It is a well accepted fact that our physical health impacts our emotional health—we feel happier as a result of exercise and research shows that physical activity is one of the keys in treating depression. It goes beyond exercise though—research shows that positioning your body in certain ways can affect your sense of confidence and smiling even when you are unhappy can boost your mood. But can our mind (our thoughts, feelings, attitudes and beliefs) affect our physical health? The answer is a resounding “Yes!” and the evidence to support this notion is robust. With new brain imaging technology, neuroscientists can actually see the activation of areas of the brain and their effects on the im
Everything that you have done in your life up to now has trained your brain to respond in a certain way—these responses are our habits—the good, the bad and the ugly! Want to retrain your brain? You can do this by understanding your “habit loop”—the neurological pattern that your brain follows that perpetuates your behaviours. If you understand why you do what you do, then you can consciously maintain the habits you want, and replace unhelpful or destructive habits with new ones that improve your health and well-being. The habit loop includes the cue, the routine and the reward. To change a habit, you have to identify the cues and rewards of your routine and then adjust one or more aspects o
