holidays Archives - Center for Holistic Medicine

The holiday season always emphasizes being grateful for our family, friends and all of our blessings. Sure, it’s a nice sentiment, but did you know that cultivating an attitude of gratitude can actually improve your health?

It turns out that many scientific studies have shown that people who practice gratitude in their life can reduce pain, reduce stress, improve sleep and more. Here are just a few ways that practicing gratitude can help:

Reduces Pain
According to a 2012 study, people who feel more grateful report feeling healthier and experience fewer aches and pains than other people. And a 2003 paper showed that college students who wrote down their gratitudes for 10 weeks reported fewer physical symptoms (headaches, muscle soreness, shortness of breath, etc.) than those who didn’t write down what they were grateful for.
Improves Heart Health
Another study from the University of California San Diego’s School of Medicine showed that people who were more grateful had better heart health with lower inflammation. In the study, 186 people who had had some previous heart problems were asked to fill out a questionnaire, and those who reported being more grateful also turned out to be healthier. In a follow-up study, 20 patients with heart disease were asked to write down two or things there were grateful for every day for two months, while 20 patients didn’t write anything down. Those who kept the gratitude journals experienced lower levels of inflammation.
Helps You Sleep
Studies have also shown that being grateful can also improve your sleep. It makes sense; when you’re more grateful, you focus on the good happening in your life instead of worrying about the bad, and that means you’re able to fall asleep more quickly. In a study from the University of Manchester, people who were more grateful were able to fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer than others.
Reduces Stress
Focusing on gratitude can be a blessing for your mental health as well. Robert Emmons, a professor of psychology at the University of California Davis and a leading expert in the science of gratitude, has outlined many of the mental health benefits of gratitude in his book, “Gratitude Works!” For example, he says that health care practitioners who kept a gratitude diary for two weeks experienced a 28 percent reduction in stress levels and a 16 percent reduction in depression. And he says gratitude can lower the level of your stress hormones by 23 percent.

How to Practice Gratitude
So how can you cultivate an attitude of gratitude? Here are some easy ways to put it into practice.

Start a gratitude journal – Write down a few things you are grateful every day.
Use the alphabet – Before you go to sleep at night, try going through the alphabet in your head and thinking of things that you are grateful for from A to Z.
Write gratitude letters – Taking the time to thank those in your life is a great way of seeing more of the good in your life. You can either write letters or emails to people who have made a difference to you, or you could visit them in person for an even more meaningful connection.
Reflect on things that went well – Sometimes it can be easy to think that everything in our lives is going wrong. But if you want to get a bigger perspective, write about a time when a negative event turned out to be a positive in the end.
Volunteer – Another surefire way to feel more gratitude for your life is to help those less fortune than you. You can volunteer to work at a homeless shelter, visit the elderly in the hospital, organize a toy drive for underprivileged kids, and more. Even listening to a friend in need can get you out of yourself and brighten your day.

Let us know how you practice an attitude of gratitude in the comments below!

The holidays can be very stressful. Not only are we running around buying presents, making cookies and going to parties, but often the holidays means spending time with family members that we may have difficult relationships with or even dealing with the grief and loss of loved ones who are no longer with us.

All of that emotional stress can take a toll on our bodies – especially our digestive system.

Dr. Richard Bisceglie of the Center for Holistic Medicine says gastrointestinal issues affect 35 to 70 percent of all adults as some point in their lives, with women being more affected than men. And he says three common types of digestive issues – heartburn, stomach pain and diarrhea or constipation — are directly related to stress.

If you’ve been having any of these symptoms lately, here are a few self-care methods that can help you reduce your stress and help you feel better.

Heartburn and Acid Reflux
Do you find that you overindulge at holiday parties, eating or drinking more than you’re used to? If so, that could be related to stress, Bisceglie says, adding that eating or drinking too much can lead to heartburn. “If you eat more or different foods, or increase your use of alcohol or tobacco, you can experience heartburn or acid reflux,” Biscgelie explains. “Stress or exhaustion can also increase the severity of heartburn pain.”

Try Meditation
To avoid over-eating at a holiday party, example, try taking a few minutes to meditate beforehand to calm your nerves. Just sit down in a quiet room and set your timer for 10 minutes. Close your eyes and count your breaths, attempting to empty your mind of all thoughts. If your mind wanders, simply bring your thoughts back to your breath.

You can also try calling a friend and telling them how much you plan to eat before the event, and then calling them back afterwards to let them know how you did.
Stomach Pain or Ulcers
If you’ve ever experienced “butterflies” in your stomach when you’re nervous, you know that your stomach responds to stress. “When you’re stressed, your brain becomes more alert to sensations in your stomach,” Bisceglie says. “Your stomach can react with ‘butterflies’ or even nausea or pain. You may vomit if the stress is severe enough. And, if the stress becomes chronic, you may develop ulcers or severe stomach pain even without ulcers.”

Schedule an Appointment with a Therapist
If you’re stress is due to anxiety about dealing with family members during the holidays, scheduling a time to talk with a therapist one-on-one is a great way of feeling more grounded. And if you are going through a lot of feelings of grief and sadness about a divorce, loss of a loved one, or strained family relationships, a therapist can also help you work through those feelings so you can be more present.
Diarrhea or Constipation
Stress can affect digestion, and what nutrients your intestines absorb. It can also affect how fast food moves through your body, which may cause either diarrhea or constipation.

Learn to Say “No”
Often, stress is caused by taking on too much. What can you say no to this holiday season? Check in with yourself and ask yourself what tasks could you eliminate? If you are you are doing something simply out of obligation, you might consider nixing it altogether and instead focusing on just the tasks that bring you joy. The same goes for social engagements. If certain family engagements stress you out, maybe you can go for a shorter amount of time, or simply take a breather from them this year. Honor your own needs and wants.

If you are suffering from any digestion issues, make an appointment with Dr. Bisceglie today!

Every year, the holidays seem to creep up on us and cause lots of extra stress. Whether we’re trying to juggle extra social engagements, buying and wrapping presents, or getting those holiday cards out in time, it always seems like there’s never enough time to get everything done.

Holiday stress isn’t just annoying – it can also be harmful to your health. Stress can cause us to get less sleep, increase our blood pressure, reduce our immune system and even lead to an increased risk for diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, gastrointestinal problems and more.

That’s why our therapists, Daniel Levi and Carol Gore, encourage their patients to make self-care a priority during the holiday season, and they collaborate with our other practitioners to help you make stress-free living a reality.

So how can you get through the holidays without taking on the added stress?

Here are a few simple tips you can try anytime you start to feel stressed out this holiday season:

Try Some Breathing Techniques

One of the fastest and easiest ways to calm your mind is to practice some simple breathing techniques. One you can try is called the 4-7-8 technique. Start by sitting up straight or lying flat on the floor and putting one hand on your belly and another hand on your chest. Take a slow, deep breath from your belly and inhaling for a count of four. Then hold your breath for count of seven and exhale slowly for a count of eight. Repeat several times until you feel your body completely relax. Another method is to take long, slow breaths through your nose and count to three. As you exhale, relax the muscles in your head, face, shoulders and back. Imagine the tension literally melting off your body.

Meditate for Five Minutes

Like breathing, meditation is free, easy and you can do it anywhere! To get the most benefit, sit up straight with both feet on the floor and your hands resting comfortably in your lap. Set your timer for about five minutes (or longer if you like!) and close your eyes. Don’t try to control your breath. Simply breathe naturally and try to empty your mind of all thoughts. Whenever a thought comes, let it float by and return to focusing on your breath. Even a few minutes of meditation should be enough to make you feel rested and refreshed.

Stretch

When we’re stressed, we often hold that tension in our bodies, so some simple stretching can go a long way to letting go of worry and anxiety. One easy method is to stand against the wall with your feet about hip-width apart. Inhale, pulling your abdominal muscles in and pressing your back against the wall. Then exhale and slowly roll down towards the floor, first with your head, then neck, then shoulders until your hands are touching your feet. Let your head and arms hang for a count of ten and then slowly roll back up. Another easy stretching technique is to clasp your fingers together and raise your arms over your head with your palms facing up. Breathe in and out for five breathes, and then lower your arms and roll your shoulders backwards and forwards a few times. Voila!

Remember To Keep It Simple

It’s easy during the holidays to feel like you have to make everything look like it’s from a Martha Stewart catalogue, but remember, your family and friends will love you even if everything isn’t perfect. Instead of staying up late to make that homemade pie, maybe a store-bought one will be just as good. Don’t have time to giftwrap? Go with a gift bag. Don’t know when you’ll have time to write those holiday cards? Trust us, no one will think less of you if you send them out in January or skip them entirely this year. Here’s the general rule of thumb: If it’s causing you too much stress, find a way to simplify.

Take Time for Self-Care

Usually, when we’re feeling stressed, self-care in the first thing to go from out to-do list. But when we make an effort to take care of ourselves first, we usually find that we have more energy to get everything else done. Taking time to see a therapist as well as making an acupuncture or chiropractic appointment is a great way of relieving the aches and pains that come with added stress, and can make you feel more centered and balanced to be able to deal with everything else on your plate.

Tag: holidays

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