What’s more important: eating healthy foods or thinking healthy thoughts?

For many people, the answer is clear: what you put into your body, of course! That’s the tangible, material stuff – feeding cells, tissues and organs and directly influencing our health.

But you might be surprised to know that thoughts – what you believe, how optimistic you are, your sense of hope and purpose – matter profoundly. In fact, hundreds of scientific papers have been published to prove it.

Today we’re deviating from the chiropractic norm to draw attention to the mind and its powerful role in wellbeing. For anyone experiencing pain, health issues or the challenges of ageing, there’s one thing that you can do right now – without lifting a finger – for greater health and happiness: think positive.

What does thinking positive look like?

Let’s be clear: negative thoughts are normal, and no-one can be happy all the time. Life comes with disappointment, and expressing yourself honestly is an important part of the process.

Yet, positive thinking has a vital role to play in coping with life’s ups and downs. Whatever the hardship, thinking positively can help shift your perspective and illuminate the potential good in the situation – however small.

In this way, people who ‘think positive’ honour what’s hard and what’s human, but are more likely to seek solutions and move forward. After all, they expect good things to happen – and often, expectations reflect reality.

How does positive thinking benefit the body?

Since the 1980s, research on positive thinking and health has taken off. No longer are thoughts seen as fleeting, misty things with little bearing on the body – in fact, there are incredible studies that demonstrate the power of the mind to create physical change. Some even show that exercising – in your imagination – has a measurable impact on fitness. Astounding!

One way that happy, positive feelings make us healthier, is by activating certain parts of the brain, which in turn lower stress hormones and inflammatory markers, while improving your immune response. This makes sense, knowing what we do about the far-reaching health consequences of stress (even though ‘stress’ is perceived, and often starts with a single thought such as – ‘I feel overwhelmed’).

Another way positive thinking supports good health is by inspiring self care. If you feel optimistic and hopeful, it’s far more likely that you’ll eat wholesome feelgood food, exercise regularly, engage in social and creative outlets and not do things like smoke or drink.

So, it doesn’t seem far fetched to link our thoughts with our state of physical health. Here are some proven benefits of a positive state of mind:

✔ Reduced risk of heart disease

✔ Improved immune function

✔ Decreased inflammation

✔ Lowered stress hormones

✔ Greater overall wellbeing

✔ Longevity

Wow! And these are measurable – just have a scout around Google Scholar and you’ll find ample studies.

Now, the immediate question becomes: how can I think more positively? Glad you asked!

Positivity tips and tricks to boost your health

Genes and upbringing influence our individual disposition and outlook on life, but (as you probably know if you’ve sat down with us in practice) we’re on Team Empowerment. We’d rather focus on our human potential and ability to grow, evolve and improve – every one of us – than say ‘it’s set in my genes’ and take a backseat.

So here are a few simple, easy and fun ways of cultivating a positive mindset that, in turn, will help create a healthy body.

Smile

Smiling, even if you don’t feel like it, activates neural messaging and the release of feel-good neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin. This causes a cascade of benefits, like lowered blood pressure, heart rate and even reductions in pain. So the next time you find yourself frowning, try an experiment where you crack a big smile instead.

Hang out with positive people

You know those people who leave you feeling light, energised and uplifted? They’re just the kind of friends you want around – because, as we all know, who you hang out with become profound influences; from body language, to interests, to positive attitude. Keep them on speed dial.

Look on the bright side

There’s always a ‘bright side’ in every situation – even if you have to use a little poetic license to find it. Repurposing negative thoughts into positive can be as simple as asking: how is this experience offering me wisdom, growth or empathy?

Visualise

Studies have shown that just thinking about a stronger, healthier body can produce an effect. How incredible! For example, scientists from Cleveland Clinic showed that people who performed mental ‘abdominal contractions’ (like crunches or sit-ups) – without lifting a finger – increased their actual strength by 35%. Other studies confirm that ‘practicing’ healthy eating in your mind – picturing yourself preparing wholesome meals or choosing fruit over sweets – also has a powerful influence on your habits, and chance of success. This effect is attributed to pathways in the brain that, when strengthened, help the body perform better physically, too. So, start seeing yourself in great shape. Take time to daydream about every single cell working just as it should. See yourself as a beacon of strength and resilience – because your imagination may just become reality.

Practice gratitude + spontaneous acts of kindness

Giving thanks is not only a nice thing to do, it also trains your brain to scan for the good. With an abundance of information and stimulus, our brains have no choice but to filter information in and out – but you can ‘set’ it to pull out the positives.

By writing down or taking the time each day to think about what you’re grateful for, your brain gets the message – they’re focusing on the good stuff! Let’s give ‘em more of that.

The next level is ‘spontaneous acts of kindness’, where you can write notes of appreciation, help a stranger, volunteer your time, or buy someone coffee – simply to perpetuate feelings of goodwill. Nothing inspires positivity than seeing others happy, and being the catalyst is even better.

This ‘diet’ of positive thinking is just as important as any nutritional or exercise plan, and doesn’t require anything you don’t have right now. Tell us, have you felt the benefits of a positive state of mind? How do you cultivate it?

If you’d like even more suggestions for mind/body wellbeing, come in and see us – we take holistic and individual approach to health, and are here to support you all the way.