Health & Swellness

Make a commitment to your health through a daily dose of happiness

January 25, 2012 at 3:21 PM Leave a comment

“Tell me why-eeeee…”

Ah, hearing this song (“I Want It That Way” by the Backstreet Boys) fills me with such joy. I’m not exaggerating. It’s one of my favourite songs of all time — deal with it. In fact, when I’m running and my iPhone’s on shuffle and this song comes up, I take it as a good omen and run with more spring in my step.

(and don’t ask me which way it is that they want it, because I don’t know what the song means!)

And I’m thinking I need to listen to it more often — because it may help me make better health decisions.

A study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that people who were encouraged to experience a sense of happiness and to practice self affirmation made better decisions when it came to their health and wellbeing.

So, for example, they were asked to think of something small that made them happy (they gave the example of a sunset, I suggest to you the Backstreet Boys) when they awoke and to continue thinking of it throughout the day. Plus, they were also asked to think of times when they were proud of themselves (such as when you graduated) as a way to help overcome obstacles.

This method seems to shift our behaviour; we will do what we need to in order to  meet goals we’ve set for ourselves when it comes to our health. One researcher gives the example of not feeling like going for a run in the rain — when you’re really not feeling like getting soaked during your run, yet with these simple tools, we are able to get over this and do the exercise so that we fulfill a promise we’ve made to ourselves.

So my prescription? “I Want It That Way” on repeat.

Where’s your daily tidbit of happiness come from?

Entry filed under: Health, Random Swellness, Swellbeing. Tags: Backstreet Boys, Health, healthy choices.