Day 1 of NOVA’s Gratitude and Appreciation Week: Me Monday!
Welcome to Day 1 of NOVA’s Spring 2024 Gratitude and Appreciation Week. The theme for today is “Me Monday!”
Gratitude is good medicine. In fact, practicing gratitude can boost our mood, improve sleep, lower blood pressure and even increase immune function. During the latter part of the spring semester, who couldn’t use all these benefits?
Gratitude is more than a buzzword. It’s an evidence-based habit and practice that is proven to benefit overall wellbeing. This week, let’s take small steps to cultivate our gratitude practice. In challenging times, even tiny doses of this powerful force can make a real difference. Today, we’ll focus on the complicated (and too often underappreciated) machine that serves as our home — our body.
On this Me Monday, let’s use a body scan to shift from any habitual judgment and criticism of our body to truly appreciating all that it endures as it carries us through life. Regardless of our past or current relationship with our body, today’s intention is to pay homage to it and to soak in gratitude for this incredible vessel.
The body scan practice entails methodically paying attention to each part of our body, from top to bottom. This type of meditation grounds our physical being in the present moment. The practice can be enriched by expressing gratitude for all that our body allows us to do.
Today, try taking 10 minutes to relax, restore and reflect. Sit quietly with your eyes closed or lowered. Eliminate as many distractions as possible. Intentionally thank your body for all the amazing work it does. Begin to check in, scanning your body and asking yourself, What is happening? What wants my attention right now? What is asking for acceptance? Notice how that part of the body feels. Recall how you have used that part of your body today and feel a sense of gratitude for it. Send your body and mind thanks and appreciation for everything they do for you each day of your life.
For more on body scans and their benefits, visit the following links:
Body Gratitude Scans:
- A 12-Minute Meditation to Rest Your Body in Gratitude
- “Thank You, Body” Gratitude Body Scan | 20-Minute Meditation
- How to Practice Body Gratitude | USU
- Embracing Body Gratitude: A Journey Through Healing Meditation
Benefits of Body Scans:
- Body Scan Meditation: Benefits and How to Do It (verywellmind.com)
- Body Scan Meditation: Benefits and How to Do It (healthline.com)
Body Scan Meditations:
- A 10-Minute Body Scan That You Can Practice (mindful.org)
- A 12-Minute Meditation to Cultivate Embodied Gratitude
- Body Scan Meditations (berkeley.edu)
- How to Do a Body Scan Meditation (clevelandclinic.org)
“Gratitude isn’t just a pleasant feeling — being grateful can also support greater health, happiness and wisdom in ourselves and our communities.” — Mindful.org
Submitted by:
Dahlia Henry-Tett, Chief Wellness Officer (CWO), employeewellbeing@nvcc.edu