(Radio Iowa) – With Thanksgiving behind us now and a whole month of holiday happenings ahead, Iowans are hearing a lot about the importance of being mindful and practicing gratitude, but what does that really mean? Christie Harris, a wellness education specialist at Gundersen Health, says it may sound like touchy-feely rhetoric, but there’s a lot of science behind trying to have a more optimistic outlook on life. “We’re learning about the role that emotions play, and what we’re finding is that when gratitude is such a powerful emotion, that when we can practice that more, it has a lot of wonderful mental, physical and emotional benefits for us.”

The November election is in the rear view mirror, but there’s still a lot of division, disagreements and bickering, especially on social media. Harris suggests if you make a concerted effort to rise above the arguments, it can have real health benefits. “There’s so many things in life that it’s easy for us to get caught up in the negative things that are happening,” she says, “however, usually even in bad situations, there’s things that we can find some sort of spark or some sort of ray of hope from, and those are the things that we’re grateful for.” That could include being grateful for friends, for having a roof over our heads, or just being alive. Harris suggests taking a simple notebook and creating a gratitude journal to write in before going to sleep. Some of us wake up in the middle of the night and have all sorts of foul thoughts.

“If we can change that around, and we stop and we think about a few things that we’re grateful for, we write them down in our journal,” Harris says. “That’s getting the biochemicals in our bodies to be released. That is going to help us to be able to allow that autonomic nervous system to calm down, and allow us to be able to hopefully get a good night’s sleep.” The journal can also be something to look back on to cheer up when having a bad day. Harris says research is finding that being grateful can boost the immune system, and may increase life expectancy.

Gundersen Health System has clinics in Calmar, Decorah, Fayette, Lansing, Postville and Waukon, and a hospital in West Union.