Research has now shown that our thoughts significantly impact our health. At a fundamental level our emotions and behaviors impact our physiology. When we feel fear or stress in our body, the release of adrenaline and cortisol hormones happen, and our blood pressure rises. We may have heightened alertness, and our breathing rate usually increases. One response invokes the other. I’m pointing to just one example of what’s called the mind-body connection.

Constant stress negatively impacts our health. It can weaken our immunity, disrupt our sleep, and lead to headaches or digestive issues. It can damage our heart, shape our overall outlook on life, and even lead to depression or anxiety. We find ourselves asking if we’re safe.

But there’s good news! Our brain can adapt and learn. It does so by constantly making new connections, taking information from our environment, our feelings, and our thoughts to formulate a new or different response. The process of creating these new pathways is termed neuroplasticity. We don’t have to remain stuck in a pattern of how things are or have been. We can choose at any time to create new and better pathways for our thoughts, emotions, and physical reactions. 

We’ll explore the hows and whys of neuroplasticity in a moment. First, though, lets consider what happens in the body when we shift away from stress generated by emotions like fear and anxiety and instead focus on the good—on joy. 

When we are in a state of peace, calm, joy, or happiness, our body floods with hormones that are quite different from the ones associated with stress. The hormones that trigger these more positive emotions include serotonin, dopamine, endorphins, and oxytocin. The Mayo Clinic has documented that this set of hormones is associated with:

• Increased life span
• Lower rates of depression
• Reduced levels of distress and pain
• Greater resistance to illnesses
• Better psychological and physical well-being
• Better coping skills during times of hardship and stress
• Better cardiovascular health 
• Reduced risk of death from:
  • Cardiovascular disease
  • Stroke
  • Cancer
  • Respiratory conditions
  • Infections 

I can hear the naysayers now: “Sure, Stephanie, I’ll just positively think myself happy and healthy. Yeah, right!” To which I reply, “Yes, you largely can. What’s more, whether you think you can or think you can’t, it turns out that you’re right, either way.” 

Research provides fascinating insight into this reality. One study out of Johns Hopkins suggests that those who function from a positive mindset are a third less likely to have heart issues than their negative counterparts. Another article, published in the Journal of Consumer Research outlines six distinct studies that together encompass over 1,300 patients. The six studies all indicate that optimistic patients recovered better and faster.

The knowledge that our perspectives and attitudes can influence our hormones and empower our bodies systems and function should really get you excited. I’m not saying that there won’t be bad days or that everything will always be rainbows and butterflies. Such claims would be crazy. However, I am saying that we can impact the effect that situations or emotions have on us when they arise. We can actually train ourselves to react differently and, in turn, create homeostasis rather than chaos in our bodies. When we find ourselves stressed, will we feed into negative emotion or choose to discover the good in the situation? 

When I was given a cancer diagnosis, I could have sunk into a state of depression, viewed it as a death sentence, told myself I should just give up. Would that have done me any good? Or would those thoughts only have generated a hormone chain bound to amplify and accelerate the dis-ease in my body? I chose something different. I looked for the good. I had health freedom. I could make choices in relationship to a range of treatment options that ran the gamut from western to holistic medicine. I could use my cancer journey to help others, including showing my daughter how to choose strength in the face of adversity. 

Let’s look, then, at some helpful strategies for retrain the mind, shift our energies toward the positive, and shed what doesn’t serve us well. We can:

• Use affirming statements by speaking positively to ourselves and others.
• Create valuable space between our emotions and our reactions, by taking a big breath in and letting it out slowly three times before responding.
• Take a walk and get the body moving, since movement alleviates anxiety, reduces stress, and improves mood. 
• Process emotions and experiences by putting a pen to paper through journaling, yielding time to look at and think through any given situation and associated emotions in a safe and positive manor, but also helping to release what does not serve us before we react.
• Give thanks by writing down at least five things we’re grateful for each day.
• Seek supportive relationships and be in community with others. 
• Pray, which simply means talking to God—who hears you.

As we move farther away from our diagnosis and toward the healing process, these strategies will become important pillars to remember and leverage. Additionally, when the topic of reoccurrence comes up, they will help keep our thoughts in check. 

Read more about overcoming your thoughts of reoccurrence here.