Getting into a state of optimal health is as easy as picking up your favorite book, going to a yoga class, or playing fetch with your dog.
You might be skeptical, but it’s true. I’ll explain how it works in a moment, but first I have a question for you…
When’s the last time you were doing something that felt effortless? Where you felt calm and completely in the moment… totally lost track of time. Your heart beat slower… your breaths were deeper… you felt at ease. You disappeared into a state of concentration and joy…
Some people call this ‘being in the zone’. Personally, I like the positive psychology term ‘flow’. It’s when you’re so happy doing something that you forget about everything else – the fight you had with your co-worker earlier that day, the rude comment you read on Instagram after lunch, the embarrassment that haunted you all day after you called your boss by the wrong name…
Flow leaves you feeling refreshed, recharged, and content.
Well, getting into a state of flow also activates favorable gene expression and helps you achieve an optimal state of health. To understand how it works, you just need some basic information about epigenetics, which you can read here.
So how do you get into a state of flow and activate your optimal health?
You follow your passions. Which means…do the things or hang out with the people that put you in a state of joy, happiness, and gratitude.
For some people, that’s reading fiction. For some, it’s playing drums. For others, it’s building Lego architecture sets. For me, it’s karaoke. (Don’t laugh – I do a mean Sinatra cover!) . These activities turn on emotional states that improve immunity, decrease inflammation, and makes you live longer.
(However, flow is NOT achieved through passive activities like watching TV, playing video games, or endlessly scrolling Instagram. These actions don’t turn your passions on… they turn your mind off and that’s the opposite of what we’re aiming for.)
Tapping into our passion isn’t something many of us do on a daily basis. But it’s not hard. It just takes a little effort to get started.
Here are three easy steps to help you make time for your passions.
- Choose your passion. Think about activities that make you feel excited, playful, childlike.
- Set aside time for it. Schedule 15 minutes on your calendar right now dedicated entirely to enjoying the activity you picked.
- Make it a habit. Choose one day of the week and schedule 15 minutes to enjoy your activity every week for the next 3 months.
If you aren’t sure what your passions are right now, that’s OK.
Because performing random acts of kindness can also activate favorable gene expression and optimal health. It might not be easy to go out and sing karaoke songs with your friends if you haven’t even sung in the shower for years. But you can easily do something small for a coworker or friend today and enjoy the positive impact on your DNA.
Either way, you’ll activate a state of happiness called eudaimonic well-being (a state where your happiness comes from a sense of meaning or purpose… where your happiness comes from inside of you).
Getting into a state of eudaimonic well-being is key. While studying the impact of happiness on gene expression, researchers from the University of North Carolina and UCLA’s Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology discovered this internally based happiness, opposed to hedonic well-being that comes from things outside of the self (cars, money, status) activated lower inflammation and higher antiviral and antibody gene expression.
Activities that bring you a satisfying, internally-based sense of joy activate optimal health but chasing external happiness doesn’t.
So take a minute now and commit to one action – something that puts you in a state of flow or something to brighten someone’s day.
Because ultimately, you’re supposed to enjoy life. Your natural state is joy and health. And it’s easy to take small steps to harness the power of epigenetics to activate favorable gene expression and return your body to that natural state.
To your health,
Dr. Kien
PS – Follow me on Instagram and DM me a screenshot of your calendar after you plan time to enjoy your passion. I’d love to see what you choose to do and I’d love to cheer you on as you take control of your health!
Also check out this short video about how Purpose activates good health…
