Make Thanksgiving a lifestyle

Yes, it’s true that when you practice random acts of kindness and gratitude on a daily basis you get physiological benefits in the Earth suit:

• Increased immune system
• Improved cognitive performance
• Increased energy
• Lower heart rate
• Balanced cortisol (hydrocortisone) levels, which result in less internal stress
• More likely to live a longer and a more satisfied life
• Laughter and inner joy resulting in decreased stress hormones
• Lower blood pressure and
• Diminished pain

Wow, that’s a lot of benefits! So, how often throughout your day do you practice gratitude and carry out random acts of kindness to those around you, including yourself?

When the cloud of depression appeared in the midst of my chemo treatments, I remember expe­rimenting with different techniques to see which one was the quickest at removing the clouds. Gratitude won me over every time. You cannot be depressed and grateful at the same time. Talk about a destructive cloud in life to remove. Whenever I shifted my focus from the “stressful situation” of the divorce, chemo, radiation and surgery to all that I was grateful for—down to my very heartbeat—the darkness lifted instantly. Try it. The next time you’re feeling down and out, do a random act of kindness to yourself. Start reviewing all that you are grateful for in life. Wake up to all the wondrous ways love will come to you today, perhaps in a smile, an open door, a moment in nature, or a song.

Release Leads to Peace

As you enter another day of life, what if you could release all that blocks you from experiencing love in your life?

Each new day of life offers you the opportunity to begin again, if you choose to embrace this op­portunity. Making the choice for that which leads to peace within your soul always involves the experience of surrender and release.

Below are opportunities for growth that may ultimately lead to a profound sense of inner peace and love.

Explore what speaks to you today:

• Living a surrendered life, releasing your need to understand why.
• Letting go of feeling taken advantage of or used.
• Embrace gratitude as a lifestyle.
• I feel most loved when? (Make a list of all that evokes a sense of love within.)
• I feel most accepted when? (Make a list of all that evokes a sense of acceptance within.)
• Let go of resentment and anger. (Anger is linked to fear, fear that you won’t be safe, capable or able to handle life situations.)
• Let go of your need for certain outcomes in order to feel good.
• Let go of playing the victim in life along with entitlement. Make the choice to use that energy to come up with creative solutions to life situations fueled with thankfulness.

The more I release my need to know… the more I seem to know; and peace comes with it.

As we approach Thanksgiving, consider the invitation to make Thanksgiving a lifestyle, giving thanks for the gift of life and the opportunity to grow in our ability to love and beloved, to be a part of something bigger than ourselves. Thankfulness and appreciation for all of life as well as the daily invitation for learning that come with the earth school experience provide us all with incredible opportunities for growth. Stress is simply the body’s invitation to identify and adjust our choice of perspective, overall attitude and response to the moments that unfold before us.

It is very difficult to be downcast and grateful at the same time.  Look for ways to pull in people around you into your choice to show up with a grateful response to all of life. Even the difficult moments have woven within them the opportunity to grow and learn, release and reflect for a greater good in our life and the lives of those around us.  This year, make Thanksgiving a lifestyle and watch peace and purpose take up residence within your interior world.

Join Lauren Dec. 6, 11 a.m. to noon for Stress Solutions University’s Complimentary Workshop: Topic: Work-Life Balance; Park Meadows Pilates 8600 Park Meadows Dr. #200, Lone Tree CO 80124. RSVP, limited seating: 303-649-2165 or register online

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