass this information along to professional mailing lists and to any interested colleagues who may benefit from this information.  
 
Jane Shure, PhD, LCSW   
Email: Jane@SelfMatters.org     

Beth Weinstock, PhD       
Email: Beth@SelfMatters.org      
610-664-2996

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214 East Gorgas Lane
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19119
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