Let’s Get Intimate with Gratitude: Give Thanks to These Five Body Parts by Ruth E. Smith PT, CHt

Gratitude is a powerful healing agent. Your grateful mind opens the door and allows your spirit into the room. You choose to feel appreciation, and in turn there is an automatic, inspired shift toward love. That’s why gratitude gets tons of well-deserved, well-valued attention.

With that said, gratitude is often connected to someone or something outside of yourself like family, friends, employment, or nature. That’s all good yet, as a physical therapist, I wholeheartedly suggest that you get even more intimate with gratitude. Feel lots of appreciation for yourself too. More specifically, shift some light and love toward your body.

As an easy start, open your mind and spirit to body parts that are functioning well. Which joints are pain-free? Which muscles are flexible and strong? Which physical activities are you still able to enjoy? Give thanks because your body matters.

Then, steadily acknowledge all the other parts, including painful, discouraging ones. Honor and trust their presence and fortitude. Remember their history and struggle. Give thanks because your body matters.

Finally, identify less-obvious parts of your body that are committed to your work, your fun, and your happiness. Think of the smaller parts and their enormous contributions to your life. Focus and center on parts that receive less media attention, the ones that are only mentioned on your 7th-grade health class exam.

Over the years, I have witnessed many patients who have lost critical function of various body parts. They especially grieve for parts they had not really known before, ones that typically operate outside of their conscious radar. 

So today, let’s appreciate and love inconspicuous parts before the loss, while they are intact and healthy. Following are five parts to begin your gratitude deep-dive. From my clinical experience, these parts drastically influence your physical independence and freedom. Be forewarned, we are getting intimate.

1. Inner Ear: Extend gratitude to your inner ear – specifically your vestibular system – for providing balance as you move about. When these tiny parts falter, you experience spinning, dizziness, and nausea. Many basic activities – like rolling in bed, sitting up from bed, and walking – cause these miserable symptoms.

2. Sensory Receptors: Sensory receptors in your feet are often overlooked until they no longer work. When your feet become numb, you cannot feel the floor or the pebble in your shoe, your feet become heavy blocks of wood. Appropriate footwear is always required to prevent skin blisters, lacerations, and puncture wounds.

3. Neck Joints: Joints in your neck (aka cervical facet joints) absolutely need some appreciation. When these small, synergistic joints begin to stiffen and lock together, your head is unable to turn right or left. Riding your bike and driving your car become unsafe. 

4. Jaw Joints: The only two moveable joints in your face and head (aka temporomandibular joints) call for your grateful attention. Several times each day, they enable you to open your mouth and chew your food. And then there is licking an ice cream cone and passionate kissing! When movement of these joints is limited, nourishment – and enjoyment – are at risk.

5. Sphincters: For sure, the most intimate parts are last on this list, last but certainly not least important. Of the many sphincters inside your body, let’s praise those which are the most socially discriminated, the urethral sphincter and the anal sphincter. Without these sphincters, social outings often become more limited, potentially leading to social isolation and depression. 

Getting intimate with gratitude means getting really real with yourself. It requires much more honest and authentic appreciation than sending a thank-you card or delivering flowers. Becoming more aware and loving toward every part of your body is a spiritually-healing experience. 

Give thanks because your body matters.

As a physical therapist and certified clinical hypnotherapist, Ruth E. Smith offers a bold and intriguing mind-body-spirit approach for physical recovery. Her book, Without Boundaries: Optimizing Physical Recovery with Self-Hypnosis, and other writings connect and align with the powers of the mind: belief, language, mindfulness, and imagination. Her campaign, “Be Aware and Power Up!” enlightens and motivates healthcare consumers about hopeful perspectives and strategies for excellent results. Connect on Facebook and Substack. For more information visit www.ruthesmithauthor.com.