"Positive thinking absolutely affects your mental health," says Dr. Chloe Carmichael, who holds a PhD in clinical psychology. "Depression and anxiety have been directly linked to negative thoughts, so it is definitely in your best interests to focus on the bright side." Changing your outlook can eventually revamp your attitude long term.
"The brain tends to repeat familiar things over and over, going over established neuronal pathways. Repeating a mantra, an affirmation, or a choice over and over creates new pathways, which eventually become automatic. The new thoughts will run through your head like the old thoughts did, or like a popular song you've heard repeatedly," says Tina B. Tessina, PhD, psychotherapist and author of "It Ends With You: Grow Up and Out of Dysfunction."
Automatic positive thoughts allow for a mental foundation that puts your mind at ease. This in turn makes you better equipped to make difficult decisions and helps you to stop second-guessing yourself. With clear goals and less-clouded judgment, your motivation and desire to reach such goals will be increased since you will see them as attainable.
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It Strengthens Your Body
At first glance, positive thinking may seem to only directly affect your mental health, but a shift in attitude can be just as beneficial for your physical health. "Positive thinking reduces the effects of stress hormones on the body and allows the body to draw on its innate healing abilities," Damon explains. "Negative thinking, however, activates centers of the brain that cause stress hormones to be released. This hormonal cascade, if not managed properly, can lead to many of the disorders and diseases that commonly afflict people today."
In the long run, regularly harboring positive thoughts can make your body more resilient and help it combat ailments by releasing neurohormones to offset stress hormones. "It's like righting a ship on the water so one can continue smooth sailing," says Damon. "If the negative thoughts prevail, the ship runs the risk of capsizing and the body becomes worn down, exhausted, and the immune system is weakened."
See the glass half full, find the silver lining, look on the bright side...there are endless platitudes and clichés that are so regularly recited, they don't seem to carry much meaning. This seems especially true on the days when metaphorical rain pours down on your metaphorical parade, or when a storm cloud seems to be hovering over your head for days on end. But taking a closer look at optimism reveals these everyday turn of phrases actually have the right idea in mind. When put into routine practice, positive thinking can change your whole life for the better...and in more ways than one.
Now, this may run the risk of sounding pessimistic, but of course, there is a slight catch. Becoming a positive thinker isn't as simple as looking at a colorful "Keep Calm and Carry On" poster more often. "It's easier said than done," says Noelle Damon, a holistic psychotherapist. "It takes practice. Positive thinking is not to be confused with a belief that everything is OK or should be OK. It's about maintaining balance even when it isn't." Now for the good news: Once you equip yourself with the proper tools to transform negative thoughts into positive ones, you'll begin to notice a change, not only in yourself, but in other aspects of your life from relationships to even your physical appearance.
To help you get started on the path toward optimism, we asked professional therapists and psychologists to not only reveal the many benefits of positive thinking, but to offer advice on how to incorporate the practice for long term effects. Click ahead to learn the five ways positive thinking can change your life and how you can start being more positive today.
