Jan. 24, 2020

010 - The Power of Gratitude to Change Our Lives

010 - The Power of Gratitude to Change Our Lives
Welcome to The Fully Lived Life podcast! A podcast for those who are longing to pursue the full life and want to break free from anything that holds them back. Listen in as two friends - a psychologist, Dr. Merry and a life coach, Gillian - talk about life, love and purpose - with wisdom, humour and transparency - through the lens of science, psychology, and life experiences. Listeners - Thank you so much for helping us reach over 500 listens in our first week!! We love the feedback and encouragement you are giving us! We took a risk to show up as our authentic selves and put this podcast out there - so thank you! Gratitude: Gratitude and the practice of gratitude has its foundations in faith practices. The Roman Catholic practice of Examen is a beautiful way of checking in with yourself over the course of a day and building a gratitude practice. Do you engage gratitude on a conscious level? If so you are building many benefits into your mind and body health. How do grateful thoughts actually change your brain? Do you have a propensity to fixate on negative thoughts based from worry and fear? Gratitude has a positive effect on the amygdala and the hippocampus in the brain and, as a result, brings about healing for our present and our past. Gratitude causes the release of lots of good hormones and neurotransmitters in our bodies - like dopamine, seratonin, and oxytocin - that have been shown to increase our happiness, resilience and connection with others. Can our relationships benefit from the practice of gratitude? What effect does gratitude have on work teams and leadership? Life Coaching Tips: Gillian suggests building a daily practice of gratitude by stacking it on a habit you already have established. Habit stacking is a great way to ensure that a new habit succeeds. Gillian is going to build her conscious gratitude habit around mealtimes that are already firmly established habits. Merry suggests creating a list of 100 Things you are grateful for! Listener- “what are you grateful for about yourself?” Merry reminds us that even if we don’t “feel” it we can still write it down. This is a way to reframe how we view ourselves and others. “Don’t do it because it feels right - do it because it is right!” Links: Article on gratitude: https://positivepsychology.com/neuroscience-of-gratitude/ Dr. Merry’s book: https://amzn.to/2rCrJyI Dr. Merry’s videos: https://bit.ly/377eFR0 Dr. Merry’s website: https://drmerry.com Dr. Lin & Associates: http://drlinandassociates.com Gillian’s Website: https://gillianmcshane.com