想要身心健康：從改變情緒做起！

Our emotional world has a remarkable power to determine not only our mental health, but also how our physical well-being.

Here are five positive emotions that have been shown to improve physical health and prevent disease.

A growing body of research has suggested that cultivating this quality can have a protective effect on the heart. According to a 2012 review of literature, a number of studies have shown that people with optimistic personalities are at a reduced risk of cardiovascular events. Optimism's benefits for physical health also extend beyond heart health. Here are a few other ways that a sunny disposition may improve health outcomes, including improved immune system function and increased longevity.

Research has shown that experiences of art, religion and philosophy are the most common experiences that evoke a sense of awe -- that sense of wonder and connection to something larger than ourselves.

According to new research from the University of California at Berkeley, awe is not only pleasurable but also enormously beneficial for one's physical and mental health. The Berkeley study found that those who had recently experienced awe had lower levels of cytokines, inflammatory markers that, in chronically high levels, have been implicated in the development of autoimmune diseases, as well as other health problems including heart disease, Alzheimer's and depression. This suggests that awe promotes healthier levels of cytokines and may prevent disease.

Positive psychologist Barbara Frederickson has conducted research on the effects of lovingkindness meditation (LKM), a traditional Buddhist practice that involves meditating on love and extending compassion to oneself and a progressively large group of others. Frederickson found just six weeks of LKM training to have a positive impact on the vagus nerve, which extends from the brain stem to the heart, helping to regulate emotions as well as bodily systems including the cardiovascular and digestive systems.

Like optimism, an "attitude of gratitude" -- an appreciation and feeling of thankfulness for the blessings one has in life -- carries significant mental and physical health benefits. Gratefulness, like optimism, has been linked with improved immune health, and has also been shown to improve sleep quality. Gratitude may also improve health and well-being in a variety of ways insofar as it lowers stress levels -- stress being one of the main contributing factors to many chronic diseases.

People who cultivate kindness towards themselves are also kinder to their bodies, potentially helping them to prevent or manage a range of negative physical and mental health outcomes. A 2013 study published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin examined the relationship between self-compassion, reactions to illness, and a range of health-related behaviors, finding that self-compassionate people sought medical attention sooner for symptoms that they were experiencing than people who were lacking in self-compassion. Self-compassionate people also tended to be less depressed about health problems they were experiencing, and also to take a more proactive approach towards their own health.