Denise Parker Coaching & Development

Living Health

Many doctors agree that the mind has a profound effect upon our sense of well-being. Research has shown that optimists have a powerful, positive effect upon their health while many others have experienced thinking themselves ill.

Did you know?

There may be a link between happiness and well being
Andrew Steptoe, the British Heart Foundation Professor of Psychology at University College London, has found that happier people also have greater protection against things like heart disease and stroke. "We know that stress which has bad effects on biology, leads to those bad changes as far as health is concerned," said Mr Steptoe. "What we think is happening is that happiness has the opposite effect and has a protective effect on these same biological pathways".

Research in the United States has suggested a possible link between happiness and long life
A study of nuns in Milwaukee examined the diaries of the sisters of Notre Dame when they joined back in the 1930s and counted the number of times they used positive and negative words. Some were brimming with joyful thoughts. Others were a bit gloomy. Enough for modern-day researchers to divide the intake into "happy nuns" and "not so happy nuns". After joining the order their lives were almost exactly the same - same food, same work, same routine. But not the same life expectancy. Among the less positive nuns, two thirds died before their 85th birthday. Among the happy nuns, 90% were still alive. On average the happiest nuns lived about nine years longer than the least happy nuns.

Your imagination can affect your physical health
Doctors Ikemi and Nakagawa at Yokahoma City University in Japan showed that 84% of subjects could eliminate the standard histamine response to poison ivy. The itching, swelling and blisters disappeared when the subjects under hypnosis simply imagined the poison ivy to be a harmless plant. And, a large number of subjects broke out in blisters when they reversed the experiment and imagined the harmless plant to be poison ivy!

So what if it really is true? What if you can think yourself well? What kind of thoughts are dominating your thinking? Are they helping to make you well or unwell?

	living health

	Living Health Many doctors agree that the mind has a profound effect upon our sense of well-being. Research has shown that optimists have a powerful, positive effect upon their health while many others have experienced thinking themselves ill. Did you know? There may be a link between happiness and well being Andrew Steptoe, the British Heart Foundation Professor of Psychology at University College London, has found that happier people also have greater protection against things like heart disease and stroke. "We know that stress which has bad effects on biology, leads to those bad changes as far as health is concerned," said Mr Steptoe. "What we think is happening is that happiness has the opposite effect and has a protective effect on these same biological pathways". Research in the United States has suggested a possible link between happiness and long life A study of nuns in Milwaukee examined the diaries of the sisters of Notre Dame when they joined back in the 1930s and counted the number of times they used positive and negative words. Some were brimming with joyful thoughts. Others were a bit gloomy. Enough for modern-day researchers to divide the intake into "happy nuns" and "not so happy nuns". After joining the order their lives were almost exactly the same - same food, same work, same routine. But not the same life expectancy. Among the less positive nuns, two thirds died before their 85th birthday. Among the happy nuns, 90% were still alive. On average the happiest nuns lived about nine years longer than the least happy nuns. Your imagination can affect your physical health Doctors Ikemi and Nakagawa at Yokahoma City University in Japan showed that 84% of subjects could eliminate the standard histamine response to poison ivy. The itching, swelling and blisters disappeared when the subjects under hypnosis simply imagined the poison ivy to be a harmless plant. And, a large number of subjects broke out in blisters when they reversed the experiment and imagined the harmless plant to be poison ivy! So what if it really is true? What if you can think yourself well? What kind of thoughts are dominating your thinking? Are they helping to make you well or unwell?		“When the heart is at ease, the body is healthy” Chinese Proverb
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