Beginning in 2021, September 27th was declared the National Day of Forgiveness.
What are the benefits of forgiving someone?
Johns Hopkins medical researchers report that chronic anger at being wronged puts you into a fight-or-flight mode, which results in numerous changes to your heart rate, blood pressure, and immune response. Those changes increase the risk of depression, heart disease, and diabetes.
The act of forgiving can reverse these negatives by calming the body’s stress response. Through practicing forgiveness, you can reap rewards for your health such as lowering the risk of heart attack, improving cholesterol levels, better sleep, reducing blood pressure, and lessening your experience of anxiety, depression and stress.
-Jerry Strausbaugh, EdD, LPCCS, Executive Director
