This week is Thanksgiving in the U.S. It is not just a time of year for stuffing our faces full of as much food as our stomachs can possibly tolerate before passing out in front of the football game on TV. Thanksgiving is really a time when we can reflect on what we have and give thanks. Gratitude is actually a central component of all major religions and has been part of the human culture for millennia. However, most of us probably dont practice the act of gratitude frequently enough. As Sheryl Crow says in her song, Soak up the Sun, Its not having what you want, Its wanting what youve got. Hopefully, we can all find some time this week to really consider what we have and be thankful for that. Related to this, I was sitting in a class a few weeks ago on complementary and alternative medicine. We were talking about pain management and the speaker made a statement that will stick with me for a long time. She said Suffering is wanting things to be different than they are. I think she was right. Its only when you are wanting things to somehow be different that you feel in the dumps. It seems that this applies to physical and psychological pain. It seems then, that one way to alleviate suffering is to be grateful. When you focus on how good things are in certain areas of your life, its difficult to feel bad about other areas. Everyone has certain problems that they would like to have resolved. But at the same time, everyone has certain blessings that they can count. In the field of psychology, theres a theory about how gratitude can actually help you build your arsenal of brain resources. This argument was laid out nicely by Barbara Frederickson in the book, The Psychology of Gratitude. Without going into the whole volume, she essentially says that positive emotions, including gratitude, can build and expand your mental resources to create a reserve that you can draw from when needed. Negative emotions have easily measured intentions. Fear leads to the urge to escape, anger leads to the urge to attack, disgust leads to the urge to expel, etc. Positive emotions are a less easily measured. They dont arise from survival situations, but in situations when things are going well, so the immediacy of reactions is not as cleanly linked to positive emotions. Still, Dr. Fredrickson points out that gratitude, and other positive emotions, over time, lead to increased creativity, knowledge, resiliency, social integration and health. Plus, when you focus on positive emotions, its nearly impossible to experience negative emotions at the same time. If you make this a regular practice eventually your default mood gets better and better - and this is one of the cruxes of brain fitness that we have focused on in the past. So go ahead and indulge yourself this holiday season. But take some time to stop, reflect, and be thankful for what you have. Its good for your brain.
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About the Author:
Dr. Simon Evans holds a PhD in molecular biology with 15 years research and teaching experience in neuroscience and a current faculty position in the Psychiatry Department at the University of Michigan. He is a member of the Society for Neuroscience, the American Society for Nutrition and the Michigan Metabolomics and Obesity Center; with expertise in neurochemistry and nutrition. He is the author of dozens of scientific publications on stress, depression and brain function as well as the acclaimed book, BrainFit for Life, published in the Spring of 2008.
Dr. Evans also holds a national coaching license from the United States Soccer Federation and over two decades coaching experience, which enables him to help people find and use their full potential. Dr. Evans has merged his interests in brain function, health, and performance coaching into public seminars and workshops designed to educate audiences about brain health and motivate them to take action to achieve it. http://www.brainfitforlife.com