How positive thoughts can help you live longer

December 28, 2022

Introduction

A positive outlook on life can pave the way to a longer, healthier life. It's not just about having positive thoughts; it's also about refraining from negative ones. In fact, research shows that people who have positive beliefs about aging live longer and have better health outcomes than those who don't. Here are 11 ways that positive thinking can help you live longer:

A research professor at Yale School of Public Health lists 11 ways that positive thinking can help you live longer.

The idea that positive thinking can help you live longer is not new. In fact, a research professor at Yale School of Public Health lists 11 ways that positive thinking can help you live longer. The first way is by helping heart patients recover faster from surgery—in one study, those who were optimistic had more energy and less pain than their counterparts. Another benefit? It can also help people maintain physical activity levels as they get older.

Positive thoughts can help heart patients recover faster from surgery.

In fact, a study published in the Journal of Health Psychology found that positive thoughts can help heart patients recover faster from surgery. The researchers asked a group of people who had undergone open-heart surgery to write down their thoughts prior to the procedure (the control group) and again after it was completed (the experimental group). During the time between when they wrote down their initial thoughts and when they wrote down their second set of notes, all participants listened to an audio file that consisted of meditative music and calming words about self-acceptance.

The control group who did not do anything besides wait for surgery showed no change in their attitude over time—but those who had listened to this audio recording were much more likely than other participants both before and after surgery to report feeling appreciated by others in their lives or themselves as being capable at tasks. This led them in turn toward having more positive emotions like joy or gratitude, which made them feel better overall than those who weren't given these soothing affirmations during recovery time. While this study doesn't prove causation (it could be possible that there was some type of selection bias), it does provide compelling evidence that thinking positively can help you recover faster from stressful events such as surgeries or accidents!

People who think positively about aging are more likely to live longer than those who don't.

People who think positively about aging are more likely to live longer than those who don't. Studies show that positive thoughts about aging are associated with a lower risk of death for older adults, better brain function in later life, and lower blood pressure.

In one study, researchers found that people with positive attitudes toward their own aging had significantly fewer hospitalizations and better health outcomes than those with negative ones. Another study found that older adults who hold a "positive outlook" on the future tend to be healthier overall—and have a 15% lower risk of death compared to their peers who were less optimistic about the future. This finding held true even after controlling for other factors like income level or education level—meaning it's not just because wealthier people tend to live longer anyway!

There's some evidence that a positive outlook on aging is associated with better immunity to colds and flu.

In one study, researchers found that people who thought about getting older in a positive way had lower levels of stress-related hormones such as cortisol, which helps the body respond to stress. This means they have higher immune systems than those who think negatively about aging. Another study showed that simply thinking optimistically can help your body fight off germs more effectively by increasing white blood cell activity—which is exactly what happens when we get sick!

Positive thinking doesn't just help you stay healthy; it also makes you more likely to get proactive about taking care of yourself and practicing preventative measures like washing your hands frequently or getting flu shots every year (or even every six months).

Feeling positive about aging helps people maintain their physical activity levels as they get older.

The benefits of regular physical activity are well-documented. But if you think about it, being physically active is a challenge for many older people. How can they make time to go to the gym when family members need care? Or maybe they just don’t enjoy exercising at all.

A positive attitude toward aging can help people maintain their physical activity levels as they get older. It’s been found that positive views of aging are associated with higher levels of physical activity in older adults and people who have trouble getting moving may be more likely to remain inactive if they don't see themselves as capable or worthy of exercising.

Positive feelings about your body (also known as body image) also seem important for staying physically active across the lifespan—and especially so among older adults who feel good about themselves and their appearance tend to be more engaged in exercise than those without positive views toward their bodies."

Positive views of aging are associated with lower blood pressure and a lower risk of dementia.

Positive views of aging are associated with lower blood pressure, a lower risk of dementia and better health behaviors.

How can you change your outlook? Here are some strategies:

Reflect on how you feel about yourself as you age. When it comes to self-perception, it’s important to consider both the positive and negative aspects of yourself that might have changed over time. By acknowledging these changes—and accepting them as part of life—you can begin thinking more positively about aging.
Be open to learning new things about yourself along the way. One way to do this is by meeting people who are older than you or doing activities that typically attract older individuals (e.g., joining a book club). Doing so will help reduce social isolation and build positive relationships with others who also have similar interests or goals in life which may ultimately lead them toward feeling better about themselves during later years too!

Optimism and emotional vitality tend to go hand in hand, and both have been found to be associated with longevity.

The researchers looked at data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a national survey of Americans over age 50 that has been conducted since 1992. The survey includes participants’ responses to questions about their emotional vitality, optimism, self-esteem, and other measures of psychological health. Based on these surveys, the researchers were able to compare people who were regularly experiencing positive emotions with those who were not. They determined that people in the latter group had a 16% greater mortality risk than those in the former group—a link they say is “similar in magnitude to smoking up to 15 cigarettes per day."

The authors believe their findings are important because they show that having optimistic thoughts can make us healthier. They write: "We find evidence that how often an individual experiences positive emotions is associated with longevity; this association is robust across gender, race/ethnicity groups (African Americans vs Whites) and income levels."

Higher levels of gratitude are also linked with better health outcomes.

Gratitude can also be an effective way to manage stress and improve your health. When you're feeling thankful, you tend to feel less stressed and more in control of your life. This is because gratitude helps with self-regulation: it makes us more mindful and aware of what we have, which helps us avoid negative emotions like anger or frustration.

When people are grateful for the good things going on in their lives, they're able to take better care of themselves physically and mentally because they're focused on positive events rather than negative ones. Being grateful can help you sleep better at night (even if you think gratitude only applies during the day), as well as boost your immune system so that it fights off illnesses more effectively. It's even been shown that having higher levels of gratitude is linked with longer life expectancy!

Thinking positively about getting old also has been shown to improve mobility, reduce stress, and even improve brain function in older age.

An important component of emotional health is the ability to regulate your emotions—to recognize when you're feeling happy or sad, angry or bored, etc., and then activate the appropriate emotional response. This process can be difficult for those who are depressed, who may have trouble identifying their feelings at all. In addition to this difficulty with self-awareness comes a tendency toward negative thinking: A person with depression might think of themselves as unattractive and unlikable, instead of understanding that these are just thoughts that don't match reality (in fact they're quite attractive!).

A recent study by researchers at Northwestern University found that positive thinking about aging was associated with better memory and executive function (the ability to plan ahead) in middle-aged adults over 50 years old.

A healthy outlook on life can pave the way to a longer, healthier life!

Positive thinking is a habit, and it’s one that can be developed. The first step in learning to think positively is to identify what you have to work with—the good things in life (and there are many!).

Once you’ve identified these things, start thanking yourself for them. This will help reinforce the habit of acknowledging positive aspects of your life daily.

Finally, take steps toward making small changes in your life that will help cultivate a more positive outlook on the future: change where you eat lunch; get more exercise; take up meditation or yoga; say “thank you” more often than not—whatever works best for YOU!

Conclusion

So, what are you waiting for? Start thinking positively, and enjoy a longer life!

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