The first situation to consider is how thoughts are linked to conditions like depression and stress. An important question is whether the person's thoughts are creating the physical depression or the physical depression is triggering the negative thinking. As for how you can use your mind to help, this can be achieved consciously and subconsciously. Rational therapy, which relies on the conscious mind, is usually effective in pointing out that almost all of our stressful thoughts never come about. A lot of our strongest beliefs and habits are controlled by our subconscious mind, and altering these involves more than rational thinking. Hypnosis is a more efficacious method of altering the unconscious mind, and the results will last much longer.

The placebo effect, which has been scientifically documented many times, illustrates conclusively that thoughts and beliefs affect the physical body in very powerful ways. The placebo effect refers to the phenomenon of a sugar pill causing a therapeutic effect in a test subject because the subject is assured the placebo is really a drug. This is evidence of the link between mind and body, and there are a lot of examples of men and women with a positive outlook being able to convalesce faster from malady and injury. You can also use the power of your mind to help you in reaching your health goals. A famous example of the influence of belief on physical performance took place back in 1954 when Roger Bannister ran a mile in less than four minutes, breaking the "four minute mile" barrier. With the breaking of the supposed "barrier", many other runners followed, and right now the record is about 3:43.

Let's look at one more example of how positive thinking impacts the aging process. Again, the language you hear from a lot of individuals as they grow older is based on not being able to do things, and that aches and pains are inescapable. A new science of longevity demonstrates that our thoughts influence our bodies and can counter many of the so-called "inescapable" effects of aging. Regrettably, many men and women will still hold on to old beliefs about the inescapable "decline" of health in old age, and not pay attention to the benefits of a positive mindset.

So, why not use the power of positive thinking to make your health better and to reach the fitness goals that you set for yourself.