Geschatte leestijd: 3 minuten
Kind thoughts for yourself and others contribute to a better functioning immune system, less stress, and a lower risk of diseases.
Don’t worry, think happy
In 2015, I wrote an article about the effect of certain thoughts on muscle strength and recovery. In other articles, we discussed the positive effect of mindfulness on your motivation to train and reducing the risk of depression.
A new study suggests that you can also positively influence your immune system with your thoughts. In this case, kind thoughts about yourself and others. This seems like a welcome outcome in a world where we tend to judge each other more harshly while often not sparing ourselves from criticism.
Kind thoughts and stress
Research from the universities of Exeter and Oxford shows that participating in ‘self-compassion exercises’ lowers heart rate [1]. This also reduces the body’s stress response. Previous studies have shown that this stress response is harmful to the immune system. The researchers from the British universities therefore believe that disabling this stress response can reduce the risk of disease.
For the study, the researchers divided 135 healthy students into five groups. Each group received a different set of instructions.
- Compassionate body scan: “Direct kind and compassionate attention to their body sensations”. Starting from the head and then moving down to the feet.
- Loving-Kindness Meditation for the Self: Think of a person for whom you have warm feelings and wish this person kind things. Then wish yourself these positive things.
- Self-critical: Think of things you wanted to achieve but didn’t succeed.
- Control group: This group was led with instructions involving a ‘routine supermarket shopping scenario’.
- Positive excitement condition: Think of occasions when you persevered to achieve certain goals.
The researchers measured heart rate and sweat response and asked the participants to record how they felt. Think of questions like how safe they felt, how likely they were to be kind to themselves and others, and how connected they felt to others.
More compassion, less stress, less disease?
In the two groups instructed to think kindly about themselves and others, participants reported more self-compassion and connection with others. Their body’s response corresponded to feelings of relaxation and safety. Heart rate decreased, as did the variation in time between heartbeats. Both are signs that the heart can flexibly respond to different situations. The researchers also observed a lower sweat response.
In the group where participants were instructed to be critical of themselves, heart rate increased and there was a higher sweat response. This is associated with feelings of threat and unrest. Think of those unpleasant thoughts that can keep you awake at night.
These findings suggest that being kind to oneself switches off the threat response and puts the body in a state of safety and relaxation that is important for regeneration and healing.
Hans Kirschner, University of Exeter
According to his colleague Dr. Anke Karl, previous research had already shown that self-compassion is associated with a higher level of well-being and mental health, but it was not clear why. The current study would make it clearer how kind thinking about yourself and others can translate into positive psychological effects when things go wrong. “By turning off the stress response, the immune system is strengthened, and we give ourselves the best chance to recover.”
Don’t hate the player, don’t hate the game, don’t hate period
As mentioned; A welcome message in these polarized times. But hey, I’m a left-wing tree hugger. I eagerly embrace such research in the fight against hate for others and oneself.
That kind thoughts about yourself can reduce the chance of depression is, of course, a great outcome. That kind thoughts for others can be beneficial for your health should be world news in my opinion. World news that some would undoubtedly label as ‘fake news’ only to bury it deep afterwards. And to prevent it from being unearthed by hippies, a beautiful wall is built around it. Paid for by Mexico, of course.
References
- Hans Kirschner, Willem Kuyken, Kim Wright, Henrietta Roberts, Claire Brejcha, Anke Karl. Soothing Your Heart and Feeling Connected: A New Experimental Paradigm to Study the Benefits of Self-Compassion. Clinical Psychological Science, 2019; 216770261881243
- https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2167702618812438
