Negative emotions have harmful effects on our bodies. They manifest as stress, fear, anxiety or even anger – which have been shown scientifically to damage biological systems in the body which equate to ‘wear and tear’ as well as oxidative stress.
The persistence of negative emotions coupled with this can lead to the creation of chronic lifestyle diseases in the body later down the line. That’s why it’s so important to learn to process negative emotions and deal with them in healthier ways.
On the flip side, happiness can make us live longer.
In Okinawa, one of the Blue Zones, where there is one of the highest populations of centenarians on earth (people who live to be over 100!), their long life can be attributed to their lack of stress, and increase of happiness and positivity regarding life (as well as their outstanding physical health well in to their 90s and beyond!)
There was a study done on nuns, who when entering a convent to become a nun, they were asked to describe why they were on this path. Of the nuns who used 1 positive word to describe why they were choosing this path, at age 94, 50% of nuns who 1 positive word were still alive, and 12% who used none.
So you can see here in both these examples how happiness & positivity can literally make us live longer. But I’m not talking about “toxic positivity” here, which is fake and super harmful. Im talking about real resilience and positive effect regarding oneself and ones life.
So much more on this topic to come!
What’s your biggest take home from the post?