November is National Gratitude Month, which might make this a great time for you and your senior to experiment with a gratitude journal. According to Greater Good Magazine, gratitude can improve immune responses, help with mood regulation, and can help people to feel more outgoing. These and more benefits can have a huge impact on your senior’s life.
Look at All the Different Ways She Can Journal
There are a ton of different methods your senior can use for keeping a gratitude journal. She can use a blank journal that has a pretty cover and write out long paragraphs or she can just keep a running list. If she likes using digital tools, she might use a notes app in a tablet or smartphone and get just as much from keeping a gratitude journal. There are also online versions that might be appealing to her. She may want to experiment quite a bit to find the right fit for her.
Help Her Make it a Habit
The biggest benefits with a gratitude journal come from regularly expressing that gratitude. Making this a regular part of her routine helps her to make it a habit. One way that you can both benefit is to set aside time together. You don’t have to share with each other what makes it onto your gratitude lists, but it can be a great way to quietly enjoy time with each other. Talk to your senior about when it feels right to her to write in her gratitude journal. It might be something she likes to do last thing before bed every night or it might be something she likes to do earlier in the day.
Gratitude Journals Can Be Incredibly Simple
Some people have elaborate gratitude journals where they list out what they’re grateful for and then write a few paragraphs about what inspires that feeling. Other people choose to keep a list of one or two words. How many things your senior lists per day is also totally up to her. She might list one thing each day or hold herself to a more disciplined list of a specific number each day. Some of the things that she might be grateful for could include that she has help from home care providers when you’re away or that her health is improving. There are only the rules that your senior decides to place on the activity.
Gratitude journals are a fantastic way to share things that you love with your senior and vice versa.
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