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A Grateful Heart Is a Healthier Heart

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Newswise WASHINGTON - Recognizing and giving thanks for the positive aspects of life can result in improved mental, and ultimately physical, health in patients with asymptomatic heart failure, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.

"We found that more gratitude in these patients was associated with better mood, better sleep, less fatigue and lower levels of inflammatory biomarkers related to cardiac health," said lead author Paul J. Mills, PhD, professor of family medicine and public health at the University of California, San Diego. The study was published in the journal Spirituality in Clinical Practice.

Gratitude is part of a wider outlook on life that involves noticing and appreciating the positive aspects of life. It can be attributed to an external source (e.g., a pet), another person or a non-human (e.g., God). It is also commonly an aspect of spirituality, said Mills. Because previous research has shown that people who considered themselves more spiritual had greater overall well-being, including physical health, Mills and his colleagues examined the role of both spirituality and gratitude on potential health markers in patients.

The study involved 186 men and women who had been diagnosed with asymptomatic (Stage B) heart failure for at least three months. Stage B consists of patients who have developed structural heart disease (e.g., have had a heart attack that damaged the heart) but do not show symptoms of heart failure (e.g., shortness of breath or fatigue). This stage is an important therapeutic window for halting disease progression and improving quality of life since Stage B patients are at high risk of progressing to symptomatic (Stage C) heart failure, where risk of death is five times higher, according to Mills.

Using standard psychological tests, the researchers obtained scores for gratitude and spiritual well-being. They then compared those scores with the patients' scores for depressive symptom severity, sleep quality, fatigue, self-efficacy (belief in one's ability to deal with a situation) and inflammatory markers. They found higher gratitude scores were associated with better mood, higher quality sleep, more self-efficacy and less inflammation. Inflammation can often worsen heart failure.

What surprised the researchers about the findings, though, was that gratitude fully or partially accounted for the beneficial effects of spiritual well-being.

"We found that spiritual well-being was associated with better mood and sleep, but it was the gratitude aspect of spirituality that accounted for those effects, not spirituality per se," said Mills.

To further test their findings, the researchers asked some of the patients to write down three things for which they were thankful most days of the week for eight weeks. Both groups continued to receive regular clinical care during that time.

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A Grateful Heart Is a Healthier Heart

Maris Harmon: My real education a spirituality story

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College education is a mixture of choice, effort, perception and circumstance. Academically speaking, you can only choose from the classes offered: this is our circumstance. We choose our courses, decide the level of time and effort we will invest in class and rate the course based on our subjective perceptions of what education should look like.

A student can choose to pursue paths of knowledge acquisition or skill honing academic excellence or a focus on experience-based learning. But often, for me, the question is, How much will you remember when you leave? Will you remember the historical events you learned, or the social justice concepts you dialogued about? Have you learned to write more effectively, or code with precision? What are you taking away from the classes you attended and sweated over as you panicked before a final presentation that you started only the night before?

Will the academic habit you hang on to the longest be your new coffee addiction?

I wasnt sure what I came to the University for, to be honest. I thought maybe it was to hone my writing skills or to learn about how and why the earth was being destroyed (along with how to prevent destruction). Alongside the liberal arts education came the idea that I was going to college to learn how to learn, to grow as a well-rounded human and to become more eligible for the working world.

I did learn many things here. I took a wide array of classes that helped me understand different ways of looking at the world and understanding humanity. I took classes about writing and the earth. I also took classes that taught me more about gender, health, race, socioeconomic status and Afro-Cuban drumming. They taught me more about being perceptive and critical of the changing world around me.

However, the classes that made my experience here uniquely impactful were the classes that existed off the beaten trail. These classes understood the earth and the human mind as concepts that did not fit into textbooks, but rather as entities that flourished from creative environments of freedom and dialogue. They encouraged self-exploration and deep curiosity.

From these classes, I gained an understanding of a different life perspective one that embraced the earth as a grounding life force. I gained an understanding of meditation and compassion as a type of spirituality. This spirituality deeply resonated with me. Coming into school, I had strong values and convictions, but coming out, I better understand how to nurture this sense of self.

I highly recommend these classes at the University. In Jazz 450 with Martha Travers in School of the Music, Theatre & Dance, students learn mindful meditation, how to connect more deeply with nature and different ways of coping with our daily tedium.

In Psychology of Spirituality with Richard Mann, students become friends as they sit in a circle and learn about the nuances of navigating life as humans.

Environment, Sustainability and Social Change, taught to first-years by James Crowfoot, a professor and dean emeritus in the School of Natural Resources, helps freshmen commune with nature in an incredibly accessible way.

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Maris Harmon: My real education a spirituality story

Gratitude Improves Health Outcomes

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A new psychological study finds that recognizing the positive aspects of life results in improved mental and physical health among patients with asymptomatic heart failure.

We found that more gratitude in these patients was associated with better mood, better sleep, less fatigue, and lower levels of inflammatory biomarkers related to cardiac health, said lead author Paul J. Mills, Ph.D.

In the study, gratitude was defined as part of a wider outlook on life that involves noticing and appreciating the positive aspects of life. This perspective can be attributed to an external source (e.g., a pet), another person or a non-human (e.g., God).

Gratitude is also commonly an aspect of spirituality, said Mills. Although research has shown that people who considered themselves more spiritual have greater overall well-being, including physical health, research combining spirituality and gratitude has not been performed.

In the new study, Mills and his colleagues examined the role of both spirituality and gratitude on potential health markers in patients.

The study has been published in the journal Spirituality in Clinical Practice.

Researcher followed 186 men and women who had been diagnosed with asymptomatic (Stage B) heart failure for at least three months. Stage B consists of patients who have developed structural heart disease (e.g., have had a heart attack that damaged the heart) but do not show symptoms of heart failure (e.g., shortness of breath or fatigue).

This stage is an important therapeutic window for halting disease progression and improving quality of life since Stage B patients are at high risk of progressing to symptomatic (Stage C) heart failure, where risk of death is five times higher, according to Mills.

Using standard psychological tests, the researchers obtained scores for gratitude and spiritual well-being. They then compared those scores with the patients scores for depressive symptom severity, sleep quality, fatigue, self-efficacy (belief in ones ability to deal with a situation), and inflammatory markers.

They found higher gratitude scores were associated with better mood, higher quality sleep, more confidence in self-care, and less inflammation. Discovering the relationship between gratitude and inflammation is especially important as inflammation can often worsen heart failure.

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Gratitude Improves Health Outcomes

Sedona Talk ~ Abundance, Sacred Spirituality & Explicitness 25/3/15 – Video

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Sedona Talk ~ Abundance, Sacred Spirituality Explicitness 25/3/15
We drive around and then stop to chat about Abundance, Sacred Spirituality Explicitness For a Mindful Awareness Coaching session with me http://silenttruth.co.uk/?page_id=679 For Life...

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Meditation Music – Music for Meditation ,Relaxation,Spirituality – Video

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Meditation Music - Music for Meditation ,Relaxation,Spirituality
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Meditation Music - Music for Meditation ,Relaxation,Spirituality - Video

Feel stressed? Seek money? Personal growth, spirituality, alchemy, therapy, life coaching – Video

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Feel stressed? Seek money? Personal growth, spirituality, alchemy, therapy, life coaching
A New Career! Train to be an Altherapist Go beyond LMFT, MA in counseling, or psychology. http://GetPaidToBe.com Or hire an Altherapist via that link.

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Feel stressed? Seek money? Personal growth, spirituality, alchemy, therapy, life coaching - Video

Women's Health and Wellness Expo offers plenty to inspire

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By Eliza WinklerMarch 12, 2015, 12:04 p.m.

YOGA, spirituality, cosmetics, health, strength and herbalists were just some of the things on offer at the Women's Health and Wellness Expo on Thursday.

Catherine Vlachos representing her business Intimacy Divine at the Shellharbour Women's Health and Wellness Expo. Picture: GEORGIA MATTS

The Shellharbour Women's Health and Wellness Expo. Picture: GEORGIA MATTS

Clare Bowley with her stall at the Shellharbour Women's Health and Wellness Expo. Picture: GEORGIA MATTS

Catherine Vlachos representing her business Intimacy Divine at the Shellharbour Women's Health and Wellness Expo. Picture: GEORGIA MATTS

The Shellharbour Women's Health and Wellness Expo. Picture: GEORGIA MATTS

Rebecca Stuttard and Kem Agdiran at the Shellharbour Women's Health and Wellness Expo. Picture: GEORGIA MATTS

Shellharbour City Council's Sharon Greathead and Emily Kadwell at the Shellharbour Women's Health and Wellness Expo. Picture: GEORGIA MATTS

The Shellharbour Women's Health and Wellness Expo.

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Women's Health and Wellness Expo offers plenty to inspire

Faith aids healing process, Duke doctor says

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DURHAM, N.C. -

For more than half his life, Larry Hester has been blind.

"It was a rather devastating blow at the age of 33," Hester said of learning he had retinitis pigmentosa. "From that point forward, I resolved that it was not going to be what I don't have, but what I do have. And what I do have is a very strong faith in God."

But with the help of doctors at Duke University Medical Center, Hester partially regained his eyesight in October 2014 with the help of a bionic implant that helps him once again "feel more visually connected," explained Dr. Paul Hahn, an assistant professor of ophthalmology.

The procedure involved implanting a sensor in his retina that communicates wirelessly with a pair a glasses that pick up images with a small camera. When the glasses send the images back to the implant, it stimulates Hester's retina, which transmits information to his brain so that he can perceive patterns of light.

"The surgery was about four hours long and there was a microchip planted in my left eye, along with a ring with electronics on it," Hester explained of the procedure on Sept. 10, 2014. "Oct. 1 was when they actually turned on the device, and that's a pretty special time."

His full vision hasn't been restored, but he can make out the silhouette of most things.

Looking at WNCN's Eileen Park, Hester said, "I've zeroed in and I've scanned -- I see your facial, I know where your face is. I can reach out and touch, and I've never been able to do that before."

Before the implant, Hester said he could "see no light at all."

Hester believes it was the skill of the surgeon and the developers of his bionic eye that gave him new sight. But he credits his faith in God and his Christian beliefs just as much for what he calls "nothing short of a miracle."

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Faith aids healing process, Duke doctor says

Dab Bar, Marijuana Tree-Houses, Freedom & Spirituality, Tommy Chong (part 2) Jack Herer / HashbarTV – Video

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Dab Bar, Marijuana Tree-Houses, Freedom Spirituality, Tommy Chong (part 2) Jack Herer / HashbarTV
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Dab Bar, Marijuana Tree-Houses, Freedom & Spirituality, Tommy Chong (part 2) Jack Herer / HashbarTV - Video


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