9 Positive Thinking Tips: The power of positivity on your health
What is Positive Thinking?
When people hear the term “positive thinking“, most of them automatically think of someone who only can see the good in all the bad stuff that happens in life. That definitely isn't the definition of positive thinking, and it's certainly not realistic. No one will ever only see the world through rose-colored glasses!
Positive thinking isn't the same as trying to gloss over the negative things in life or ignore your problems. Positive thinking IS approaching the challenges life throws at you with a positive attitude. Instead of getting negative and worrying about a challenge, positive thinking will help you approach that problem with the attitude of “how can I make the best of this situation?'
When you find yourself in a situation, your mind tends to “explain” it to you. It gives you the explanation of why something has happened, and the way you explain it indicates whether you are a negative or positive person.
Let's say you've just found yourself stuck at the office on a Saturday, doing extra paperwork:
A negative person will grumble about their boss “having it out for them“, and how they “always get stuck with the bad job“.
A positive person will just get the work done because it's “something that has to be done, and I'm the one doing it”.
As you can see by the example, the positive person doesn't enjoy the job any more, but he does realize that it's not a bad thing. Positive thinking is very realistic, but it still finds a way to make the best of a bad situation.
Benefits of Positive Thinking
There are a surprising number of benefits offered by positive thinking, and you'd be amazed by how positivity can affect your health for the better!
Boost Immunity
Did you know that stress can reduce your body's natural immunity to disease? Positive thinking helps to fight stress, thereby preventing it from messing with your immune system. In fact, positive thinking has actually been found to boost your body's ability to fight off disease.
Improve Heart Health
Your heart is a surprisingly delicate organ considering all the hard work it does, and both stress and anxiety can mess with your heart function. However, positivity can lower your risk of heart disease, including stroke and heart attacks. People who think positively tend to exercise more, eat healthier, and live happier lives!
Fight Stress
As you read above, stress can lead to all kinds of health problems. Not only are there health problems CAUSED by stress, but nearly every disease and disorder on the planet is made worse by anxiety and stress. Positive thinking can help manage stress, thereby preventing a wide range of health problems!
Increase Resilience
Studies have found that positive thinking has helped victims of crises recover more quickly. Thinking positive thoughts helps you to be more resilient, enabling you to bounce back even from serious or traumatic experiences.
Extend Lifespan
A study conducted at the University of London found that seniors who thought positively tend to age healthier. This means that they suffered from fewer physical and emotional health problems as they got older. They even had a longer life expectancy than their negative counterparts!
Tolerate Pain
In one study published in Science Direct, positive thinking was proven to help people tolerate pain. Considering that stress and negativity causes pain sensations to be stronger, it's easy to see how positive thinking can help reduce the pain–but it also helps you to take your mind off the pain, and thus tolerate it better.
Makes You Healthier
In numerous studies published online, researchers have found that people practicing positive thinking tend to be healthier thanks to the fact that they take care of themselves. They do more exercise, eat better, enjoy their hobbies and recreational activities more, are more socially connected, sleep better, and life better lives.
Prevents Hypertension
High blood pressure is one of the many things that can cause heart disorders, the #1 cause of death in the world today. Positive thinking has been proven to lower blood pressure, thereby preventing the risk of hypertension and other heart problems. Anxiety has been directly linked to heart problems, so positivity is the key to a healthy heart!
Other Benefits of Positive Thinking
The benefits listed above are all physical health benefits, but there are many more emotional benefits of thinking positively:
- Deal with problems better. If you have a positive outlook on the problems you face, they'll be easier to manage and overcome.
- Enjoy your life more. After all, if everything in your life can be taken with a grain of positivity, you'll find that life is so much more enjoyable!
- Develop positive habits. Being positive keeps you away from harmful things like smoking, overdrinking, taking drugs, and overeating.
- Boost your self-esteem. Once you get in the habit of thinking positively about external situations, you will soon get in the habit of being positive about yourself.
- Form healthy, positive relationships. Being positive will cause you to look for the good in others, which will help you to form positive, productive relationships with them.
The truth is that positive thinking is one of the best things you can do for not just your physical health, but your emotional health as well!
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