Happy Monday! 20200323
We all want a happy life. A cushy job, a perfect family, financial stability, and a great social life! And in this indefinite pursuit of happiness that is mostly like a mirage, how often do we spare a minute to thank what we already have at this very moment?
Gratitude is a powerful human emotion. By conveying and receiving simple ‘thank you’ messages, we can truly derive the pleasure that we seek everywhere else. Gratitude, derived from the Latin word ‘gratia’, means gratefulness or thankfulness.
In its simplest form, gratitude refers to a ‘state of thankfulness’ or a ‘state of being grateful’.
“Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgiving, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.” – Proverb
In positive psychology, gratitude is the human way of acknowledging the good things of life. Psychologists have defined gratitude as a positive emotional response that we perceive on giving or receiving a benefit from someone (Emmons & McCullough, 2004).
A similar explanation was put forth by Emmons and McCullough who said that:
“ Gratitude is associated with a personal benefit that was not intentionally sought after, deserved, or earned but rather because of the good intentions of another person” (Emmons & McCullough, 2003).
Thanking others, thanking ourselves, Mother Nature, or the Almighty – gratitude in any form can enlighten the mind and make us feel happier. It has a healing effect on us. (Russell and Fosha, 2008). The benefits of gratitude are endless, and in this article, let us try to explore what gratitude it, discuss its scientific base, and understand how we can use gratitude to be happier in life.
Gratitude Benefits Neuroscience
The Neuroscience of Gratitude and How It Affects Anxiety & Grief
Warm up
Side Straddle Hops 4-count IC (In Cadence) 50 repititions
Hill Billie’s 4-Count IC 40 reps
Lunges each leg 30 reps
Copperhead Merkin Regular Merkin (Pushup), each rep done in 3 stages, much like the copperhead squat (lowering body slowly on first 3 counts, then lifting up on 4 count). 20 reps
Don Quixote’s Windmills 4-count IC 10 reps
The Thang
Escalator
10 Squats 20 burpees, 30 merkins, 40 squats, 50 lunge-walks.
Deconstructed Burpees
The perfect exercise, broken down into pieces. Squats, then leg thrusts, then Merkins, then leg thrusts, then up. For example, do 10 squats, 10 leg thrusts, 10 Merkins, 10 leg thrusts, then up. Decrease reps by 1 each time until you get to 1 each.
Mary
LBC’s
The “Little Baby Crunch.” Aka a crunch/sit-up. 4-Count IC 30 reps
Freddie Mercuries
Aka the bicycle sit-up. Alternate extending legs and arms in a bicycling motion during the sit-up. 4-Count IC 30 reps
Gas Pumps
Start in the LBC position and straighten your legs to the Dolly position and then back to the LBC position. Sit next to @Mungo in the Lake Murray region when he does these and you’ll know where the name comes from. 4-Count IC 30 reps