Brain AND Body Boost: The Mind-Body Connection

So you consider yourself a positive thinker. Way to go!

We recently came across a charismatic article in LifeHacker titled How Positive Thoughts Build Skills, Boost Health and Improve Work. Of course, it helps that we were also Googling about the mind-body health connection. Because we like to take the time for an occasional brain-boost or body-boost, we thought it would be cool to cover both at once. It’s totally doable.

You know that being in a good mood mentally can have an effect on you physically, just like being in a bad state physically can lead to a bad mood. We don’t need scientists to point out that some poor family member may bear the grouchy brunt of your flu. We also don’t need science to tell us it’s not necessarily easy to “snap out of it” either. But scientists gave us a wonderful word: neuroplasticity.

Neuroplasticity? Too many syllables. Let’s look at it this way: neuro, like brain, as in neuro-surgeon and plasticity, like plastic or able-to-be-changed (bent, stretched, etc). Our brains are able to be changed. Positive psychologist Shawn Achor gave an smart and funny TEDtalk that covers a few methods of how to change even! Seriously cool.

We could go on and on (just did) about how interesting this is, but we think you could find it interesting too, so go check out that LifeHacker article, here. Give your brain a boost and see where your body takes you.

Originally published 9/26/13 on mammographykc.com.