• Acting "As If" You are Happy
• Making Appreciation and Laughter Part of Your Daily Life
• Monitor Your Response
• Planning for Change
• Sources

We have the power to change our attitudes, thinking and perceptions. Bringing positive emotions into your life can help you:

• Improve your immune function
• Increase muscle flexibility
• Reduce your risk for illness
• Lower your blood pressure
• Promote the release of "feel-good" chemicals
• Decrease the flow of stress hormones
• Decrease your physical and emotional tension
• Think more clearly and creatively
• Learn more easily
• Turn stressful situations into challenges
• Foster a positive and hopeful attitude
• Increase your emotional resiliency
• Promote an outlook that will help you manage your pain

Research provides evidence of the health benefits associated with positive emotions. A long term study of 3,000 elderly found that:

• Those reporting the most pleasure in their lives were 30 times more likely to be alive and well after 21 years.
• Optimism was associated with a lower risk of dying from heart disease.
• Negative emotions were associated with a higher risk of heart attack.
• "Unmanaged reactions to stress" were stronger risks for cancer and heart disease than smoking or high cholesterol.

Negative feelings can have negative consequences. For example, when we experience the "dread" of anticipating pain, the part of the brain that deals with pain becomes active even before the pain is experienced. Interrupting the experience of "dread" through laughter or pleasure can help distract us and decrease its negative effects.

Laughter itself can stimulate our body to release endorphins and dopamine. These natural substances support feelings of pleasure, wellness and can also help relieve pain. However, laughter is "healing" only when it includes others and is not meant to cause harm-in other words, when it comes from positive feelings.

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Acting "As If" You are Happy

Acting "as if" you are happy can have significant effects on our physiology. Smiling, even when we do not feel happy, can help move us in a more positive emotional direction.

In one study, people were first asked to hold a pencil between their teeth. This position mimics a negative facial expression somewhat like a frown. Then they were asked to hold a pencil in their lips, which mimics a smile. Individuals were also told jokes while holding the pen their lips.

Try It Now

• Hold a pen or pencil between your teeth-notice how you look and what you are feeling.
  
• Now hold the pencil or pen between your lips-notice how you look and what you are feeling.
  
• View the pictures in the practice session below to see what happens to the person in the picture.
  
• Have someone else do this exercise with you-have someone act silly or tell you jokes as you do the exercise.

Practice along with someone trying the exercise.

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Making Appreciation and Laughter Part of Your Daily Life

Try some of the following activities on a regular basis. Consider doing these activities with someone else, since laughing and appreciating is often easier when you are with others.

• Enjoy jokes and humorous cartoons-share jokes with others.
• Watch silly movies or comedy shows on television.
• Read uplifting or humorous books, positive essays, religious texts, or inspiring quotes-reflect and come up with new ideas for positive approaches to living.
  
• Spend time with funny or upbeat people-laughter is usually contagious.
  
• Think about a stressful situation, but find something good or comical about it.
  
• Make a list of things in your life to appreciate-or even keep a "gratitude journal."
  
• Change your daily routine in some way-look for something new and pause to appreciate it.

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Monitor Your Response

Use the “Response Worksheet” to explore how you might be able to use appreciation and pleasure to better manage your pain.

DOWNLOAD RESPONSE WORKSHEET-APPRECIATION

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Planning for Change

Use the “Action Plan Worksheet” to help you think about how you will begin to use appreciation and pleasure as a tool for expressing your feelings about pain.

DOWNLOAD ACTION PLAN WORKSHEET-APPRECIATION

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Sources

Berns, Gregory, et.al. (2006 May 5) Neurobiological substrates of dread. Science, 312 (5774), 754-758.

Childre, Doc. (2002). Overcoming Emotional Chaos. Jodere Group.

Childre, Doc & Rozman, Deborah. (2005). Transforming Stress. New Harbinger Publications.

Danner, D.D., Snowdon, D.A. & Friesen, W.V. (2001). Positive emotions in early life and longevity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80 (5), 804-813.

Guarneri, Mimi. (2006). The Heart Speaks. Touchstone.

Hanh, Thich Nhat. (1992). Peace is Every Step. Bantam; Reissue edition.

Kaufman, Barry Neil. (1994). Happiness is a Choice. Fawcett Books.

Oliver, Joan Duncan. (2005). Happiness: How to Find It and Keep It. Duncan Baird Publishers.

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