Feb
Balancing your health and hormones is more achievable than you may think. Balancing your health includes:
• Eating a nutrient-dense diet.
• Incorporating regular movement daily.
• Being an active part of a community with friends and family.
• Making time for play and self-care.
• Having a centering practice such as expressing gratitude.
• A healthy lifestyle will help your hormones become balanced.
When you consider balancing your health and hormones, a centering practice like gratitude is usually not your first thought. However, multiple studies suggest that a heart-centered gratitude practice benefits health and wellness.
Research conducted by the University of Berkeley on the Science of Gratitude suggests that gratitude may be associated with many benefits for individuals, including better physical and psychological health, increased happiness and life satisfaction, more positive mood, better sleep, less fatigue, lower levels of cellular inflammation, and more. Other studies also suggest that expressing gratitude has beneficial effects on your nervous system and the quality of your digestion.
Gratitude has been called “the mother of all virtues,” Some studies also suggest that it may live up to its reputation by encouraging the development of other virtues, such as patience, humility, and wisdom. A study published in Psychological Science found when people focused on being thankful, they were more able to demonstrate patience.
Adding a gratitude practice to your wellness toolbox could yield multiple benefits and improve your overall health and well-being, which in turn also benefits your hormones, leading to better balance.
Here are a few ways to add a heart-centered gratitude practice to your health and wellness toolbox.
• Spend time meditating or praying about what you are grateful for.
• Keep a gratitude journal and write in it daily. A study performed by Emmons & McCullough in 2003 showed that the people who kept a journal exercised more regularly, had fewer physical symptoms, and felt better about their lives as a whole.
• Nurture your relationships and let your friends and family know you love and appreciate them.
• Spend time in nature and observe and appreciate its beauty.
• Live in the present and worry less about the past or future.
• Smile more often and brighten someone’s day.
Deon Hall-Garriques is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Holistic Health Coach from the Institute of Integrated Nutrition and co-author of the best-selling book, “Building Beyond the 9 to 5”. She is the founder & CEO of Deon’s Wellness Wagon, where she coaches and educates women on health and nutrition. She is an expert in women’s health, and creator of the Five-Step Hormone Rebalance Program. Deon has been featured in VoyageLA magazine and has been dubbed the “Healthspirationist” and “Menopause mama” because of her success in helping perimenopausal and menopausal women transition naturally.