Thinking kind thoughts about yourself and your loved ones can prove beneficial for your overall wellbeing, empirical evidence has shown. Researchers carried out an investigation to explore the (26) _____ between having kind thoughts and a person’s psychological state.
For the study, five groups of participants were presented with a different set of audio instructions, some of which encouraged the participants to think (27) _____ about themselves and others which persuaded them to think in a self-critical manner. After listening to the audio instructions, the participants were asked to answer a series of questions. These included whether they felt agitated, how likely they were to show kindness to themselves and how (28) _____ they felt to other individuals.
The participants who were instructed to think kindly about themselves were more likely to exhibit a bodily response associated with being relaxed and feeling safe. Their heart rates also dropped, which is a healthy sign of a heart that can respond flexibly to situations. Yet, (29) _____, those who listened to the critical audio clips were noted as having a higher heart rate and sweat response afterwards, both of which (30) _____ feelings of threat and distress.
Having the ability to switch off the body’s natural threat response can (31) _____ a person’s immune system. This, in turn, gives them a greater likelihood of recovering quickly from illness. These findings help us to further understand some of our clinical trials research findings, where we show that individuals with (32) _____ depression benefit particularly from self-awareness-based (33) _____ therapy. They essentially learn to become more sympathetic to themselves.
The sense is that for people (34) _____ to depression, meeting their negative thoughts and feelings with (35) _____ is a radically different way; that these thoughts are not facts. It introduces a different way of being and knowing that is quite transformative for many people.
