Defy Aging By Holding A Positive Mental Attitude

What’s the most important thing you can do to live a happier and healthier life?  I believe it’s to learn how to develop and maintain a positive mental attitude.

The sooner you do this, the faster you will reap the rewards, and it’s never too late to start.

So now is the perfect time to make the decision to hold a positive mental attitude for the rest of your life – not just for a few weeks along with other new year’s resolutions that are likely to be dropped before the end of January!

If you can learn the art of holding a positive attitude while you are younger, you will be well equipped to deal with life’s adversities throughout the rest of your life. Chances are good that you are going to have plenty of challenges ahead, no matter what your age is right now.

Living a full, rich life should be a goal that you not only strive for, but work persistently toward by doing everything possible to be sure you’re healthy in both body and mind. In doing so, you will appear to the outside world to be many years younger than your age. You will be defying the aging process simply because positive thinking evokes more energy, more initiative and more happiness.

Rapid aging

Research has shown that for most people, ‘retirement’ signals the rapid decline into old age. I’m sure you have seen this happen with older relatives who look forward to retirement so they can pursue lots of activities, but actually squander this precious time and instead become a couch-potato, visibly aging before your eyes on a daily basis. The ‘initiative’ has been lost.

Whereas other people in their sixties and seventies look and act decades younger. Watching them you can tell that they’re not just strolling through life – they’re living it with enthusiasm – and they’re enjoying every second of it. They always have more energy, plus a positive attitude that appears to those around them as happiness. People like this practice the belief that being young is all in the mind. They defy aging.

A key point here is how you perceive life. What you think and believe really does have an impact on your appearance and on how you feel due to the mind-body connection. This means that your thoughts, feelings, beliefs and attitudes can positively, or negatively, affect the body’s biological functions. Put simply, your mind can determine how healthy your body will be and to defy aging it all starts with a positive attitude.

Healthy mind, healthy body

Most ancient healing practices including Ayurvedic and Traditional Chinese Medicine have always taught that the mind and body are connected. Modern science has finally proven this to be true with the development of a new field of study in medicine known as psychoneuroimmunology (PNI). This scary sounding term simply means the study of the interaction between the immune system and the nervous system, and how they communicate with each other by using various chemical messengers.

PNI research has uncovered some fascinating data which lends credibility to the treatments used in aromatherapy. When essential oils are used to normalise an emotional condition this brings about a physiological improvement. Yet more proof (as if it were needed) that the holistic approach to healing is built upon a firm scientific foundation. The old saying; ‘healthy mind, healthy body’ is seen in action here.

When you feel better about yourself – as you will do when adopting a positive outlook – the confidence shows on your face and your whole demeanor radiates health and wellbeing, which manifests as youthfulness rather than aging.

The science bit

Scientists have studied how stress hormones affect the brain and body and they’ve discovered that chronic stress causes depression, memory deficiencies, and contributes to the development of diabetes. And that’s not all.

If stress continues it can inhibit the process of cell reproduction in your body, and when cells stop dividing and growing as they should, the existing cells age rapidly and die. This causes age-related diseases to begin developing in your body.

As you age in biological years, your brain functions slowly begin to deteriorate. A person suffering from chronic stress will find the degeneration moves at a much quicker pace. In addition, the increased levels of the hormone cortisol causes physical aging issues too.

This is because your lean muscle mass and bone density is reduced when cortisol levels are increased, and fat deposits become distorted and take the appearance of those of an older person.

Researchers conducted a study to look at people who lived to be 100 years old to see how they dealt with stress in their daily lives. They discovered that these centenarians who successfully defied aging managed their stress levels actively by using various coping techniques they had developed to help them reduce worry, let go of anger, and focus on the positive things in their lives.

Remember that aromatherapy is one of the most effective treatments to tackle stress, since some essential oils stimulate the release of various neurochemicals and hormones such as serotonin that slow the heart rate, regulate blood pressure, and stimulate the immune system, thereby reversing the effect of stress. Learn how to use essential oils effectively in our article ‘Effective stress management with aromatherapy‘.

Ancient wisdom

I once saw a Kurdish saying that read ‘The root of all health is in the brain. The trunk of it is in emotion. The branches and leaves are the body. The flower of health blooms when all parts work together’. Although it sound simplistic, I believe this to be true. It all begins with the thoughts you hold in your head.

If you continually focus on positive rather than negative thoughts, you will take control of your health and wellbeing in every way imaginable. And as soon as you begin to feel better about yourself, as you will do with a positive attitude, that confidence will show on your face. Have you ever noticed how the effects of a hard and bitter life are often reflected on the faces of some people? That’s what happens when you dwell on the past and hold negative thoughts for many years.

You can defy aging both mentally and physically. Forgive the transgressions that you have suffered in your life, and break the bonds that link you emotionally to those events. Changing how you feel and look at life inwardly can lead to positive changes in your health – and that includes giving you a younger looking appearance.

Copyright © Quinessence Aromatherapy Ltd 2022. Written by Geoff Lyth

Tags: anti-aging, essential oils, mood enhancers, positive attitude