I came across this article today about research suggests being optimistic and having a sense of purpose helps you live longer, made me laugh really for us in holistic medicine and mediums have known this for decades.
THESE ARTICLES BELOW ARE EXCERPTS OF WHAT I'VE WRITTEN PREVIOUSLY
Hopefully these will give you some insight as to why being optimistic and positive about life will benefit your health
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Let's start at the beginning. What is Stress?
a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse
or very demanding circumstances : he's obviously under a lot of stress |
[in combination ] stress-related illnesses.
• something that causes such a state : the stresses and strains of public life. The trouble with stress is that it's not a universal level, everyone has their own threshold i.e. what is stressful to one is positively fine and stimulating to another.
We need stress for without it we'd have no motivation to do anything. Imagine this scenario: you've suddenly acquired a vast amount of money on the lottery, riches beyond your wildest dreams. So what's the first thing you do? likelihood you give up your job, people often find their jobs as stressful. You've got enough money so you don't need to work. That makes you feel less stressed, or so you think. Of course you buy the big house, the cars, the boat, designer wardrobe and you party. You really think you have it made. There comes a point though when you can have anything you want, you don't have to work for it, there's no sense of achievement, no goal in sight. You don't have to cook or clean what do you do all day? eventually you will run out of ideas and you will become bored, you will have no motivation to do or achieve anything. Stress is a catch 22 situation if you have no motivation, you become depressed and bored, the days are long that equals stress. So a certain amount of stress is necessary to motivate us and stimulate us and give us a reason to be here and a sense of accomplishment this can be seen simply as this:
Stress = Motivation > Stimulation > Accomplishment = Satisfaction
• something that causes such a state : the stresses and strains of public life. The trouble with stress is that it's not a universal level, everyone has their own threshold i.e. what is stressful to one is positively fine and stimulating to another.
We need stress for without it we'd have no motivation to do anything. Imagine this scenario: you've suddenly acquired a vast amount of money on the lottery, riches beyond your wildest dreams. So what's the first thing you do? likelihood you give up your job, people often find their jobs as stressful. You've got enough money so you don't need to work. That makes you feel less stressed, or so you think. Of course you buy the big house, the cars, the boat, designer wardrobe and you party. You really think you have it made. There comes a point though when you can have anything you want, you don't have to work for it, there's no sense of achievement, no goal in sight. You don't have to cook or clean what do you do all day? eventually you will run out of ideas and you will become bored, you will have no motivation to do or achieve anything. Stress is a catch 22 situation if you have no motivation, you become depressed and bored, the days are long that equals stress. So a certain amount of stress is necessary to motivate us and stimulate us and give us a reason to be here and a sense of accomplishment this can be seen simply as this:
Stress = Motivation > Stimulation > Accomplishment = Satisfaction
CORTISOL OFTEN KNOWN AS THE 'STRESS HORMONE'
Cortisol is a steroid hormone produced within the adrenal cortex in the
adrenal glands, these are cone shaped organs sitting on top of the
kidneys. It's a very important hormone and responsible for proper
glucose metabolism, helping regulate blood pressure, has a part to play
in insulin and blood sugar levels and is part of the inflammatory
response. It's often known as the stress hormone but as you can see
that's only part of its functions, and this is because it's secreted in
higher levels as part of the 'Fight or Flight response'. When secreted
in short bursts its beneficial to the body as due to it's actions, it
helps mobilise energy reserves, heightens memory and lowers response to
pain. This is how and why it's beneficial in the 'Fight and Flight
response', it acts quickly and helps survival, however today's stresses
are not the same as yesteryear and therein lies the problem.
When there is prolonged secretion of this hormone, when stress is on going, it causes blood sugar imbalances, affects bone density, causing it to decrease and also causes a decrease in muscle tissue. It raises blood pressure affects the body's immune system making us more susceptible to infection and leads to poor healing. It also causes shifts in body fat by increasing more fat around the abdominal areas and leads to higher levels of cholesterol.
When there is prolonged secretion of this hormone, when stress is on going, it causes blood sugar imbalances, affects bone density, causing it to decrease and also causes a decrease in muscle tissue. It raises blood pressure affects the body's immune system making us more susceptible to infection and leads to poor healing. It also causes shifts in body fat by increasing more fat around the abdominal areas and leads to higher levels of cholesterol.
POSITIVE THINKING AND AFFIRMINATIONS
POSITIVE THINKING AND AFFIRMATIONS CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE
The benefit of positive thinking has been proven through much research.
What Affirmations do are to consciously harness the power of positive
thinking and direct it to specific areas of your life that need
attention or where you want to bring about change.
Affirmations work and can really transform your life!
Affirmations and positive thinking are very powerful tools that can bring about healing and change. However negative thoughts are just as powerful and can be very self-destructive. Although we have no control over all what goes on in the world and certain aspects of our lives, we do have control over the way we interpret and how we deal to it.
"The thoughts we think and the words we speak create our experiences"
You experience your interpretation as an internal dialogue. Thoughts, judgements and feelings are ceaselessly swirling through your mind. Thoughts like: I like this; I don't like that; I am afraid of this; I am unsure about him/her. This internal dialogue is not random, it is generated from a deep level by your beliefs and assumptions which have been formed and accumulated from the time you were born. It is worth remembering that a lot of these assumptions and beliefs were formulated as a child and have never been re-examined and therefore may be highly inappropriate to you as an adult or just simply wrong. When someone's interpretation changes, a change subsequently takes place in their reality. Thus we can make big changes in our lives by changing our thinking. We can start simply with positive thinking and Affirmations and then go further with Neuro Linguistic Programming.
The first step is being aware, being aware of how we are thinking, it is then we can change old patterns and mind set.
Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) is therapy which seeks to educate people in self-awareness and effective communication, and to change their patterns of mental and emotional behaviour".
The co-founders, Richard Bandler and linguist John Grinder, believed that NLP would be useful in "finding ways to help people have better, fuller and richer lives".They coined the term "Neuro-Linguistic Programming" to emphasize their belief in a connection between the neurological processes ("neuro"), language ("linguistic") and behavioral patterns that have been learned through experience ("programming") and can be organized to achieve specific goals in life.
It is often noted as a "science of excellence", derived from the study or "modeling" of how successful or outstanding people in different fields obtain their results. Bandler and Grinder claimed that if the effective patterns of behaviour of outstanding therapists (and other exceptional communicators) could be modeled then these patterns could be acquired by others.
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ARTICLE BELOW FROM THE DAILY MAIL
Thumbs up: Why optimism may help you live longer
- Optimistic people less likely to suffer a stroke
In a study of 7,000 people, those with the strongest sense of direction in life were over 70 per cent less likely to suffer a stroke.
The researchers accounted for other aggravating factors such as blood pressure and alcohol use and believe the effect comes through regulating the immune system.
Happy days: Those with a strong sense of purpose in their lives are less likely to suffer a stroke
‘Maintaining a purpose in life not only increases quality of life but may improve physical health and increase longevity,’ says clinical psychologist Eric Kim, who led the study at the University of Michigan.
More than 150,000 people have a stroke each year in the UK.
It has long been thought that pursuing meaningful activity after retirement is important for physical and mental health – which often declines dramatically soon after retirement.
Thumbs up: A positive outlook on life can improve your health
But while past research focused on the detrimental effects of negative psychological traits, such as depression and anxiety, new research is investigating how positive traits, such as optimism, protect against illness.
In the recent study, men and women aged 50 and over were tracked for four to five years and completed psychological tests while researchers recorded strokes.
The results show that the higher someone’s sense of purpose, the lower their risk of a stroke.
Those with the greatest sense of purpose were 73 per cent less likely to suffer a stroke compared to those with the lowest.
Other research has shown that positive mood can lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol, also implicated in stroke.
‘This is significant as we have an ageing population and it helps show what behaviours inoculate people from getting ill,’ says Cary Cooper, professor of health psychology at Lancaster University.
‘Maybe retirement is not good for some.’
