The power of positivity: Here’s how positive attitude can transform your health
When asked how they made it to their triple digits, centurions from across the world responded to The Guardian in kind.
Many of the centurions attributed their long life to their positive outlook.
Virginia Ballon, who is 101 and from Lima, Peru, encapsulated the running theme when she said that it was important to “dance a lot, avoid stress and remember that all problems have a solution.”
She was talking about finding happiness in life and keeping a positive attitude.
Studies in recent years have found that having more positive emotions and being able to regulate the bad ones contributes to physical health, wellness and a longer life, but why?
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What are the benefits of positive thinking?
Having a positive outlook, especially during stressful situations, can help reduce the strain stress has on the body, as one study published in the Journal of Education and Health Promotion found.
As the heart rate increases in response to stress, it elevates blood pressure and heart rate which takes a toll on the body, even increasing the risk of hypertension, heart attack and stroke, per the American Psychological Association.
Harvard Medical School said that practicing positive thinking can help build resilience during hard situations, changing the way our brains perceive problems.
How do you develop positive thinking?
Positive psychology is the process of training your brain to focus on strengths, gratitude, awareness, and connections with others and can be the start of a long-term relationship with positive thinking, per Harvard Medical School.
A study, that looked at the implications of a positive outlook on health, taught participants skills focused on positive psychology principles, per The New York Times.
Here are six of those tips to start thinking positively:
Recognize a positive event each day, maybe even start a gratitude journal.
Experience and savor the event, writing it in a journal or telling someone about it.
Report a minor stress and list ways to overcome it.
Look for and act on small acts of kindness each day.
Practice mindfulness or being in the moment, rather than the future or events.
List a personal strength and reflect on how you used it during the day.
How do you stop negative thoughts?
Ron Siegel, assistant professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School, said that “positive psychology is not about denying difficult emotions.”
It’s about opening to what is happening here and now, and cultivating and savoring the good in your life,” he said.
The Cleveland Clinic addresses negative self-talk by giving a few suggestions on breaking the cycle.
Repeat good or neutral statements about yourself or the situation when a negative one comes to mind.
Don’t use negative self-talk as a motivator or a way to humble yourself.
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