This Thanksgiving season, we would like to express our appreciation for our patients and their families.  Thank you for trusting us with your medical, dental, and mental health care needs.  We are grateful for our staff of dedicated, hardworking, and caring employees.  Thank you for helping serve our patients and community.  We are also thankful for our Board of Directors, a group of dedicated individuals from the community, many of whom are patients of the clinic.  Thank you for volunteering your time and energy to provide us with ongoing guidance and leadership.

Thanksgiving focuses on gratitude.  According to Robert Emmons, a psychology professor at UC Davis, practicing gratitude has the following health benefits:

Physical
• Stronger immune systems
• Less bothered by aches and pains
• Lower blood pressure
• Exercise more and take better care of their health
• Sleep longer and feel more refreshed upon waking

Psychological
• Higher levels of positive emotions
• More alert, alive, and awake
• More joy and pleasure
• More optimism and happiness

Social
• More helpful, generous, and compassionate
• More forgiving
• More outgoing
• Feel less lonely and isolated.

For the full article on the benefits of gratitude, go to dailygood.org

These benefits should make all of us want to have an attitude of gratitude.  We wish you a very happy and healthy Thanksgiving holiday.