What do you think of yourself? Are you typically Positive Polly, or are you more of a Negative Nelly? The way you see yourself has been shown to make a difference in overall wellness. The good news is that you can do something to improve your wellness just by intentionally imagining yourself in a better light. You’ve heard about how “being your best self” can change an outcome from many of the experts on success psychology and athletic performance. Here’s a glimpse of how imagining your best possible self can impact your overall well-being:
Imagining a “Best Possible Self” to Generate Optimism
Because optimism is a personality trait shown to correlate strongly with psychological and physical well-being, researchers at Maastricht University in The Netherlands, investigated whether optimism can be increased by imagining a “Best Possible Self” (BPS).
Effects were compared to a control group in which participants imagined their daily activities (DA). In order to minimize inter-individual differences in content of imagery, participants constructed their BPS according to 3 domains: personal, relational, and professional. All participants were instructed to practice their imagery exercise for 5 min per day over a period of two weeks. Effects on optimism and mood were measured after one session, after one week and after two weeks.
Results indicated that BPS imagery led to significantly larger increases in optimism as compared to DA imagery, after one session and over a two week period. Effects on optimism remained after controlling for possible mediation by the change in positive mood.
Read the rest of this article by Belleruth Naparstek.
Meanwhile, listening to pre-recorded guided imagery by Belleruth Naparstek 
Sue Hasker – Certified Wellness Coach
RC47VHJ9GBKS
Leave a Reply