{"id":2758,"date":"2024-11-22T12:06:11","date_gmt":"2024-11-22T17:06:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/?p=2758"},"modified":"2024-11-22T12:06:11","modified_gmt":"2024-11-22T17:06:11","slug":"thanksgiving-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/2024\/11\/22\/thanksgiving-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Thanksgiving"},"content":{"rendered":"<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Next Thursday is Thanksgiving, an opportunity to express thanks for all that we have.\u00a0 Often it is easy to do this.\u00a0 At other times, especially if we are dealing with disappointment or hardship, it may be more difficult.\u00a0 Our minds inherently focus more on what is not going well rather than what is, an attribute that is often referred to as negativity bias.\u00a0 This may well be an evolutionary adaptation from our ancestors who needed to be vigilant and anticipate the worst in order to survive.\u00a0 Although most of the time now we are not actually in danger, our minds can hold on to thoughts about negative events as if we are.<\/p>\n<p>In response, we can both acknowledge our circumstances and still choose to focus on something positive, something we are thankful or grateful for instead.\u00a0 \u00a0One way to do this is by practicing brief gratitude meditation.\u00a0 We can start by closing our eyes and bringing attention to the region of the heart, on the center left side of the chest, then breathing in a little deeper and longer than usual, noticing the flow of air into and out of the lungs.\u00a0\u00a0 We can then bring to mind someone or something or some place that we really appreciate or are grateful for, holding this image in the mind while we continue to breath in and out slowly and deeply.\u00a0\u00a0 While doing this, we may notice a sensation of warmth, lightening or opening in the region or the heart, or we may not\u00a0notice any particular sensations.\u00a0 In either case, \u00a0we\u00a0can continue doing this for as long as we like. Even a minute or two can be beneficial. When we\u2019re ready we can then let go of the image, begin to breath normally and open the eyes.<\/p>\n<p>This simple meditation can help us counteract the negativity bias by intentionally shifting our attention to something for which we are grateful or thankful.\u00a0It has been shown to have measurable positive physiologic effects by decreasing the activation of the sympathetic (stress) nervous system and increasing the activation of the parasympathetic (relaxation) nervous system.\u00a0 So not only can it have positive psychological effects, it can also positively affect our physical state.<\/p>\n<p>Thanksgiving can be an ideal time to practice being thankful, expressing gratitude and appreciation using this meditation or however else we may choose to, even if our circumstances are difficult.\u00a0\u00a0 Thanksgiving was established as a national holiday by President Lincoln in 1863, in the middle of the Civil War, as an opportunity to appreciate the blessings of life in the midst of the sufferings of war.\u00a0Although it is not easy, with awareness and intention it\u00a0is still possible to hold such disparate circumstances as both being true.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Next Thursday is Thanksgiving, an opportunity to express thanks for all that we have.\u00a0 Often it is easy to do this.\u00a0 At other times, especially if we are dealing with disappointment or hardship, it may be more difficult.\u00a0 Our minds inherently focus more on what is not going well rather than what is, an attribute that is often referred to as negativity bias.\u00a0 This may well be an evolutionary adaptation from our ancestors who needed to be vigilant and anticipate the worst in order to survive.\u00a0 Although most of the time now we are not actually in danger, our minds can hold on to thoughts about negative events as if we are.<\/p>\n<p>In response, we can both acknowledge our circumstances and still choose to focus on something positive, something we are thankful or grateful for instead.\u00a0 \u00a0One way to do this is by practicing brief gratitude meditation.\u00a0 We can start by closing our eyes and bringing attention to the region of the heart, on the center left side of the chest, then breathing in a little deeper and longer than usual, noticing the flow of air into and out of the lungs.\u00a0\u00a0 We can then bring to mind someone or something or some place that we really appreciate or are grateful for, holding this image in the mind while we continue to breath in and out slowly and deeply.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1202,"featured_media":1997,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-monthly-musings"],"acf":false,"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Thanksgiving - Mindfulness Matters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/2024\/11\/22\/thanksgiving-3\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Thanksgiving - Mindfulness Matters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Next Thursday is Thanksgiving, an opportunity to express thanks for all that we have.\u00a0 Often it is easy to do this.\u00a0 At other times, especially if we are dealing with disappointment or hardship, it may be more difficult.\u00a0 Our minds inherently focus more on what is not going well rather than what is, an attribute that is often referred to as negativity bias.\u00a0 This may well be an evolutionary adaptation from our ancestors who needed to be vigilant and anticipate the worst in order to survive.\u00a0 Although most of the time now we are not actually in danger, our minds can hold on to thoughts about negative events as if we are.  In response, we can both acknowledge our circumstances and still choose to focus on something positive, something we are thankful or grateful for instead.\u00a0 \u00a0One way to do this is by practicing brief gratitude meditation.\u00a0 We can start by closing our eyes and bringing attention to the region of the heart, on the center left side of the chest, then breathing in a little deeper and longer than usual, noticing the flow of air into and out of the lungs.\u00a0\u00a0 We can then bring to mind someone or something or some place that we really appreciate or are grateful for, holding this image in the mind while we continue to breath in and out slowly and deeply.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/2024\/11\/22\/thanksgiving-3\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mindfulness Matters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-11-22T17:06:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/files\/2019\/11\/Mindfulness-Leaf.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"667\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"hw8w@virginia.edu\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"hw8w@virginia.edu\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.med.virginia.edu\\\/mindfulness\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/22\\\/thanksgiving-3\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.med.virginia.edu\\\/mindfulness\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/22\\\/thanksgiving-3\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"hw8w@virginia.edu\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.med.virginia.edu\\\/mindfulness\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a376f8732fb91dd01719c9efb88260ab\"},\"headline\":\"Thanksgiving\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-11-22T17:06:11+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.med.virginia.edu\\\/mindfulness\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/22\\\/thanksgiving-3\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":457,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.med.virginia.edu\\\/mindfulness\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/22\\\/thanksgiving-3\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.med.virginia.edu\\\/mindfulness\\\/files\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/Mindfulness-Leaf.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Monthly Musings\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.med.virginia.edu\\\/mindfulness\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/22\\\/thanksgiving-3\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.med.virginia.edu\\\/mindfulness\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/22\\\/thanksgiving-3\\\/\",\"name\":\"Thanksgiving - Mindfulness Matters\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.med.virginia.edu\\\/mindfulness\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.med.virginia.edu\\\/mindfulness\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/22\\\/thanksgiving-3\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.med.virginia.edu\\\/mindfulness\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/22\\\/thanksgiving-3\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.med.virginia.edu\\\/mindfulness\\\/files\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/Mindfulness-Leaf.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-11-22T17:06:11+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.med.virginia.edu\\\/mindfulness\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a376f8732fb91dd01719c9efb88260ab\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.med.virginia.edu\\\/mindfulness\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/22\\\/thanksgiving-3\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/news.med.virginia.edu\\\/mindfulness\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/22\\\/thanksgiving-3\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.med.virginia.edu\\\/mindfulness\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/22\\\/thanksgiving-3\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.med.virginia.edu\\\/mindfulness\\\/files\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/Mindfulness-Leaf.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.med.virginia.edu\\\/mindfulness\\\/files\\\/2019\\\/11\\\/Mindfulness-Leaf.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":667},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.med.virginia.edu\\\/mindfulness\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/22\\\/thanksgiving-3\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.med.virginia.edu\\\/mindfulness\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Thanksgiving\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.med.virginia.edu\\\/mindfulness\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.med.virginia.edu\\\/mindfulness\\\/\",\"name\":\"Mindfulness Matters\",\"description\":\"A Newsletter from the UVA Mindfulness Center\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.med.virginia.edu\\\/mindfulness\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.med.virginia.edu\\\/mindfulness\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a376f8732fb91dd01719c9efb88260ab\",\"name\":\"hw8w@virginia.edu\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/27ad955d53d071fe36446b05e90425c8a2f1c3286fd44a01b7f266dbd55ba029?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/27ad955d53d071fe36446b05e90425c8a2f1c3286fd44a01b7f266dbd55ba029?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/27ad955d53d071fe36446b05e90425c8a2f1c3286fd44a01b7f266dbd55ba029?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"hw8w@virginia.edu\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.med.virginia.edu\\\/mindfulness\\\/author\\\/hw8wvirginia-edu\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Thanksgiving - Mindfulness Matters","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/2024\/11\/22\/thanksgiving-3\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Thanksgiving - Mindfulness Matters","og_description":"Next Thursday is Thanksgiving, an opportunity to express thanks for all that we have.\u00a0 Often it is easy to do this.\u00a0 At other times, especially if we are dealing with disappointment or hardship, it may be more difficult.\u00a0 Our minds inherently focus more on what is not going well rather than what is, an attribute that is often referred to as negativity bias.\u00a0 This may well be an evolutionary adaptation from our ancestors who needed to be vigilant and anticipate the worst in order to survive.\u00a0 Although most of the time now we are not actually in danger, our minds can hold on to thoughts about negative events as if we are.  In response, we can both acknowledge our circumstances and still choose to focus on something positive, something we are thankful or grateful for instead.\u00a0 \u00a0One way to do this is by practicing brief gratitude meditation.\u00a0 We can start by closing our eyes and bringing attention to the region of the heart, on the center left side of the chest, then breathing in a little deeper and longer than usual, noticing the flow of air into and out of the lungs.\u00a0\u00a0 We can then bring to mind someone or something or some place that we really appreciate or are grateful for, holding this image in the mind while we continue to breath in and out slowly and deeply.","og_url":"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/2024\/11\/22\/thanksgiving-3\/","og_site_name":"Mindfulness Matters","article_published_time":"2024-11-22T17:06:11+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":667,"url":"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/files\/2019\/11\/Mindfulness-Leaf.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"hw8w@virginia.edu","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"hw8w@virginia.edu","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/2024\/11\/22\/thanksgiving-3\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/2024\/11\/22\/thanksgiving-3\/"},"author":{"name":"hw8w@virginia.edu","@id":"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/#\/schema\/person\/a376f8732fb91dd01719c9efb88260ab"},"headline":"Thanksgiving","datePublished":"2024-11-22T17:06:11+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/2024\/11\/22\/thanksgiving-3\/"},"wordCount":457,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/2024\/11\/22\/thanksgiving-3\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/files\/2019\/11\/Mindfulness-Leaf.jpg","articleSection":["Monthly Musings"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/2024\/11\/22\/thanksgiving-3\/","url":"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/2024\/11\/22\/thanksgiving-3\/","name":"Thanksgiving - Mindfulness Matters","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/2024\/11\/22\/thanksgiving-3\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/2024\/11\/22\/thanksgiving-3\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/files\/2019\/11\/Mindfulness-Leaf.jpg","datePublished":"2024-11-22T17:06:11+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/#\/schema\/person\/a376f8732fb91dd01719c9efb88260ab"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/2024\/11\/22\/thanksgiving-3\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/2024\/11\/22\/thanksgiving-3\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/2024\/11\/22\/thanksgiving-3\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/files\/2019\/11\/Mindfulness-Leaf.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/files\/2019\/11\/Mindfulness-Leaf.jpg","width":1000,"height":667},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/2024\/11\/22\/thanksgiving-3\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Thanksgiving"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/#website","url":"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/","name":"Mindfulness Matters","description":"A Newsletter from the UVA Mindfulness Center","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/#\/schema\/person\/a376f8732fb91dd01719c9efb88260ab","name":"hw8w@virginia.edu","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/27ad955d53d071fe36446b05e90425c8a2f1c3286fd44a01b7f266dbd55ba029?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/27ad955d53d071fe36446b05e90425c8a2f1c3286fd44a01b7f266dbd55ba029?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/27ad955d53d071fe36446b05e90425c8a2f1c3286fd44a01b7f266dbd55ba029?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"hw8w@virginia.edu"},"url":"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/author\/hw8wvirginia-edu\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1202"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2758"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2758\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2759,"href":"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2758\/revisions\/2759"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1997"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.med.virginia.edu\/mindfulness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}