Many aspects of life we can not change but surprising effect we can notice on all aspects of life introducing one little trick each day to our routine.
Recently I was asked on a Midlife Conversation event in the EU Commission how we can improve the work environment for women feeling the hard impact of hormonal shifts in perimenopause and menopause. I recommended flexible working hours, possibility to regular home office and practicing gratitude.
An interesting study from 2016 compared the effect of "self-benefiting" to "other-praising" behaviors and found that "other-praising" behavior resulted in perception of responsiveness, and general positive emotions. Only by regularly complementing on someone's efforts, or saying thanks with emphasis on "You".
While self-benefiting behavior could potentially make you feel in power, regardless whether the others find you powerful or not, the support of your colleagues, in all what you do, you will gain by complementing on their activities daily.
See the difference:
This is one way of practicing gratitude, Praising with the "you" emphasis.
Other ways can be:
Create a nightly gratitude ritual — Before falling a sleep think about something good that happened that day. You can expand this habit to the entire family by selecting a gratitud jar, into which the entire family can add notes of gratitude on a daily basis. On family events you can then read them out loud to generate further positive feelings.
Spend money on activities instead of things — According to research published in 2016 (PubMed: 10.1037/emo0000242) spending money on experiences deliveres greater generosity.
Embrace the idea of having “enough” — According to many who have embraced a more minimalist lifestyle, this is the key to happiness.
Many studies are launched in the subject, as far as I know the mechanism is not known yet.
For instance trauma survivors who practiced daily gratitude showed less post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms compared to those who didn't (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2005.01.005.)
How does it work?
We don't know, go ahead and try!
Come to the Stress Releifing Practice session in Auderghem: 12 December form 10:00-11:00.
Or if you feel the impact of perimenopause or neopause, you can greatly benefit from the following Midlife Conversation from 11:30-13:00.
Register or ask you question: contact@endo-gym.com