Gratitude

If you read last week you learned that science knows the precise point where positive and negative thoughts originate in the brain and the only way to shut off harmful negative thoughts is by replacing them with healthier positive ones.  Like anything, our way of thinking is a habit and like any habit it can be relearned.  I thought this week would be a good time to share a strategy to begin strengthening your habit of positive thinking that I’ve seen work for many people.

The Christmas Season is a great time to start a gratitude journal.  

You need a notebook kept bedside so each night, right before you go to sleep, you can write 5 things for which you are thankful and grateful in your life.  Really feel this!  This will put your subconscious mind (that runs your body) in a relaxed, positive state and help keep you there while you sleep.  First thing in the morning before you get out of bed, grab the journal and begin reading all that you have written over the previous nights until you “feel” that you are in a true state of gratitude.  This should not just be a list of stuff – it should be a list of everything meaningful in the past, present and even future.  Doing this in the morning will help you start your day in the right state.  This strategy sounds simple, but I’ve seen it be extremely effective.  Even if you believe yourself to be a positive person, commit to doing this for one month and see what changes take place in your life.

The Power of Positive Thinking

Several times, I’ve discussed the importance of lowering stress and monitoring your thoughts to promote health and prevent disease.  I even cited the studies showing negative thinking changed the expression of our DNA (in a bad way).  Massive amounts of medical research have been performed in the last few years looking at this brain-body connection.  The basis of this research is that the brain runs the body and what the brain puts out will be expressed in the body.  This is precisely why many experts are now coming to believe that our thinking may be the most important lifestyle factor even over diet and exercise. 

With the use of functional MRI, they have identified the origin of negative and positive thinking and have discovered that positive thoughts originate in the front of the left side of the brain and negative thoughts originate from the same spot on the right side.  The importance of this discovery is when they had someone think a negative thought and then asked them to stop thinking that, nothing changed on the MRI.  Researchers quickly learned that the only way to turn off the right side of the brain associated with negative thinking is to turn on the left side associated with positive thinking.  This means that feelings of depression, anger, frustration, fear, and regret cannot just be turned off!  They have to be replaced with feelings of joy, peace, love, faith, and gratitude.  My belief is that these thought patterns, positive or negative, are habit forming.  Like anything, we get better at repeating these patterns with practice.  What are you practicing?  Even if you are practicing the negative thoughts that have a devastating effect on your health, you have the choice to change even just a little at a time.  Next week, I will share some tested strategies on how to start making this change.