Self-care and gratitude at Thanks giving

Dear MDECOE and greater community,

   This week we celebrate Thanksgiving and a time to be grateful. This is not always easy for many of us given the past 20 months of COVID challenges, anxiety, loss, and grief. Yet the regular practice of gratitude is important and can have many self-care benefits, according to a Psychology Today article by Najma Khorrami, a global and public health professional. Here are three important reasons Khorrami identifies for practicing gratitude:

1. Gratitude promotes self-care via healthier living-Research indicates that gratitude practice promotes exercise, better nutrition, better sleep, and not smoking, among other things.
2. Gratitude promotes self-care via selflessness and humility-Self-care via gratitude holds benefits for social well-being. A regular gratitude practice motivates us to seek kindness and generosity to reward our minds as well as to improve circumstances for others; the latter, improving the lives of others, makes us more selfless and humbler.
3. Gratitude promotes self-care via meaningful connection to others- Loneliness, which is rampant due to COVID, might be tackled via gratitude practices. Feeling socially connected in the time of COVID could go a long way to promoting self-care as well as societal care.

What are some ways you can practice gratitude, according to Khorrami?

·         Use your social media platforms, or alternatively a journal, to list what you are grateful for weekly. Try to keep this up for over six weeks.

·         Say thank you in-person to someone you care about.

·         Say thank you to yourself before you go to bed, recounting three things you appreciate about yourself.

·         If possible, appreciate the love shown to you by others by showing it back.

To find out more go to

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/comfort-gratitude/202010/self-care-and-gratitude-how-they-go-hand-in-hand

For a list of many self-care options, please see our College of Education self-care website for resources for faculty, staff, students, and the community:

 https://www.csun.edu/eisner-education/self-care/articles-information-self-care

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

In gratitude for all that you do,

Shari