Clearly a broken heart comes from strong negative emotions on the part of the individual. The brain is key to what signals are sent to the heart. But how do you keep the brain from sending signals that would adversely affect health?
A glimpse into how to positively affect the physical outcome of a mental trial is found in recent studies that indicate that much of true satisfaction and well-being come from within, and that one is not born happy or unhappy – it is mostly a developed or a learned trait. Dr. Robert A. Emmons, U.C. Davis Psychologist and Editor in Chief of the Journal of Positive Psychology, found that those who regularly practice grateful thinking improved their happiness score by 25%. Since being grateful improves one’s happiness, so do these same qualities reportedly have a positive effect on one’s health.
One of the ways to encourage the expression of gratitude is to cultivate a positive relationship with your spiritual self through prayer. When gratitude is heartfelt, it can lift thought to a more positive and joyous feeling, which affects health. My own daily prayer and meditation have given me a foundation for giving gratitude for my experiences – preventing many stressful situations that could create heartbreak.
So in differing degrees mom, grandson, and Hope Rising found that whether their heart was broken or not depended on how they saw and treated their situation – which mended the heart and governed their health.
Photo © GLOW IMAGES. Models used for illustrative purposes
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