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Health benefits of Gratitude in a consumer driven world

Health benefits of Gratitude in a consumer driven world

On this eve of Christmas, I can’t help but get excited about whats to come tomorrow, I really love the time to eat, drink and be merry. Spending time chilling out with the family and those lazy hot days of the holiday period to come.

However our enjoyment of the festivities can be easily overshadowed by the dark side of our consumer driven society. It’s within this context that I want to take a moment in the holiday season to talk about gratitude and the benefits it can have for our mind, body and soul.

One definition of consumerism I like is “The concept that an ever-expanding consumption of goods is advantageous to the economy.”(1)

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not opposed to consumerism, it’s what makes our world go around. As a retail shop owner, I rely on consumerism to drive my business. Buying things, getting what you want, and enjoying the journey of life which is often made better by our purchases is all good. But is that all life is about?

The dark side to consumerism breeds people who walk around like “entitled customers” Consumerism says  “The customer is always right” (which I DO NOT agree with). It’s such a philosophy drilled into us from a young age in the western world that we must have everything perfect, not defective in any way – not broken but “brand new”, untainted, regardless of if the function is intact.

I had my retail shop in a café strip for a number of years and the number one thing that would drive me nuts was the kids of customers who would come in winging at their parents “Muuuum, I want a babychino, you said we were coming out to get a babychino…” and so on. The poor parent just wanted to look around at some clothes for herself when this little kid could only think of their own babychino time. Now that’s forgivable for a kid, but what kind of adult are they going to be? If that was me, as a kid, I would have got a smack bottom for throwing a tantrum and a forced sleep in the afternoon! Thank God for a mum and dad who taught good lessons.

So where does gratitude fit in? Nothing wrong with getting what you want, what you paid for, what your entitled to, but when life is all about me,  or all about consuming and getting, we can miss out on the happiness that comes with the thing we were striving so hard to get in the first place. 

The biggest downsides from consumer culture is:

o   It emphasises happiness from material things

o   It’s about comparisons & envy rather than appreciation.

o   Satisfaction doesn’t necessarily come with purchase!

                                   

The problem with consumer culture is that Satisfaction inevitably  decreases. Then you must acquire more, or better to get the same satisfaction again. Conversely, in a Gratitude culture satisfaction can stay the same or increase regardless of things I acquire or purchases made.

GRATTITUDE

Sometimes we are bombarded by our first world problems that we don’t obtain the happiness that an attitude of gratitude would bring if we could only see the wood for the trees!

Essentially gratitude is about being thankful, appreciative and a bent toward kindness.

Having a culture of gratitude is not something that comes easy for us in our consumer-centric world. We have to work at being thankful.

Tell yourself it’s still ok to strive for better but at the same time, be thankful. I like to think that gratitude culture is a kind of paradox where you are not about to settle for second best, although your still incredibly happy with what you have. It’s all about perspective.

How you look at things, even situations that might be terrible ones, can help cultivate the gratitude that is so good for our mind body and soul.

THERE ARE SOME GREAT HEALTH BENEFITS OF GRATITUDE:

·      Gratitude influences our sleep

·      Research shows people who have a culture of gratitude in their world have a better nights sleep. (2)

Studies have been done using interventions like getting people to write down 3 things that they are grateful for before going to bed. One way to do this might be to create a Thanks or Gratitude Journal. This is where you write down what you are grateful for regularly. It could be one thing every day or 3 things every week. It should be something you work into your routine. Doing it last thing before you head hits the pillow is the best time to maximise the benefits of gratitude for a good nights sleep.

·      Gratitude helps our body function better improves recovery from illness

In a recent study on heart failure patients (2015), researchers reported “ In sum, we report that gratitude and spiritual well-being are related to better mood and sleep, less fatigue, and more self-efficacy, and that gratitude fully or partially mediates the beneficial effects of spiritual wellbeing on these endpoints. Efforts to increase gratitude may be a treatment for improving well-being in HF patients’ lives and be of potential clinical value.” (3) 

·      Gratitude improves self-esteem. 

Even if you already have healthy self esteem, there is nothing wrong with a boost. Generally when you start to compare yourself with others, dwelling on what you think you should have or deserve, what other people in similar positions to you have – self esteem decreases. Studies have shown gratefulness practices increase self esteem as people make less comparisons, and are more able to appreciate others accomplishments.

In fact, self esteem is something that is closely studied in the sports psychology field. It’s well known athletes have a chance of winning or performance is positively correlated with levels of self esteem.  A 2014 study published in the Journal of Applied Sport Psychology found that gratitude increased athlete’s self-esteem (4).

I encourage you to take a moment this holiday season to appreciate what you do have, and how much you have achieved in 2015 rather than just skipping on into the new year without pause.

3 EASY STEPS to cultivate a culture of GRATEFULNESS in your world:

1)  Pause

Make time, Make room, make space – keep a journal, a note app on you phone, make an appointment with yourself. Make time in the car, or late at night or some regular time.

Maybe pause yourself when you complain about the things you think you deserve, and switch those thoughts to gratitude about the things you already have.

2) Think

Find something good to be thankful for RIGHT NOW. TODAY

“I appreciate…”

“(insert name) Thank you for…”

Having something that is greater than us, our world, beyond us lifts our focus from our me, me, me world to something bigger. It might be your faith or spiritual belief that helps you achieve this, but it also is effective to take your thoughts to appreciating others.

Have you ever received a note of appreciation from someone? It might have been something minor you did, but it actualy makes a big difference to them.

As a creator of products I’m constantly putting my art “out there” into the world. Now it essentially doesn’t really bother me if one person says they hate it or another says they love it…this happens all the time and If I listened to the opinions of the masses I wouldn’t put anything out there at all!

A few weeks ago I got an email from a customer who bought one of my products at a retail store, she lived in the country and wanted to purchase them again. She raved on about how she liked the product and at that moment in a day where 99.9% of my emails were stress, bills and jobs to do, that made my day.

It’s not common for people to go out of their way and express gratitude or appreciation, so when you do, you should know it will really make a difference to that person.

3) Action

Thoughts alone are not very productive, you have to take some kind of action to get the full benefit of cultivating a culture of gratitude in your world.

It doesn’t have to be complicated, or longwinded - it might be a thought you take the time and space to meditate on, write down in your Thanks Journal, saying a prayer, saying thanks or appreciation to someone. There is power in verbalising and saying it aloud.

ASK YOURSELF “WHAT CAN I BE GRATEFUL FOR IN MY LIFE RIGHT NOW?”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Marie Hopkinson is a Chinese Medicine Practitioner, Practicing from her clinic in North Perth, WA- METRO HEALTH AND MEDICINE. Marie can be consulted for appointments, while in-person is preferred, Email /phone consultations can be arranged. Marie has been practicing since 2000, completing initial 3-year course in Chinese Medicine at the Perth Academy of Natural Therapies in WA. Marie has been to China for additional training in the Hangzhou Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital (Hangzhou Shi Zhong Yi Yuan) twice as well as completing a Master of International Health at Curtin University in 2006. Marie is passionate about the effective practice and understanding of Chinese Medicine and enjoys the opportunity to educate patients about the benefits of self-help aspects such as diet therapy, as well as teaching Chinese Medicine at the Endeavour College of Natural Health.

For more info about booking an appointment with Marie CLICK HERE.

For more info about conditions treated with Acupuncture, and Chinese Herbal Medicine CLICK HERE. 

REFERENCES:

1.         Dictionary.com. 2015 [cited 2015 12/12/15]. Available from: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/consumerism.

2.         Wood AM, Joseph S, Lloyd J, Atkins S. Original article: Gratitude influences sleep through the mechanism of pre-sleep cognitions. Journal of Psychosomatic Research. 2009;66:43-8.

3.         Mills PJ, Wilson K, Punga MA, Chinh K, Pruitt C, Greenberg B, et al. The Role of Gratitude in Well-being in Asymptomatic Heart Failure Patients. Integrative Medicine: A Clinician's Journal. 2015;14(1):51- 1p.

4.         Chen LH, Wu C-H. Gratitude Enhances Change in Athletes’ Self-Esteem: The Moderating Role of Trust in Coach. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology. 2014;26(3):349-62 14p.

The difference between acupuncture and acupressure for morning sickness symptoms.

Acupressure for nausea is very common. You can buy acupressure based bands in many travel and airport stores for instance which work on treating the pressure point "Neiguan Pc 6". In my clinic as an acupuncturist over the years i've heard many patients say they tried the bands but didn't feel any real effects. When they have had acupuncture for the same condition it had a much more pronounced effect on the same symptoms so why might this happen? Lets take the example of treating morning sickness for example. 

MORNING SICKNESS

Morning sickness can also lead to tiredness, if the symptoms of dry heaving, nausea and vomiting make it hard to hold down or eat food. Tiredness can come from not bieng able to digest enough foods. Acupuncture and acupuressure is a commonly used treatment for morning sickness. Even if acupuressure does not work to releive the symptoms, there is a big difference between the two therapies.

Acupuncture can access the bodies Qi (Energy) in multiple places at once, while acupressure can only access it in one point at a time (as you press each one). While some treatments of self acupressure can be powerful, there can be many reasons why acupressure dosen't work for morining sickness.

1. Incorrect point location. One common reason is the point location is wrong. Neiguan Pc 6 (called Pc 6 becuase it's the sixth point on the pericardium channel), is a common point for nausea. it's used in treating travel sickness and you will often see the bands you can put around your wrist to supposedly stop the nausea. If the band is in the wrong place, or the tightness of the band isn't sufficient to press the acupressure point then no effect will likely take place.

Location of Pc 6 Neiguan is deep between 2 tendons

2. Not enough or correct stimulation of the point. Points are deep in the body not on the skin. Another common reason why acupressure fails some people is that they don't obtain the Qi (Energy) of the acupuncture points by the pressure. An acupressure practitioner (also called a tui na practitioner) is a skilled practitioner of Chinese Medicine (in China it's a 5 year course) and they use around 28 different techniques, all with many hours of repeated, dedicated and specific training to be able to get the Qi (energy) of your body in the acupressure points. Not to say a layperson can't get the Qi, there is just a bit more skill involved than finding a point and pressing on it.

3. Wrong point for the pattern. In Chinese medicine, morning sickness doesn't have a one-size-fit's all diagnosis. When you see an acupuncturist they don't do acupuncture points for morning sickness. they do points for your pattern of disharmony thats causing the morning sickness. Two common patterns are "Liver Energy invading the Stomach" and "Deficiency of energy and blood leading to weakness of the Spleen and Stomach energy"

Essentially with nausea and vomiting, there is a mechanism of action problem with the Stomach Energy. Stomach Qi (Energy) should go down. When Stomach Qi goes up, we call it rebellious Stomach energy. Rebellious Stomach Qi can cause nausea, vomiting, refulx, acidic regurgitation and even epigastric pain. There are other points used for different reasons why the Stomach Qi has become rebellious. Often a combination of points is needed to have a thereaputic effect (as with acupuncture) rather than one point at a time (possible with acupressure).

By the way, the location of Pc 6 Neiguan is 2 cun* above the crease of the wrist, on the inside (medial aspect) of the wrist. *a cun is a measurement used in Chinese medicine, based on your body. 2 cun is is two fingers (of your fingers) spaced slightly apart. (1 Cun is the width of a thumb), so Neiguan, PC 6 is:

The point is that if you've tried acupressure for morning sickness before and it didn't work, it does not mean that acupuncture won't work. Also, that a more targeted or specific approach of acupressure could still be effective. It's worth seeing a professional, qualified practitioner of Chinese Medicine if you are suffering with morning sickness in pregnancy.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Marie Hopkinson is a Chinese Medicine Practitioner, Practicing from her clinic in North Perth, WA- METRO HEALTH AND MEDICINE. Marie can be consulted for appointments, while in-person is preferred, Email /phone consultations can be arranged. Marie has been practicing since 2000, completing initial 3-year course in Chinese Medicine at the Perth Academy of Natural Therapies in WA. Marie has been to China for additional training in the Hangzhou Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital (Hangzhou Shi Zhong Yi Yuan) twice as well as completing a Master of International Health at Curtin University in 2006. Marie is passionate about the effective practice and understanding of Chinese Medicine and enjoys the opportunity to educate patients about the benefits of self-help aspects such as diet therapy, as well as teaching Chinese Medicine at the Endeavour College of Natural Health.

For more info about booking an appointment with Marie CLICK HERE.

For more info about conditions treated with Acupuncture, and Chinese Herbal Medicine CLICK HERE.

How Can Chinese Medicine Help Me Live A Better Life?

Chinese medicine is founded on major prevention and health promoting principals:

• It’s the practitioners job to keep you healthy, rather than just focus on the health problem you have now
• Chinese medicine sees more inter-connections in the body than mainstream medicine (biomedicine or western medicine). A practitioner looks for how
• Chinese medicine follows ancient wisdom from practitioners who are tried, tested and true…there is thousand years old literature which was just as useful back then as it has been in the centuries proceeding. Practitioners today have the benefit of centuries of clinical practice to see time and time again the outworking of acupuncture and herbal medicine formulas.
• Chinese medicine promotes lifestyle and diet changes first, then use treatment (herbs and/or acupuncture)

Famous doctor from the Tang Dynasty, Sun Si Miao said “Dietary therapy should be the first step when one treats a disease. Only when this is unsuccessful should one try medicine”

Diet therapy is actually very easy to apply and it makes a lot of sense when you understand the why behind the what. Chinese medicine is based on observing our body’s interaction with nature and the enviornment we live in, so it is lodgical.

Marie’s practice centers around optimising patients health via diet and lifestyle. Increasing health by optimising your digestion helps you to recover quicker from illness (colds, flus and viruses etc), helps your body to perform at it’s best, promotes good mental health, helps you look better as you grow older and increase your stamina to last longer and be more resillent in stressful times.

As Hippocrates said “let food be thy medicine”

Could you use more Energy?

Energy is a central focus of Chinese Medicine. In the clinic it’s common to hear people say they feel tired, or even just that they could use some more energy. Energy is called Qi (pronounced Chee) in Chinese medicine. Although Qi is more than the ideas that the English word Energy contains. Its a lifeforce, the force which provides movement, flow, and at the same time nourishment to the body.

Qi is more of a Yang quality. There are more than 10 different kinds of Qi in the body – Defensive Qi – or the energy that protects us from getting sick from exposure to external pathogens, is just one example. Food Qi, know as Gu Qi is another.

How do we make Qi? Food and Air are the two main ingredients. We can breathe in Qi. This is why breathing is so important and exercise therapies in Oriental cultures are centered around breathing (Qi Gong, Yoga, Tai Chi etc).

The second way to make Qi is from food. “Gu Qi” literally means “food Qi” – which is the energy our bodies get from nutrients extracted from our diet.

Making energy essentially depends on 2 things:

1) The source – having fresh air and nutrient appropriate food to begin with

2) The machine – Our body is essentially a machine to make energy. The bodies ability to process the air – the techniques we use to breathe, our posture, our habits and the bodies digestion are essential to extracting good Gu Qi from food and fluids. If you tune up your car to make it run better, doesn’t it makes sense to tune up your body from time to time?

Chinese Medicine practitioners are very concerned with your digestion as it’s the essential way for the body to make the energy it needs to heal itself. Even if you’ve come in with a sprained ankle or a headache, good digestion is important to the long term healing of your body.

Practitioners will often ask about bowel movements, appetite and the in’s and out’s of what you eat on a regular basis.

Good digestion means you will recover quicker from injury, react better to stressful and unforeseen events and generally be able to eat a wide variety of foods without too many side effects.

If you experience bloating, gas, diarrhoea or loose stools or constipation (not going every day) on a frequent/normal basis then your body could probably do with a tune up.

When you have acupuncture, there are many ways an acupuncturist can “boost your energy”. One common way is throught strengthening the organs in the processes above – the Spleen and Stomach are central to healthy diegestion. The Lungs are essential to breathing and getting Air Qi into into your body.

THIS ARTICLE IS WRITTEN BY CHINESE MEDICINE PRACTITIONER MARIE HOPKINSON. THERE ARE MORE ARTICLES ON MARIE’S BLOG ABOUT WHAT TO EAT TO OPTIMISE YOUR DIGESTION ACCORDING TO CHINESE MEDICINE.

Healing Vegitarian Paleo Salad

This salad is an unusual mix with a really delicious taste, and only takes 15-20 minutes to prepare.

THIS RECIPE IS VEGETARIAN, PALEO Diet Friendly Options, GLUTEN-FREE, and HEALTHY in a CHINESE MEDICINE sense. IT CAN NOURISH SPLEEN QI, NOURISH YIN and mildly CLEAR HEAT. Combines cooked and raw, eaten Warm.

I created this recipe with a friend who was post-surgery recovery in mind, to aid warding off potential infections. Both Hyssop and Mint have heat clearing functions. Hyssop has historical use dating back to the Bible, where it is often referred to in ceremonial cleaning and cleansing people of infections diseases.

INGREDIENTS:

1 can chick peas

1 purple sweet potato

1 regular sweet potato

~1/4 cup pecan nuts

~1/8 cup pistachio nuts, un-shelled.

4 tomatoes

sprig of fresh hyssop

sprig of fresh mint

Pepper or lemon pepper

METHOD: 

1) Cut up one large sweet potato (or two small sweet potatoes, I like to use half white/purple one and half the regular orange sweet potato), boil in pot on the stove until soft - 10 - 15 minutes.

2) Prepare the salad dressing

• Finely chop one sprig of fresh Hyssop and 1 large sprig of fresh mint.
• Add a generous amount of extra virgin olive oil (about 30-50ml)
• Add a large handful of pecan nuts and 2 teaspoons of un-shelled pistachio nuts
• Grind some pepper or lemon-pepper into the salad dressing mix.

3) Cut up tomatoes, and any additional variation ingredients

4) Combine Tomatoes (and any additions) with 1 can of chick peas (drained) in a large, heat proof bowl.

5) once cooked potatoes are soft (but not mushy) remove from heat, strain water from them set aside in strainer ready to add at the very end.

6) Pour salad dressing mixture over the ingredients, stirring thoroughly,  then add potatoes and stir the mixture around carefully to ensure all combined but potatoes don't go mushy.

VARIATION INGREDIENTS:

1/2 Purple onion - Moves Qi (chee or energy) for Liver Qi Stagnation

PALEO DIET OPTION - Remove Chick Peas and increase cooked Vegitables, adding variety from Purple carrot, carrot or pumpkin. Baby Spinach leaves can be added just before serving.