It feels good to be happy! Now, who wouldn’t? But did you know that the benefit of being happy is not limited to psychological aspects alone? Happiness also plays a big role in physical health.
Happiness can provide benefits not only to an individual’s mental health but also physical health. If you want some inspiration to get a happier life, take a look at these six ways happiness has been linked to good health.
- Happiness Lowers the Risk of Cardiovascular Disease
A happy life means you are less prone to develop heart disease. Basically, spending some few minutes each day relaxing and enjoying yourself is definitely good for your mental health, which can improve your physical health as well.
- Happiness Strengthens Immune System
There are a lot of people who deal with a wide range of conditions, and many of the observable symptoms as a result of stress and more. Constructive thinking and attitude are able to prompt changes in your body that reinforce your immune system, improve positive emotions, reduce pain and chronic disease, and provide stress relief.
When it comes to the immune system, many people believe that it’s all natural. Whilst that may seem to be true, it’s not 100% exact. What you have to appreciate is that you can actually enhance your immune system through happiness.
- Happiness Fights Stress
A brief exposure to high anxiety levels can harm the brain and obstruct good cognitive functioning. As a part of a brain-healthy way of life, it’s important to manage stress successfully and effectively.
The following may help you combat stress:
•Exercise
•Recreation
•Socialisation (can do this with group classes)
•Self-empowerment
•Getting a good laugh
•Having an optimistic belief
- Happiness Leads to Fewer Aches and Pains
Positive emotions also lessen the feelings of constant pain.
Unhappiness can be literally painful. Aching and negative symptoms like muscle strain, faintness, and indigestion and even arthritis and prolonged pain seem to be less painful when we are happy mainly as we have more of endorphins in our bloodstream effectively acting as the natural painkillers.
- Happiness Combats Disease and Disability
Happiness leads to improvements with long-term conditions as well. In a study of 10,000 Australians in the 2008 American Journal of Health Promotion, those who were happy and fulfilled ‘most of the time’ were 1.5 times less likely to have a long-term health condition.
Another study written in 2008 BMC Cancer showed that females with breast cancer were less happy and positive before their diagnosis as compared to females without breast cancer.
- Happiness Lengthens Life Expectancy
Happiness leads to a long life. In a famous long-term study of Catholic Nuns researched by Deborah Danner et al, the happiest lived 7-10 years longer than the least happy.
Whilst happiness can make you live longer, keep in mind that it can’t perform miracles. It is in a sense that happiness and long life do not extend to people who are ill.
If you have a positive mind, you’ll be happy more often. When you are happy, you’re also doing a favour to your physical health. The genuine foundation of happiness is inner peace.
Source : happyphysio.com