September 23, 2025 • 25 mins
In this episode we feature:
An interview with positive psychology coach Dr. Craig Dowden.
Drink Rosemary Tea for your brain.
Yawns wake you up.
Check your Lip Balm Ingredients
And more ways you can improve your health today!
Stream the John Tesh Sports Album now. Available on all platforms.
For more information, and to sign up for our private coaching, visit tesh.com
Our Hosts:
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Gib Gerard: Instagram: @GibGerard facebook.com/GibGerard X: @GibGerard
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Unknown (00:08):
Gib, hello and welcome to another episode of the
podcast. I'm Gib Gerard herewith another one of our special
intelligence for your healthwith Connie Celica. Editions of
the podcast, love bringing theseto you, it's all kinds of
information that you can useright away to live your life a
whole lot better, to makeyourself a whole lot healthier.
Today, this week, Connie's guestis Dr Craig Dowden. He is a
(00:32):
positive psychology coach, so Ithink we can all use a little
bit of that right now. Anyway,here, without further ado, is
intelligence for your healthwith Connie Celica
blink. Chances are you haven'tdone that in a while. Now focus
on something 20 feet away for 20seconds. If you do that every 20
minutes, you're following whateye doctors call the 2020, 20
(00:56):
rule. And it matters because wespend a significant portion of
our lives staring at screens,and that's not great news for
our eyes, because when we stareat a screen, we blink less, and
our eyes dry out, and the olderwe get, the amount of tears we
produce decreases, so we need toblink more often. And the
(01:19):
American Academy ofOphthalmology says the 2020, 20
rule briefly relaxes eye musclesand encourages more blinking.
Get ready to boost your brainpower by releasing more BDNF.
That's a protein that's likeMiracle Grow for brain cells,
and studies have shown a linkbetween an increase in BDNF
(01:41):
production and a better mood,stronger memory and a lower risk
for Alzheimer's disease. So hereare two ways to increase your
BDNF levels, according to BostonUniversity, sip some rosemary
tea, hot or iced. People whodrank just a half cup of
rosemary tea every day boostedtheir BDNF levels in just 10
(02:04):
days. That's because the activecompound in Rosemary switches on
genes that increase theproduction of the BDNF protein.
Another way to raise your BDNFlevels and protect your brain.
Dance. Do that for 30 minutes,and you'll enhance BDNF
production. In fact, people whodanced for 90 minutes a week had
(02:25):
higher levels of BDNF thanpeople who worked out with
weights or on a stationary bike.
That's because coordinating yourmovements to music amplifies the
effects of being active comingup. We'll talk to positive
psychologist Dr Craig Dowden,he'll explain why. It's almost
impossible to make effectivedecisions unless we take control
of our negative emotions. Butfirst, our lips are more likely
(02:49):
to get chapped in cold, dry,windy weather, and your lip balm
could be making things worse.
Dermatologist, Dr Leslie Baumansays, bombs that contain camphor
and menthol, ingredients thatmake lips feel tingly, suck
moisture from your already drylips and evaporated it away so
(03:11):
they actually make your lipsdrier. Those ingredients only
work if they're counter balancedby moisturizing ingredients like
beeswax, shea butter, or coconutor Argan oils, which block
moisture loss. So check theingredients on your lip balm and
make sure if it includes camphoror menthol, it also has
(03:32):
something like beeswax or sheabutter. Do this for 3% of your
day, and you'll live longer andbe healthier exercise that's
according to physiologist NathanLabra, Director of the Center on
Aging at the Mayo Clinic, thatworks out to about 30 minutes a
day out of the 16 hours you'reawake. Dr lebrazer says the
(03:54):
greatest threats to human healthtoday are lifestyle related
conditions like cardiovascularand lung diseases, diabetes,
Alzheimer's and cancer, theyaccount for three quarters of
deaths worldwide, but dedicating3% of your day to exercise can
help prevent or delay thoseconditions. Dr labrazo says it's
(04:16):
a minimal investment that canhave a profound impact on your
overall health. So what kind ofexercise does he recommend? Dr
labraiser says we should do amixture of resistant and aerobic
exercise. He also recommendsfunctional training like squats,
lunges and pulling, pushingexercises, because those work
(04:37):
the muscles we'll need formobility in old age. Okay,
listen to this. We yawn more inwinter, not because we're more
exhausted, it's because the airis cooler. According to the
journal frontiers inevolutionary neuroscience, we
yawn to keep our brain at thetop of its game, because when we
inhale deeply, we're replacingthe hot, stagnant. Air in our
(05:00):
lungs with the cool fresh airaround us, and the brain
operates best when it's cool, soyawning draws in cool air and
makes us more alert and quickerthinkers. So we yawn more in
winter than summer because theair is cooler and don't stifle a
yawn. It's your body's way ofwaking up your brain so you can
think better. Today, our guestis Dr Craig Dowden. He's a
(05:24):
certified positive psychologycoach and best selling author
whose latest book is called atime to lead and whether you're
trying to manage your family athome or a team at work. Dr
Dowden says you can't makeeffective decisions until you
take control of your emotions,because negative emotions
specifically have been shown toraise our stress and hijack the
(05:47):
part of the brain that controlsproblem solving and deep
thinking. So I asked Dr Dowdento give us an example of how
negativity works against us.
Well, when we're approachingthings from a place of fear,
there's a lot of research thatshows us that we do not make
high quality decisions, becausewhen I'm fearful, I'm in a self
protective state. When I'mlooking at the world, I see it
(06:10):
as full of risks and threats asopposed to opportunities. And
what that does is really limitthe choices that I consider, and
so recognizing when we are in afearful state and the impact
that it has on our decisionmaking that's really important
for us, and one of my favoriteacronyms for fear is false
evidence appearing real. So whenwe're in a fearful state, a
(06:33):
critical self reflectionquestion to ask is, what is the
evidence that I have to supportmy fear? And if a friend of mine
or a family member came in andshared their fear with me, and I
wasn't convinced by theevidence, what would I say to
them in that circumstance? And Ifind that that question is
really powerful in terms of howwe can orient our own
(06:53):
lives today. We're talking topositive psychologist, Dr Craig
Dowden, and he was just sayingthat if we approach life from a
place of fear and negativity,our brain goes into self
protective mode, which means itis harder to make high quality
decisions. So I asked Dr Dowdenwhat he recommends to help us
cope with negative emotions, aterrible strategy is to avoid or
(07:14):
minimize the negative emotion.
Essentially, our emotions aredata points, and negative
emotions are trying to tell uswhen something is not in
alignment, it's important and toacknowledge and accept this.
Otherwise the issue can buildand build and build. Now, a
terrific strategy that we canuse is to label those emotions
(07:38):
and be as specific as possible.
And there's a lot of wonderful,thought provoking research
around this. So as an example,many of us say things like, I
feel awful. Well, the challengewith that is there's a whole
bunch of reasons I can feelawful. Maybe I had pizza too
late at night, maybe I stayed uptoo late, and I'm not really
sure what's underlying thisfeeling of awfulness. Now, if I
(08:00):
get more specific and I say Ifeel lonely, what's powerful
about this is that this providesus clues with how to address it.
So maybe I can reach out tosomeone on Facebook or give a
friend of mine a call ororganize a dinner with a family
member by being more specific inhow we label our emotions, we're
(08:21):
more effective and moreresilient with dealing with
them. And there's also neuroscientific evidence that shows
us by being more specific withour labels, we process the
emotions more effectively.
To make it easier to fall asleepon chilly nights, put a blanket
in the dryer for five minutesand wrap yourself in it right
(08:43):
before bed. University of Texasresearchers found feeling warm
and cozy prompts the brain torelease calming theta waves, and
it will help you fall asleep 20minutes sooner. And since the
heat of the blanket wears offquickly, it won't raise your
body temperature enough todisrupt the production of
melatonin, which happens as yourbody temperature drops at night.
(09:04):
So on chilly nights, when youfind it hard to sleep, wrap
yourself in toasty warmth forfive minutes and you should nod
off a lot faster. Today'smedical term more sacashio
baccarum, that refers toirritation in the mouth caused
by chronic cheek biting. Andwhile most of us have bitten the
(09:24):
inside of our cheeks at leastonce, an estimated one in 800
adults do it often enough tocause a problem. In fact,
dentists can tell right away ifyou have an issue, because over
time, cheek biting causeslesions inside the cheek which
line up perfectly with yourteeth. So when you open your
mouth for a cleaning, yourdentist will see a ridge along
(09:47):
the inside of your cheek. Thegood news is that most cheek
Biting is harmless, and as longas the biting isn't serious
enough to cause an infection,it's no big deal. But definitely
talk to your dentist if you everexist. Experience pain or
bleeding after biting insideyour cheek, they can fit you
with a special prosthesis thatcovers the biting surfaces of
(10:09):
the teeth and protects thecheek, or in extreme cases, they
can refer you to a therapist whocan help you get to the root of
any psychological issue causingyour cheek biting habit,
including chronic stress, andthat's today's medical term.
More sacashio baccaram comingup. We'll hear more from
positive psychologist Dr CraigDowden. He'll explain why doing
(10:33):
good deeds for others almostalways makes us feel more
positive about our own lives.
But first, if you have asthma,pay attention to the weather
channel, because you're morelikely to have an asthma attack
after a thunderstorm. That'saccording to research from the
University of Georgia. They saythat the electrical currents
caused by rain and lightningbreak up pollen into extra tiny
(10:55):
particles, and the smaller theyare, the farther they'll travel
on the wind. So if you haveasthma and a storm is coming,
stay indoors even afterwards. Doyou find that you feel less
stressed and maybe even morecreative when you're in a round
room, anything from a gazebo atthe park to a circular tent on a
(11:16):
camping trip to the rotunda isfound in many churches and
public buildings. Well, it's notyour imagination, because New
research from Bond University inAustralia shows that round rooms
have a more positive influenceon our psychological well being
than rectangular or squarerooms. And in an experiment
(11:37):
where people were asked toperform creative tasks in a
variety of different shapedrooms, those in round rooms
often produced the most creativeresults. The reason, according
to cognitive neuroscientist DrOliver Bauman, there is the
simple fact that you can't bebacked into a corner in a round
(11:58):
room, which explains why peopleobserved in circular rooms
almost always had lower heartrates and felt less stressed
compared to when they were inrectangular rooms. And on a
primal level, there's evidencethat rounder environments remind
us of being in our mother'swomb, because people tend to
(12:19):
feel safer and happier and getbetter quality sleep when
they're in round rooms. Okay,listen to this. Which is better
roasted chestnuts or saltedpistachios, even if they're not
roasting over an open fire, youshould still choose the
chestnuts a handful ofpistachios has twice as many
(12:39):
calories as a handful ofchestnuts. But if you're basing
your decision on more thancalories, both nuts are good for
you. Chestnuts are a good sourceof vitamin C, which will help
keep your immune system strong,and pistachios absorb bad
cholesterol. In fact, whenvolunteers at Penn State
University ate pistachios everyday for four weeks, they saw
(13:01):
their bad cholesterol dropalmost 12% back with more health
intelligence from positivepsychology coach, Dr Craig
Dowden. And if you're convincedwe live in a scary and crazy
world, one that's gettingcrazier every day, the US
military has an acronym forthat, they describe what we see
in the news as VUCA, whichstands for volatility,
(13:24):
uncertainty, complexity andambiguity, and surprisingly, Dr
Dowden says one of the best waysto stay positive in an
increasingly VUCA world is toembrace the uncertainty In our
own life,our world is becoming more
vukified Every single day. Andwhat's important about this two
(13:45):
key elements, the uncertaintyand ambiguity. Ambiguity and
uncertainty drives stress, so acritical skill that all of us
can develop, and this is reallyimportant, because these are
skills is for us to recognizeand to accept that uncertainty
is a part of life, and toreframe how we view that
(14:06):
uncertainty. So as an examplefor many of us in uncertain and
ambiguous situations, we've hadour greatest breakthroughs, our
extraordinary successes, it's inthose moments where we're unsure
of what's going to happen thatwe can take bold and courageous
steps. So rather than seeinguncertainty as scary, let's look
(14:28):
at it as an opportunity, as anarena of endless possibility. We
can experiment. We can challengeourselves. We can stretch
ourselves, we have the chance tolearn, which provides us with an
opportunity to grow and exceedwhat we have right now. And
what's crucial around this. Howcan we build this skill of
(14:50):
dealing with uncertainty? Is toput ourselves in as many
uncertain and ambiguoussituations as possible, smaller
ones. All of them, just likegoing to the gym, help exercise
that muscle, and as the world isgoing to continue to go in that
direction, this equips us withone of the most essential life
skills for both our personal andprofessional lives,
(15:13):
back with more healthintelligence from positive
psychologist Dr Craig Dowden.
And on this show, we're alwaystalking about the benefits of
doing good deeds for others andspreading intelligent kindness.
So I asked Dr Dowden to explainwhy it's more important than
ever to do good deeds for otherswhenever possible.
Well, in today's environment,people are looking to connect
(15:35):
with individuals who act withintegrity, who act with bigger
than self goals. They're lookingto make a positive difference in
their organizations, in theircommunities, in their families.
And there's a lot of greatresearch around this. Kim
Cameron is the co founder of theCenter for positive
organizations out of theUniversity of Michigan, and he
(15:58):
talks about the heliotropiceffect. And essentially what
that means is that human beingsare attracted to positive energy
and repelled by negative energy.
We flourish when we're exposedto positive energy, and we
really struggle when we areexposed to negative energy. And
this also applies. There's a lotof complementary evidence as
(16:19):
well when it comes to emotions,when we're in positive moods,
positive states, then we canmaximize our potential when
we're in more negative emotionalstates. Well, this tends to
undermine our performance. Andit's not surprising that time
and time again, research showsus that when we do good when we
make a positive difference insomeone's lives, then that
(16:42):
really elevates our level ofhappiness. It elevates our level
of life satisfaction, and welove to support the people
around us.
If you frequently haveindigestion and gas pain, eat
more apples. That's becauseapples are rich in buterate, a
(17:03):
compound that soothes thegastrointestinal inflammation
that triggers gas and bloating.
According to scientists, eatingthree apples a week will prevent
indigestion and belly pain for60% of us. For the best results,
stick with cooked apples, likeapplesauce or oven baked apples.
That's because heat breaks downthe simple sugars also known as
(17:23):
fructose in apples, which helpsprevent the growth of gas
producing gut bacteria moreintelligence for your health.
From positive psychology coachand best selling author, Dr
Craig Dowden, and if someoneasked you, what do you want to
hear first, the good news or thebad news? What would you say?
Well, most people have a badnews bias, which makes us prefer
(17:45):
to hear negative informationfirst. So I asked Dr Dowden
where this bias comes from.
The reason why we prefer to getthe worst news today is because
now, okay, I know that I'm whatI'm dealing with, and so when I
know the worst case scenario,now I can take action. It's also
(18:05):
important to recall that from aevolutionary perspective, we are
hardwired to scan ourenvironment for threats, and
there are decades of researchshowing that bad is stronger
than good. If I lose $20 ithurts a lot more than winning
$20 now, when it comes todealing with other people and
(18:30):
how do I break bad news to them,the best thing that we can
possibly do is ask the mostimportant people in our lives
how they want to engage indifficult conversation with us,
such as when I have to give badnews or share something that I'm
unhappy about. As an example, Ican say, hey, Craig, sometimes
(18:55):
there may be some tough thingsfor us to talk about. Maybe I've
got some disappointing news toshare with you. How would you
like for me to approach thatconversation with you? What's
great is, is that it takes theguesswork out of that
conversation, and now both of usare engaged in a collaborative
discussion about how we cannavigate the trickiest
(19:17):
situations in our relationship.
What can make a man take morerisks while driving if their GPS
speaks in a woman's voice. In astudy, men were put in driving
simulators and given directionsby either a female or a male pre
recorded voice, and the men whoheard a female voice were 40%
(19:37):
more likely to accelerate when astop light turned from green to
yellow instead of slowing downand stopping. The researchers
believe that men are inclined toshow off and take risks when
listening to female voices, andthe study concluded with advice
to car manufacturers to makefemale GPS voices sound less
(19:57):
feminine, to make driving.
Safer. Here's an email Ireceived at Connie at
intelligence for yourhealth.com. It comes from
Brandon Mikulski, who writes,I've been having bad morning
breath lately, and I'm wonderingwhat's causing it. Brandon, when
you wake up, take a look at yourtongue. If it looks like someone
painted it white, yellow ororange, you could have acid
(20:20):
reflux that's acting up when yousleep. This happens when a valve
in the bottom of your esophagusopens spontaneously, sending the
contents of your stomach backup. It leaves your tongue coated
in digestive acids, and it givesyou severe dragon breath. Most
acid reflux can be treated withover the counter medication and
(20:42):
by avoiding acidic foods likecitrus coffee and spicy foods.
If that doesn't do the trick,see your doctor, because chronic
acid reflux can lead toesophageal cancer. Thank you for
your email. Brandon, I hope thishelps. Okay, listen to this, the
average person hasn't written byhand for over 40 days, and
(21:03):
according to a new survey, mostof us say that when we do write
by hand, it's just a sloppy noteto ourselves like a grocery
list. Experts say we're writingless because we're sending more
messages by text, but studiesshow that writing by hand is one
of the easiest ways to boostmemory and creativity. That's
(21:24):
because it reinforcesinformation we've learned and
stimulates the part of our brainthat processes thoughts. Sales
of non alcoholic beverages havesurged over 400% so are they
safe for kids to drink? Dr MollyBowring is an instructor at the
Stanford Prevention ResearchCenter, and she is not in favor
(21:46):
of kids drinking non alcoholicbeers or other mocktails. It's
not for fear of intoxication.
It's because it can turn into aform of unconscious role
playing. The drinks contain alot of the same cues as alcohol,
like flavor, look, smell, andsometimes even have the same
(22:07):
brand as alcoholic beverages,and non alcoholic beverages can
prime kids to drink the realthing. Surveys of elementary,
middle and high school studentsin Japan found that about 25%
said they were drinking nonalcoholic beverages. And
students who drank non alcoholicdrinks were more interested in
(22:27):
drinking alcohol than those whodid not drink them. And in
Australia, a study looked atteens between the ages of 15 and
17, more than a third had triedzero alcohol drinks, and those
who had were more than twice aslikely to have also drunk
alcohol compared with thosewho'd never had them. So even
(22:47):
though it may seem harmless,keep kids away from non
alcoholic beverages. Moreintelligence for your help from
certified positive psychologycoach, Dr Craig Dowden, if you'd
like to know more about him,check out craigdoughton.com and
in his latest book, a time tolead, he talks about the
importance of using activelistening to build stronger
(23:08):
relationships with others. ButDr Dowden says active listening
isn't just about payingattention to the words others
are using. It's also aboutpaying attention to their body
language. So I asked him forsome key body language signs to
look for.
Body language is a powerfulinterpretational tool, and is an
essential element of activelistening. So if someone leans
(23:30):
back from the table, if we'remeeting at a coffee table, and
someone's lean back, push back,or another classic one, perhaps
folding their arms, furrowingtheir brow, perhaps their face
gets flushed. These are allimportant signals to recognize
in terms of perhaps I'vetriggered something, and what's
important is we can check in onthat and ask a question. So as
(23:53):
an example, I can say, Craig, Inoticed you folded your arms or
pushed back. Was there somethingthat I shared or the question
that I asked that didn't landwell, and now the person has the
opportunity to clarify that nonverbal signal that they've just
sent to you. And they may say,oh, no, I'm I was a little cold
and I and I was just folding myarms to keep warm thin. Or they
(24:18):
may say, Well, I didn't like howyou said x, and now, once again,
by asking that question, we havea chance to deepen the
relationship, clarify anymisunderstandings that may have
happened, and I can understandbetter where the other person is
coming from.
That's it for our show today,our special intelligence for
your health with Connie Selig.
Edition of the podcast, I'm GibGerard. Don't forget to rate
(24:40):
comment and subscribe on Applepodcast. Spotify, wherever you
get your podcast. It helps usout a lot. And also, you can
reach out to us on social media.
All of our links are listed downin the show notes. We try to
respond to every DM, everymention of the show, because
ultimately, we do the show foryou guys. So thank you so much
for listening. You.
Gib, hello and welcome to another episode of the
podcast. I'm Gib Gerard herewith another one of our special
intelligence for your healthwith Connie Celica. Editions of
the podcast, love bringing theseto you, it's all kinds of
information that you can useright away to live your life a
whole lot better, to makeyourself a whole lot healthier.
Today, this week, Connie's guestis Dr Craig Dowden. He is a
(00:32):
positive psychology coach, so Ithink we can all use a little
bit of that right now. Anyway,here, without further ado, is
intelligence for your healthwith Connie Celica
blink. Chances are you haven'tdone that in a while. Now focus
on something 20 feet away for 20seconds. If you do that every 20
minutes, you're following whateye doctors call the 2020, 20
(00:56):
rule. And it matters because wespend a significant portion of
our lives staring at screens,and that's not great news for
our eyes, because when we stareat a screen, we blink less, and
our eyes dry out, and the olderwe get, the amount of tears we
produce decreases, so we need toblink more often. And the
(01:19):
American Academy ofOphthalmology says the 2020, 20
rule briefly relaxes eye musclesand encourages more blinking.
Get ready to boost your brainpower by releasing more BDNF.
That's a protein that's likeMiracle Grow for brain cells,
and studies have shown a linkbetween an increase in BDNF
(01:41):
production and a better mood,stronger memory and a lower risk
for Alzheimer's disease. So hereare two ways to increase your
BDNF levels, according to BostonUniversity, sip some rosemary
tea, hot or iced. People whodrank just a half cup of
rosemary tea every day boostedtheir BDNF levels in just 10
(02:04):
days. That's because the activecompound in Rosemary switches on
genes that increase theproduction of the BDNF protein.
Another way to raise your BDNFlevels and protect your brain.
Dance. Do that for 30 minutes,and you'll enhance BDNF
production. In fact, people whodanced for 90 minutes a week had
(02:25):
higher levels of BDNF thanpeople who worked out with
weights or on a stationary bike.
That's because coordinating yourmovements to music amplifies the
effects of being active comingup. We'll talk to positive
psychologist Dr Craig Dowden,he'll explain why. It's almost
impossible to make effectivedecisions unless we take control
of our negative emotions. Butfirst, our lips are more likely
(02:49):
to get chapped in cold, dry,windy weather, and your lip balm
could be making things worse.
Dermatologist, Dr Leslie Baumansays, bombs that contain camphor
and menthol, ingredients thatmake lips feel tingly, suck
moisture from your already drylips and evaporated it away so
(03:11):
they actually make your lipsdrier. Those ingredients only
work if they're counter balancedby moisturizing ingredients like
beeswax, shea butter, or coconutor Argan oils, which block
moisture loss. So check theingredients on your lip balm and
make sure if it includes camphoror menthol, it also has
(03:32):
something like beeswax or sheabutter. Do this for 3% of your
day, and you'll live longer andbe healthier exercise that's
according to physiologist NathanLabra, Director of the Center on
Aging at the Mayo Clinic, thatworks out to about 30 minutes a
day out of the 16 hours you'reawake. Dr lebrazer says the
(03:54):
greatest threats to human healthtoday are lifestyle related
conditions like cardiovascularand lung diseases, diabetes,
Alzheimer's and cancer, theyaccount for three quarters of
deaths worldwide, but dedicating3% of your day to exercise can
help prevent or delay thoseconditions. Dr labrazo says it's
(04:16):
a minimal investment that canhave a profound impact on your
overall health. So what kind ofexercise does he recommend? Dr
labraiser says we should do amixture of resistant and aerobic
exercise. He also recommendsfunctional training like squats,
lunges and pulling, pushingexercises, because those work
(04:37):
the muscles we'll need formobility in old age. Okay,
listen to this. We yawn more inwinter, not because we're more
exhausted, it's because the airis cooler. According to the
journal frontiers inevolutionary neuroscience, we
yawn to keep our brain at thetop of its game, because when we
inhale deeply, we're replacingthe hot, stagnant. Air in our
(05:00):
lungs with the cool fresh airaround us, and the brain
operates best when it's cool, soyawning draws in cool air and
makes us more alert and quickerthinkers. So we yawn more in
winter than summer because theair is cooler and don't stifle a
yawn. It's your body's way ofwaking up your brain so you can
think better. Today, our guestis Dr Craig Dowden. He's a
(05:24):
certified positive psychologycoach and best selling author
whose latest book is called atime to lead and whether you're
trying to manage your family athome or a team at work. Dr
Dowden says you can't makeeffective decisions until you
take control of your emotions,because negative emotions
specifically have been shown toraise our stress and hijack the
(05:47):
part of the brain that controlsproblem solving and deep
thinking. So I asked Dr Dowdento give us an example of how
negativity works against us.
Well, when we're approachingthings from a place of fear,
there's a lot of research thatshows us that we do not make
high quality decisions, becausewhen I'm fearful, I'm in a self
protective state. When I'mlooking at the world, I see it
(06:10):
as full of risks and threats asopposed to opportunities. And
what that does is really limitthe choices that I consider, and
so recognizing when we are in afearful state and the impact
that it has on our decisionmaking that's really important
for us, and one of my favoriteacronyms for fear is false
evidence appearing real. So whenwe're in a fearful state, a
(06:33):
critical self reflectionquestion to ask is, what is the
evidence that I have to supportmy fear? And if a friend of mine
or a family member came in andshared their fear with me, and I
wasn't convinced by theevidence, what would I say to
them in that circumstance? And Ifind that that question is
really powerful in terms of howwe can orient our own
(06:53):
lives today. We're talking topositive psychologist, Dr Craig
Dowden, and he was just sayingthat if we approach life from a
place of fear and negativity,our brain goes into self
protective mode, which means itis harder to make high quality
decisions. So I asked Dr Dowdenwhat he recommends to help us
cope with negative emotions, aterrible strategy is to avoid or
(07:14):
minimize the negative emotion.
Essentially, our emotions aredata points, and negative
emotions are trying to tell uswhen something is not in
alignment, it's important and toacknowledge and accept this.
Otherwise the issue can buildand build and build. Now, a
terrific strategy that we canuse is to label those emotions
(07:38):
and be as specific as possible.
And there's a lot of wonderful,thought provoking research
around this. So as an example,many of us say things like, I
feel awful. Well, the challengewith that is there's a whole
bunch of reasons I can feelawful. Maybe I had pizza too
late at night, maybe I stayed uptoo late, and I'm not really
sure what's underlying thisfeeling of awfulness. Now, if I
(08:00):
get more specific and I say Ifeel lonely, what's powerful
about this is that this providesus clues with how to address it.
So maybe I can reach out tosomeone on Facebook or give a
friend of mine a call ororganize a dinner with a family
member by being more specific inhow we label our emotions, we're
(08:21):
more effective and moreresilient with dealing with
them. And there's also neuroscientific evidence that shows
us by being more specific withour labels, we process the
emotions more effectively.
To make it easier to fall asleepon chilly nights, put a blanket
in the dryer for five minutesand wrap yourself in it right
(08:43):
before bed. University of Texasresearchers found feeling warm
and cozy prompts the brain torelease calming theta waves, and
it will help you fall asleep 20minutes sooner. And since the
heat of the blanket wears offquickly, it won't raise your
body temperature enough todisrupt the production of
melatonin, which happens as yourbody temperature drops at night.
(09:04):
So on chilly nights, when youfind it hard to sleep, wrap
yourself in toasty warmth forfive minutes and you should nod
off a lot faster. Today'smedical term more sacashio
baccarum, that refers toirritation in the mouth caused
by chronic cheek biting. Andwhile most of us have bitten the
(09:24):
inside of our cheeks at leastonce, an estimated one in 800
adults do it often enough tocause a problem. In fact,
dentists can tell right away ifyou have an issue, because over
time, cheek biting causeslesions inside the cheek which
line up perfectly with yourteeth. So when you open your
mouth for a cleaning, yourdentist will see a ridge along
(09:47):
the inside of your cheek. Thegood news is that most cheek
Biting is harmless, and as longas the biting isn't serious
enough to cause an infection,it's no big deal. But definitely
talk to your dentist if you everexist. Experience pain or
bleeding after biting insideyour cheek, they can fit you
with a special prosthesis thatcovers the biting surfaces of
(10:09):
the teeth and protects thecheek, or in extreme cases, they
can refer you to a therapist whocan help you get to the root of
any psychological issue causingyour cheek biting habit,
including chronic stress, andthat's today's medical term.
More sacashio baccaram comingup. We'll hear more from
positive psychologist Dr CraigDowden. He'll explain why doing
(10:33):
good deeds for others almostalways makes us feel more
positive about our own lives.
But first, if you have asthma,pay attention to the weather
channel, because you're morelikely to have an asthma attack
after a thunderstorm. That'saccording to research from the
University of Georgia. They saythat the electrical currents
caused by rain and lightningbreak up pollen into extra tiny
(10:55):
particles, and the smaller theyare, the farther they'll travel
on the wind. So if you haveasthma and a storm is coming,
stay indoors even afterwards. Doyou find that you feel less
stressed and maybe even morecreative when you're in a round
room, anything from a gazebo atthe park to a circular tent on a
(11:16):
camping trip to the rotunda isfound in many churches and
public buildings. Well, it's notyour imagination, because New
research from Bond University inAustralia shows that round rooms
have a more positive influenceon our psychological well being
than rectangular or squarerooms. And in an experiment
(11:37):
where people were asked toperform creative tasks in a
variety of different shapedrooms, those in round rooms
often produced the most creativeresults. The reason, according
to cognitive neuroscientist DrOliver Bauman, there is the
simple fact that you can't bebacked into a corner in a round
(11:58):
room, which explains why peopleobserved in circular rooms
almost always had lower heartrates and felt less stressed
compared to when they were inrectangular rooms. And on a
primal level, there's evidencethat rounder environments remind
us of being in our mother'swomb, because people tend to
(12:19):
feel safer and happier and getbetter quality sleep when
they're in round rooms. Okay,listen to this. Which is better
roasted chestnuts or saltedpistachios, even if they're not
roasting over an open fire, youshould still choose the
chestnuts a handful ofpistachios has twice as many
(12:39):
calories as a handful ofchestnuts. But if you're basing
your decision on more thancalories, both nuts are good for
you. Chestnuts are a good sourceof vitamin C, which will help
keep your immune system strong,and pistachios absorb bad
cholesterol. In fact, whenvolunteers at Penn State
University ate pistachios everyday for four weeks, they saw
(13:01):
their bad cholesterol dropalmost 12% back with more health
intelligence from positivepsychology coach, Dr Craig
Dowden. And if you're convincedwe live in a scary and crazy
world, one that's gettingcrazier every day, the US
military has an acronym forthat, they describe what we see
in the news as VUCA, whichstands for volatility,
(13:24):
uncertainty, complexity andambiguity, and surprisingly, Dr
Dowden says one of the best waysto stay positive in an
increasingly VUCA world is toembrace the uncertainty In our
own life,our world is becoming more
vukified Every single day. Andwhat's important about this two
(13:45):
key elements, the uncertaintyand ambiguity. Ambiguity and
uncertainty drives stress, so acritical skill that all of us
can develop, and this is reallyimportant, because these are
skills is for us to recognizeand to accept that uncertainty
is a part of life, and toreframe how we view that
(14:06):
uncertainty. So as an examplefor many of us in uncertain and
ambiguous situations, we've hadour greatest breakthroughs, our
extraordinary successes, it's inthose moments where we're unsure
of what's going to happen thatwe can take bold and courageous
steps. So rather than seeinguncertainty as scary, let's look
(14:28):
at it as an opportunity, as anarena of endless possibility. We
can experiment. We can challengeourselves. We can stretch
ourselves, we have the chance tolearn, which provides us with an
opportunity to grow and exceedwhat we have right now. And
what's crucial around this. Howcan we build this skill of
(14:50):
dealing with uncertainty? Is toput ourselves in as many
uncertain and ambiguoussituations as possible, smaller
ones. All of them, just likegoing to the gym, help exercise
that muscle, and as the world isgoing to continue to go in that
direction, this equips us withone of the most essential life
skills for both our personal andprofessional lives,
(15:13):
back with more healthintelligence from positive
psychologist Dr Craig Dowden.
And on this show, we're alwaystalking about the benefits of
doing good deeds for others andspreading intelligent kindness.
So I asked Dr Dowden to explainwhy it's more important than
ever to do good deeds for otherswhenever possible.
Well, in today's environment,people are looking to connect
(15:35):
with individuals who act withintegrity, who act with bigger
than self goals. They're lookingto make a positive difference in
their organizations, in theircommunities, in their families.
And there's a lot of greatresearch around this. Kim
Cameron is the co founder of theCenter for positive
organizations out of theUniversity of Michigan, and he
(15:58):
talks about the heliotropiceffect. And essentially what
that means is that human beingsare attracted to positive energy
and repelled by negative energy.
We flourish when we're exposedto positive energy, and we
really struggle when we areexposed to negative energy. And
this also applies. There's a lotof complementary evidence as
(16:19):
well when it comes to emotions,when we're in positive moods,
positive states, then we canmaximize our potential when
we're in more negative emotionalstates. Well, this tends to
undermine our performance. Andit's not surprising that time
and time again, research showsus that when we do good when we
make a positive difference insomeone's lives, then that
(16:42):
really elevates our level ofhappiness. It elevates our level
of life satisfaction, and welove to support the people
around us.
If you frequently haveindigestion and gas pain, eat
more apples. That's becauseapples are rich in buterate, a
(17:03):
compound that soothes thegastrointestinal inflammation
that triggers gas and bloating.
According to scientists, eatingthree apples a week will prevent
indigestion and belly pain for60% of us. For the best results,
stick with cooked apples, likeapplesauce or oven baked apples.
That's because heat breaks downthe simple sugars also known as
(17:23):
fructose in apples, which helpsprevent the growth of gas
producing gut bacteria moreintelligence for your health.
From positive psychology coachand best selling author, Dr
Craig Dowden, and if someoneasked you, what do you want to
hear first, the good news or thebad news? What would you say?
Well, most people have a badnews bias, which makes us prefer
(17:45):
to hear negative informationfirst. So I asked Dr Dowden
where this bias comes from.
The reason why we prefer to getthe worst news today is because
now, okay, I know that I'm whatI'm dealing with, and so when I
know the worst case scenario,now I can take action. It's also
(18:05):
important to recall that from aevolutionary perspective, we are
hardwired to scan ourenvironment for threats, and
there are decades of researchshowing that bad is stronger
than good. If I lose $20 ithurts a lot more than winning
$20 now, when it comes todealing with other people and
(18:30):
how do I break bad news to them,the best thing that we can
possibly do is ask the mostimportant people in our lives
how they want to engage indifficult conversation with us,
such as when I have to give badnews or share something that I'm
unhappy about. As an example, Ican say, hey, Craig, sometimes
(18:55):
there may be some tough thingsfor us to talk about. Maybe I've
got some disappointing news toshare with you. How would you
like for me to approach thatconversation with you? What's
great is, is that it takes theguesswork out of that
conversation, and now both of usare engaged in a collaborative
discussion about how we cannavigate the trickiest
(19:17):
situations in our relationship.
What can make a man take morerisks while driving if their GPS
speaks in a woman's voice. In astudy, men were put in driving
simulators and given directionsby either a female or a male pre
recorded voice, and the men whoheard a female voice were 40%
(19:37):
more likely to accelerate when astop light turned from green to
yellow instead of slowing downand stopping. The researchers
believe that men are inclined toshow off and take risks when
listening to female voices, andthe study concluded with advice
to car manufacturers to makefemale GPS voices sound less
(19:57):
feminine, to make driving.
Safer. Here's an email Ireceived at Connie at
intelligence for yourhealth.com. It comes from
Brandon Mikulski, who writes,I've been having bad morning
breath lately, and I'm wonderingwhat's causing it. Brandon, when
you wake up, take a look at yourtongue. If it looks like someone
painted it white, yellow ororange, you could have acid
(20:20):
reflux that's acting up when yousleep. This happens when a valve
in the bottom of your esophagusopens spontaneously, sending the
contents of your stomach backup. It leaves your tongue coated
in digestive acids, and it givesyou severe dragon breath. Most
acid reflux can be treated withover the counter medication and
(20:42):
by avoiding acidic foods likecitrus coffee and spicy foods.
If that doesn't do the trick,see your doctor, because chronic
acid reflux can lead toesophageal cancer. Thank you for
your email. Brandon, I hope thishelps. Okay, listen to this, the
average person hasn't written byhand for over 40 days, and
(21:03):
according to a new survey, mostof us say that when we do write
by hand, it's just a sloppy noteto ourselves like a grocery
list. Experts say we're writingless because we're sending more
messages by text, but studiesshow that writing by hand is one
of the easiest ways to boostmemory and creativity. That's
(21:24):
because it reinforcesinformation we've learned and
stimulates the part of our brainthat processes thoughts. Sales
of non alcoholic beverages havesurged over 400% so are they
safe for kids to drink? Dr MollyBowring is an instructor at the
Stanford Prevention ResearchCenter, and she is not in favor
(21:46):
of kids drinking non alcoholicbeers or other mocktails. It's
not for fear of intoxication.
It's because it can turn into aform of unconscious role
playing. The drinks contain alot of the same cues as alcohol,
like flavor, look, smell, andsometimes even have the same
(22:07):
brand as alcoholic beverages,and non alcoholic beverages can
prime kids to drink the realthing. Surveys of elementary,
middle and high school studentsin Japan found that about 25%
said they were drinking nonalcoholic beverages. And
students who drank non alcoholicdrinks were more interested in
(22:27):
drinking alcohol than those whodid not drink them. And in
Australia, a study looked atteens between the ages of 15 and
17, more than a third had triedzero alcohol drinks, and those
who had were more than twice aslikely to have also drunk
alcohol compared with thosewho'd never had them. So even
(22:47):
though it may seem harmless,keep kids away from non
alcoholic beverages. Moreintelligence for your help from
certified positive psychologycoach, Dr Craig Dowden, if you'd
like to know more about him,check out craigdoughton.com and
in his latest book, a time tolead, he talks about the
importance of using activelistening to build stronger
(23:08):
relationships with others. ButDr Dowden says active listening
isn't just about payingattention to the words others
are using. It's also aboutpaying attention to their body
language. So I asked him forsome key body language signs to
look for.
Body language is a powerfulinterpretational tool, and is an
essential element of activelistening. So if someone leans
(23:30):
back from the table, if we'remeeting at a coffee table, and
someone's lean back, push back,or another classic one, perhaps
folding their arms, furrowingtheir brow, perhaps their face
gets flushed. These are allimportant signals to recognize
in terms of perhaps I'vetriggered something, and what's
important is we can check in onthat and ask a question. So as
(23:53):
an example, I can say, Craig, Inoticed you folded your arms or
pushed back. Was there somethingthat I shared or the question
that I asked that didn't landwell, and now the person has the
opportunity to clarify that nonverbal signal that they've just
sent to you. And they may say,oh, no, I'm I was a little cold
and I and I was just folding myarms to keep warm thin. Or they
(24:18):
may say, Well, I didn't like howyou said x, and now, once again,
by asking that question, we havea chance to deepen the
relationship, clarify anymisunderstandings that may have
happened, and I can understandbetter where the other person is
coming from.
That's it for our show today,our special intelligence for
your health with Connie Selig.
Edition of the podcast, I'm GibGerard. Don't forget to rate
(24:40):
comment and subscribe on Applepodcast. Spotify, wherever you
get your podcast. It helps usout a lot. And also, you can
reach out to us on social media.
All of our links are listed downin the show notes. We try to
respond to every DM, everymention of the show, because
ultimately, we do the show foryou guys. So thank you so much
for listening. You.
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