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A weekly show from the folks at East Lansing Info breaking down all the news and happenings in East Lansing, Michigan.
WDBM East Lansing.
Introducti0n:This is East Lansing Insider brought to you by ELI on Impact eighty nine FM. In this show, we break down all of the news and happenings in the East Lansing community. And now, today's East Lansing Insider.
Dustin DuFort Petty:Hi. This is Dustin Dufort Petty, a reporter with East Lansing Info. This week, Americans celebrate Thanksgiving, a time traditionally marked by gatherings of family and chosen family, overeating, and the occasional tense conversation with the aforementioned family. A common question asked at the dinner table will be, What are you thankful for this year? This week, I spoke with Doctor.
Dustin DuFort Petty:Nicole Percyn Wellington, an educator with Michigan State University Extension. Nicole has researched the effects gratitude can have on one's life and health and its relationship with mindfulness. Nicole, thank you for joining us. Please introduce yourself to the audience.
Nicole Persing Wethington:My name is Doctor. Nicole Persing Wethington, and I'm a health educator with Michigan State University Extension. And I teach a variety of topics, everything from mindfulness to chronic disease to tai chi for arthritis and fall prevention.
Dustin DuFort Petty:How do researchers define gratitude?
Nicole Persing Wethington:So gratitude is really a thankful appreciation for what an individual receives, and it can be something tangible. It can be something intangible. And we think about gratitude as both a feeling and a practice. So it's that emotional response that we get, and we can cultivate that feeling through the practice, things like saying when we're thankful or doing a gratitude journal.
Dustin DuFort Petty:Is there any difference between gratitude and optimism or just positive thinking?
Nicole Persing Wethington:So gratitude is really when we're thankful, we're showing an appreciation. Optimism is when we have that more positive outlook. So gratitude can cultivate optimism, but there are some differences.
Dustin DuFort Petty:What does current research tell us about the psychological benefits of gratitude?
Nicole Persing Wethington:So when we practice gratitude regularly, we have an overall better outlook. We have more positivity. So we're able to see more of the good things in our world, essentially. We're training ourselves to be able to look for the positive pieces, being able to understand some separation and have some more objectivity when we do experience the negatives. So we decrease some depressive symptoms.
Nicole Persing Wethington:We're able to enhance resilience. We're able to increase our patience. We reduce our stress, which helps everything.
Dustin DuFort Petty:Are there any measurable outcomes of gratitude? I've seen brain maps that purported to show gratitude in action. What does that all mean?
Nicole Persing Wethington:So, one of my favorite sayings is what fires together, wires together, and that's from neuropsychologist Donald Hebb. And essentially, we create new pathways in the brain when we learn something, when we do something. And when we do things over and over and over again, those pathways get stronger. So we have changes in our brain depending on what we're doing. When we're practicing grad we're really kind of lighting up the areas of our brain that are associated with emotion regulation, with reward, which helps with motivation.
Nicole Persing Wethington:So researchers have actually found differences, pre and post MRIs, in folks who have done gratitude journaling. And we have more activity in those areas that really help us to regulate our own emotions to be able to to have that positive outlook essentially is what we're we're looking for. So we see the changes in the gray matter, as well as in the activity in these different areas.
Dustin DuFort Petty:What is the relationship between mindfulness and gratitude? How can the act of gratitude lead to an increased sense of mindfulness?
Nicole Persing Wethington:So gratitude really requires mindfulness. So mindfulness is paying attention to the present moment on purpose with a nonjudgmental attitude. And we talk a lot about awareness and attention and mindfulness. If we're not aware, we can't notice the things that we're grateful for. And if we're not paying attention to them, we're not gonna put the label on it.
Nicole Persing Wethington:We're not gonna register that that's a thing that we're thankful for. So really gratitude journaling, gratitude expression, the the mental practices of gratitude, they're all different types of mindfulness. They're a way for us to practice. And mindfulness is always about the way we do things, not the list of the things. So when we're noticing, when we're able to pay attention, when we're able to stay in the moment with those things, that's our mindfulness practice.
Dustin DuFort Petty:For someone who hasn't practiced gratitude, how can they introduce it to their routine?
Nicole Persing Wethington:So I love to have folks just think of one thing that they're thankful for. And when I ask folks to think of something that they're thankful for, very often we get the big things. You know, I'm thankful for my health, my my loved ones. I have a safe home, whatever the big things are. But I also like to encourage folks to think about the teeny tiny things and build on that so we can start to work into, alright, I had the opportunity to think of something I'm thankful for.
Nicole Persing Wethington:Now let's go on to the daily things, all the little pieces that our day is made up of. So my gratitude practice looks a lot like I'm noticing that my coffee is the perfect temperature today. I'm noticing that my, the sun is coming through my window. So we can look for all these teeny tiny opportunities to really build that practice. And the more we pay attention, the more automatic that's gonna become.
Nicole Persing Wethington:So it starts with one piece, just noticing one thing that we can show appreciation for.
Dustin DuFort Petty:Can parents and guardians introduce a gratitude practice or routine into the lives of their children? Could it ever be introduced too early?
Nicole Persing Wethington:I haven't seen any research on it being an age suggestion. Besides, it's just a wonderful thing for for children. So we can introduce gratitude by really modeling that and having them see us be grateful for different things, including them. And then we can also teach them about what gratitude is. And when we see opportunities for them, we can have discussions about that.
Nicole Persing Wethington:And children really learn through experience. We all do. So the more opportunities and the more times we can talk about it and really put that into practice, the more they will have that lifelong.
Dustin DuFort Petty:Can gratitude ever be counterproductive in situations where someone is grieving or experiencing injustice or burnout in those times when it's just really hard to think of something you're grateful for?
Nicole Persing Wethington:That's a great question. So gratitude is not toxic positivity. There are times that are incredibly challenging. We all experience those. And gratitude is not about saying, well, we're just thankful for what we have.
Nicole Persing Wethington:It's about noticing that, alright, the situation is incredibly tough. I can also notice that I have this other thing that's good. I can also notice that maybe there's something that I want to cultivate in my world. We don't always have control, but finding appreciation for the small pieces that are not painful, those small pieces that might even be pleasant, can really help the way we feel about our situations.
Dustin DuFort Petty:You mentioned the difference between gratitude and toxic positivity. Can you speak a little more on that?
Nicole Persing Wethington:So Brene Brown is brilliant. I highly recommend listening to any of her lectures, and she, does a talk about silver lining things and using silver lining really as a verb. So when we experience grief, when we experience something really hard and someone says, well, at least this thing didn't happen, or at least you have this, that's getting into that toxic positivity. We're we're really pushing positivity in that scenario even if it's not beneficial or helpful. So what gratitude does if I'm experiencing maybe grief, maybe I lost a loved one, my gratitude practice is not going to be at least I had that loved one.
Nicole Persing Wethington:My gratitude practice is going to be, I am so thankful that I can carry this piece of them with me. I'm so thankful that I have this picture that makes me smile when I think about this memory. And it may not feel comfortable in the beginning, and it's also okay not to practice gratitude until you're ready. It's a very personal practice, and we want it to feel positive. We want it to feel beneficial.
Nicole Persing Wethington:And for a lot of us that might mean taking some time and then starting really small.
Dustin DuFort Petty:Can couples start a gratitude practice together?
Nicole Persing Wethington:Absolutely. It's beneficial for relationships overall. And if we think about we like to be thanked, we like to be appreciated. And there's a lot of research into communication for couples as well and ratios of positive statements to negative statements. So the more positive statements we get with the appreciation, with with love and gratitude, that's gonna help.
Dustin DuFort Petty:The idea of gratitude in the American holiday of Thanksgiving are inherently connected and have been for several generations. But in recent years, more Americans have become familiar with more accurate accounts of that first Thanksgiving and the relationship between those early Europeans and indigenous Americans. Thanksgiving has been seen by some as a colonize colonizer holiday. I guess what I'm asking for is your personal opinion, but can this act of gratitude and togetherness and food, can it ever be separated from the injustices past and present?
Nicole Persing Wethington:I think this is where we can hold multiple seemingly conflicting ideas at once. There can be some challenges with the holiday in particular, but we can enjoy being able to gather with loved ones if that's part of our tradition. So we can find the pieces that we appreciate, that feel like they're a healthful expression, and we can also acknowledge the parts that are challenging.
Dustin DuFort Petty:How has research changed how you approach gratitude?
Nicole Persing Wethington:It has a lot. I love the neuroscience of gratitude and mindfulness in general. So when I practiced gratitude initially, I followed some of the first recommendations I saw of say three things you're thankful for at night. And then as I got further into the studies and the brain changes and really it's the repetition, it's the intention that you put on it. So my gratitude journal, I have three things in the morning, I have three things at night, but it takes me a solid fifteen minutes to do my gratitude journal because contemplative gratitude is where we're really focusing on it.
Nicole Persing Wethington:We're really thinking about it. We're reflecting on it. And we get more bang for the buck when we do that. So my personal practice looks a lot different now and I feel the differences. So the evidence is there, the research is there, but when we practice it consistently, we can also feel those benefits.
Introducti0n:Yeah.
Dustin DuFort Petty:Nicole, we reached out to some leaders in East Lansing, asking them what they're grateful for. We're gonna have them share it at the end of this podcast. Would you like to tell us what you're grateful for this year?
Nicole Persing Wethington:I'm thankful for my loved ones, of course, my my children and my husband and my mom and my brother and sister-in-law. And I'm also really thankful that snow is coming. I live in Northern Michigan, and I'm thankful for wonderful colleagues who do incredibly meaningful work all year round.
Dustin DuFort Petty:Is there anything else you would like our listeners to know?
Nicole Persing Wethington:So we have a lot of resources for folks who want to get into mindfulness and learn about gratitude. We have a website called Mindfulness for Better Living, and that website is canr.msu.edu/mindfulnessforbetterliving. And we have free classes. We have guided meditations and a lot of options for folks to really take their first step in mindfulness or to even go deeper and learn more.
Dustin DuFort Petty:Thank you for your time today, Nicole. As mentioned, we had some East Lansing folks share what they're grateful for. You might recognize some of them. Let's hear from them.
Chris Martin:This is Chris Martin with the East Lansing Board of Education. One thing that I am thankful for this year are the great teachers and school leaders in our school district, particularly at McDonald Middle School. The single event that caused my family the greatest anxiety this year was our son moving into middle school. He's a sixth grader. And all the middle school things.
Chris Martin:But I'm happy to report that the transition's going very smoothly. He loves school. He's doing very well. But we know that that doesn't happen in a vacuum. We know that it takes the support of great teachers, school leaders, and families in the community that count on our schools and support our schools.
Chris Martin:So that's who we're thankful for, the great school community in East Lansing. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.
Erik Altmann:I'm Eric Altman from the City Council, and I am grateful for my family and for this wonderful community we live in.
Chrissie Evaskis-Garrett:Hi there. I'm Kristianne Evaskas Garrett, and I'm the interim director of the East Lansing Public Library. Thing that I am grateful for is our awesome staff at ELPL and the East Lansing community. Y'all love us. We love you, and we can't wait to see you whenever you come in the doors.
Dustin DuFort Petty:Here's former East Lansing mayor Aaron Stevens.
Aaron Stephens:I'm grateful to all the young people that are continuing the fight in what seems like the worst of times and their teachers and mentors that are guiding them on how to do it.
Dustin DuFort Petty:This is Rebecca Kacen, director of the Women's Center of Greater Lansing and a member of the Human Rights Commission.
Rebecca Kasen:This year has brought so many challenges professionally, personally, and just across the community. But what I'm most thankful for is the community itself. People are showing up for each other through mutual aid, kind words, volunteering, and simple acts of care. This community proves every day that we're stronger together.
Dustin DuFort Petty:Former city mayor and current city council member, Mark Meadows.
Mark Meadows:I'm grateful for the, I guess, continue pretty much continuous support, that the community has provided to me, as a council member over the years. I think it's it's a testament to the fact that I think it's really about doing as much as you can for the people in the community. That's the objective. And I've worked hard at that. And so I'm very, very grateful to the citizens of East Lansing for showing such confidence in me.
Dustin DuFort Petty:Here's new city council member, Chuck Grigsby.
Chuck Grigsby:Hello, Lansing. I am grateful for my family, this community, and the opportunity to serve. The support, the encouragement, and the openness that I've felt from residents inspires me every day to lead with purpose, humility, and hope.
Dustin DuFort Petty:And for those of us here at Eli, we are grateful for you, our listeners, for coming along with us on this new podcast venture, and for our readers who continue to get their news and some entertainment from East Lansing Info. Thank you, and have a good week. This is Dustin Dufourt Petty with East Lansing Info. Goodbye.
Introducti0n:East Lansing Insider is brought to you by ELI on Impact eighty nine FM. We are on the web at eastlancinginfo.news and impact89fm.org. Thanks for listening.