ABSTRACT
As a powerful driver of health behavior change, positive emotions need to be leveraged in clinical practice coaching, lifestyle medicine and healthcare broadly by each healthcare team member. Evidence is mounting that positive emotions can promote healthy behaviors and, in turn, the pillars of lifestyle medicine – a predominantly plant-based eating pattern, physical activity, adequate and high-quality sleep, avoiding risky substance use, managing stress, and social connection – can increase positive emotions. Moreover, positive emotions offer direct physiologic benefits, serving as additional, independent health protective factors. Hence positive psychology interventions (PPIs) that lead to subjective and psychological well-being should be harnessed in both self-care and healthcare. Healthy lifestyles combined with positive psychology habits have the potential to achieve positive health, a state of total well-being that includes physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual health for greater longevity, enhanced quality of life, and increased capacity to bounce back and grow from inevitable adverse life experiences. We can transform healthcare and self-care to facilitate positive health beyond that achieved by traditional health practices.
