How you answer this age-old question about the connection between positive thinking and health in life—and how you feel about yourself, whether you’re optimistic or pessimistic, and can even affect your health. In fact, several studies have shown that personality traits such as optimism and pessimism can influence many areas of health and well-being. Positive thinking, which usually accompanies optimism, is an important part of effective stress management. Effective stress management also leads to many health benefits. If you tend to be pessimistic, don’t despair. You can learn positive thinking skills.
What are the connection between positive thinking and health ?
Positive thinking doesn’t mean ignoring life’s less enjoyable situations. Positive thinking means dealing with inconvenience in a more positive and productive way. I think the best will happen, not the worst. Positive thinking often begins with a soliloquy. Self-talk is an endless stream of unspoken thoughts running through your head. These automatic thoughts can be positive or negative. Part of your soliloquy comes from logic and reason. Other soliloquies can result from misunderstandings caused by preconceived information or lack of expectations about what will happen. If negative thoughts cross your mind, your attitude towards life is rather pessimistic. If your thoughts are mostly positive, you are probably an optimist and someone who practices positive thinking.
The benefits of positive thinking on health
Researchers continue to explore the impact of positive thinking on health.
- Increased life expectancy
- Decreased incidence of depression
- Decreased incidence of stress
- Decreased levels of suffering and pain
- Increased resistance to disease
- Improved mental and physical health
- Improved cardiovascular health and Reduced Risk of Vascular Death – Disease and Stroke
- Reduced Risk of Death from Cancer
- Reduced Risk of Death from Respiratory Diseases
- Reduced Risk of Death from Infectious Diseases
- Better Coping Skills During Difficult and Stressful Times
Thinking Forward It’s unclear why people experience these health benefits. One theory is that maintaining a positive attitude can help you cope better with stressful situations and reduce the negative effects stress has on your body. It is possible. It is also believed that positive and optimistic people tend to lead healthier lifestyles. They exercise more, eat healthier foods, and don’t smoke or drink excessively.
Identifying negative thinking
Not sure if your self-talk is positive or negative? Common forms of negative self-talk include:
filtering. Reinforce the negative aspects of the situation and eliminate all positive aspects. For example, you had a great day at work. Completed tasks ahead of schedule and was rewarded for quick and thorough work. That evening, you focus only on your plan to do even more tasks and forget about the compliments you received.
Personalizing. When something bad occurs, you automatically blame yourself. For example, you hear that an evening out with friends is canceled, and you assume that the change in plans is because no one wanted to be around you.
Catastrophizing. Automatically predict the worst without the fact that the worst will happen. I think getting the order wrong at the drive-thru cafe will ruin the rest of his day.
blame. They avoid taking responsibility for their thoughts and feelings by saying that someone else is responsible for what happened to them and not themselves.
Saying you “must” do something. Think of all the things you think you should do and blame yourself for not doing them. Magnification
times. They make big problems out of small problems.
Perfectionism. Maintaining impossible standards and trying to be more perfect leads to failure.
polarized. They only see things as good or bad. No middle ground.
Focusing on positive thinking to improve health
You can learn how to turn negative thoughts into positive thoughts, doing this you can also know the connection between positive thinking on health The process is easy, but it takes time and practice. Ultimately, you can develop new habits. Here are some ways to think and act more positively and optimistically.
Identify the areas that need to be changed. If you want to be more optimistic and think positively, start by identifying areas of your life that you would normally think of negatively, such as your job, your daily commute, life changes, and relationships. You can start by focusing on one area to approach it in a more proactive way. Think positive thoughts that help you manage stress, not negative ones.
Examine Yourself Stop periodically throughout the day to assess what you are thinking. If you find that your thoughts are mostly negative, try to find ways to channel them in a positive direction.
Embrace humor. Smile and laugh, especially during difficult times. Find humor in everyday events. Laughing at life reduces stress.
Follow a healthy lifestyle. Aim for about 30 minutes of exercise most days of the week. You can also break it down into 5- or 10-minute chunks throughout the day. Sport has a positive effect on mood and reduces stress. Eat a healthy diet to keep your mind and body strong. Get enough sleep and learn stress management techniques.
Surround yourself with positive people. Make sure the people in your life are positive, supportive people you can count on for helpful advice and feedback. Negative people can increase your stress levels and make you question your ability to deal with stress in a healthy way.
Practice positive self–talk Start by following a simple rule
Don’t tell yourself what you can’t tell anyone else. Encourage yourself gently. Whenever a negative thought crosses your mind, evaluate it rationally and give back positively for what you’re doing well. Think about what you are grateful for in life.
Here are some examples of negative self-talk and how you can apply a positive thinking twist to them
| Negative self-talk | Positive thinking |
|---|---|
| I’ve never done it before. | It’s an opportunity to learn something new. |
| It’s too complicated. | I’ll tackle it from a different angle. |
| I don’t have the resources. | Necessity is the mother of invention. |
| I’m too lazy to get this done. | I couldn’t fit it into my schedule, but I can re-examine some priorities. |
| There’s no way it will work. | I can try to make it work. |
| It’s too radical a change. | Let’s take a chance. |
| No one bothers to communicate with me. | I’ll see if I can open the channels of communication. |
| I’m not going to get any better at this. | I’ll give it another try. |
Practicing positive thinking every day
If you tend to have a negative outlook, don’t expect to become an optimist overnight. But with practice, eventually your self-talk will contain less self-criticism and more self-acceptance. You may also become less critical of the world around you.
When your state of mind is generally optimistic, you’re better able to handle everyday stress in a more constructive way. That ability may contribute to the widely connection health benefit of positive thinking.
