Think fast! Quick ways to improve health, outlook
Stress for Success
September 2, 2008

I’m always looking for interesting ideas to improve my own health and life. Not all work but many do. Here’s a sampling of what I’ve run across recently in my reading. Hopefully, you’ll find something that you can use.

Think faster: To improve your mood has it ever occurred to you as it has to Emily Pronin of Princeton University to speed up your thoughts? From her research she discovered that, "Even if you're having negative thoughts about yourself, you're better off having them fast. People are happier when they race through those thoughts rather than when they think each slowly."

Pronin and psychologist Daniel Wegner of Harvard can't explain why thinking faster is better. "We may be thinking so fast … our thoughts can't wander to dark places," Pronin speculates, and it may also explain our addiction to nicotine, caffeine, and anything that speeds us up.

They recommend trying the following to improve your mood:
Rapidly relate a story to someone
Quickly scan newspaper headlines
Play charades
Do jumping jacks or other faster moving exercises

In 60 seconds:
Come up with your top 10 dream vacations
List the 15 favorite people in your life
Write 20 three-letter words
Say 30 words that begin with "M"

Perform more acts of kindness: in 2005 Stanford University psychologist Sonya Lyubomirsky tested whether there was a connection between acts of kindness and a sense of personal fulfillment. She assigned students to do five weekly "random acts of kindness” of their choice, “anything from buying a Big Mac for a homeless person to helping a younger sibling do school work.” Everyone reported greater happiness, and those who performed all five acts in one day were the happiest. Previous studies have found that altruistic people tend to be happy, but her study was the first to establish that good deeds actually cause an increase in well-being.

Why? It seems it’s because when you do something nice for someone else you feel like what you’re doing is more important. Plus, you’re appreciated by others, and some will reciprocate the kindness back to you.

Keep yawning: When I was in junior and senior high school I yawned dozens of time during virtually every period. I assumed it was because I was so tired, as evidenced by my sleeping through most of my classes. But Evolutionary Psychology reports that the reason we yawn is to cool the brain. The movement of the required facial muscles increases blood flow, which draws heat from the brain. Inhaling through your mouth to yawn brings cooler air into the lungs and lowers the temperature of blood in the brain by convection. Cooling your brain keeps you mentally alert (I wonder why it didn’t work for me.)

Do yoga if you have asthma: It was reported at an American Physiological Society meeting that doing 20 minutes of yoga, three times a week for six weeks improves breathing capacity, which, of course is great for asthmatics.

Jacquelyn Ferguson, M. S., of InterAction Associates, is a trainer and a Stress Coach. E-mail her at www.jackieferguson.com with your questions or for information about her workshops on this and other topics and to invite her to speak to your organization.