Power Up!

Spark positive emotions and trigger positive thoughts by doing any small thing that makes you feel happy—no matter what kind of day you're having. It could be listening to a favorite song, eating a favorite food, or spending time with your pet.

Feeling good about yourself, about the day, about the your activities is essential to your health. Positive emotions and thoughts don't just make you feel better—they make you stronger by increasing your resilience.

More resilience means faster recovery from whatever ails you and a greater probability for success in reaching your goals.

Maybe you can't avoid the downs of life completely, especially when facing a health challenge. But you CAN outweigh the downs with ups.

How to Work It

My personal method for powering up every day is Fierce Qigong and I use the following three techniques. Of course, you will have a different intent and you may prefer different qigong wudaos. The three-breath meditation is recommended for everyone:

I begin each morning by declaring my intent for the day in what I call "Opening to the Morning. As I perform 'Lifting the Sky' I chant, "As morning opens, I open to the possibilities of a new day. Today I will be free from the limitations of yesterday. Today I will be an instrument of healing and love."

After opening to the morning, I continue my personal qigong routine, which includes:

• Swimming Dragon
• Sweeping the Clouds Away
• Embracing Heaven and Earth
• Separating Heaven and Earth
• Shoot arrows
• Autumn Wind Blows the Leaves

Anytime during the course of the day that I notice myself becoming uncomfortable in my skin, I perform the three-breath meditation:

First breath:     "I am powerful."

Second breath: "There is more good than bad in this moment."

Third breath:    "I am more than enough for whatever life brings my way."

The Science:

Researchers have demonstrated many significant physical and mental impacts of optimism and it’s optimism that you are generating with the positive thoughts and emotions. Here’s a few of the things you can expect:

• Grow your brain:  Brain cells are constantly dying and new ones are constantly generated. Research shows that positive emotion prompts brain cell growth, while negative emotion prompts brain cell decay.
• Be creative: Studies demonstrate that optimism expands the boundaries of our minds. We imagine more possibilities and discover more options and opportunities.
• Achieve more: The more optimistic our outlook, the more successful we become at work, at school, at sports. Optimistic people are happier in their marriages and achieve more personal goals.
• Better health: There is a direct correlation between optimism and cardiovascular health. People with positive outlooks have lower levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, and stronger immune system.
• Decrease anxiety: Brain scans show that highly optimistic people experience less activity in the part of the brain associated with worry (the orbito-frontal cortex)—even when they're under significant stress.