Sometimes it’s easy to forget that the simplest things can make a big difference, and that not all health comes down to chemicals and hormones. Here at PMS Comfort, we talk a lot about the impact of do-it-yourself natural remedies for PMS and PMDD. Diet, lifestyle, attitude, nutrition, herbal medicine—they can all make a difference. And we realize that many of our readers are weighing decisions about whether to take birth control for PMS or antidepressants for PMDD, so we pay a great deal of attention to drugs for PMDD and PMS, too.
So it was refreshing to read about new research into gratitude power, and how it can help you be healthier. Of course, Oprah has talked about the power of gratitude: there’s even a “Power of Gratitude” page at Oprah.com, and you can buy a Gratitude Power Workbook that says it will help you transform your fear.
Robert Emmons of the University of California at Davis, the author of a book on gratitude power, as well as the foremost researcher in this promising field, recently received a large grant to further study this topic. His research to date includes the remarkable finding that simply writing down five things for which you’re grateful, on a daily basis, can help speed recovery from heart attacks and other diseases.
Given the way PMS, PMDD, depression and other mood conditions can make everything look dark and bleak, this simple exercise seems like a win-win. There’s no downside to taking a couple minutes out of your day to examine what you have to be grateful for: certainly, most of us spend at least that much time every day in our minds, going over things that seem to be working against us.
We think these simple gratitude power exercises are worth a try for anyone, and especially women who are hoping to squeeze more life and living into each month.
