HOW CHANGING YOUR SHIRT COULD CHANGE YOUR BRAIN AND YOUR LIFE TOO Ever wondered why you get a stomach ache when you’re nervous, a headache when you’ve been chronically stressed or start to feel depressed when you don’t exercise? Mind-Body links have been known to humans since ancient times and are even commonly embraced by many (doctors) today. With more and more men and women all over the world embracing yoga, meditation and eastern medicine (which more traditionally takes the mind-body-soul connection into account), more of us are beginning to experience the positive effects of this link. Most of us agree that the more we exercise our physical body, the more we keep our brain healthy, alert and happy too. Researchers are now finding that the reverse is also true. Did you know the more we provide certain types of stimuli to our brain, the more we see a positive effect on our body and many other areas of our life? In a study published in the Journal of Research in Personality, 90 undergraduate students were split into two groups. The first group wrote about an intensely positive experience each day for three days while the second wrote about a control topic. Three months later, the students who wrote about positive experiences had better mood levels, fewer visits to the health center and experienced fewer illnesses. Researchers have shown that simply seeing positive words can help us feel better, take more action, make us smarter and even get more done too. In their book, Words Can Change your Brain, for instance, authors tell us that “a single word has the power to influence the expression of genes that affect regular physical and emotional stress” and that “words like peace and love could actually work to strengthen areas in our frontal lobes promoting the brain’s cognitive function and propelling the centers of the brain that trigger motivation into action.” In fact, a large body of proof is beginning to show that positive thinking is not just about being happy or displaying an upbeat attitude. can trigger the positive thoughts we need to actually create real change in our lives too. So what can we do if we really want to change our brain? A Yoga class to get our body moving is just a click to Yelp away 10 Positive words
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