The audio we listen to can change how we feel about ourselves.

Researchers from the University of Oxford divided 135 participants into five groups. Each group heard a different set of audio instructions. Two of these groups listened to audio that encouraged participants to be kind to themselves. The remaining groups listened to audio that was more critical.

Researchers found that after only 11 minutes, the positive-recording groups reported a greater sense of self-compassion and appeared more relaxed. The negative-recording participants were visually distressed and displayed an increased heart rate.

This study demonstrates that the words we expose ourselves to, in recordings or in real life, have a powerful effects on our mental and physical wellbeing.

Source:

University of Exeter (2019, February 6). Being kind to yourself has mental and physical benefits. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 21, 2019 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/02/190206200344.htm

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Taylor Bennett

Taylor Bennett

Taylor Bennett is the Content Development Manager at Thriveworks. She devotes herself to distributing important information about mental health and wellbeing, writing mental health news and self-improvement tips daily. Taylor received her bachelor’s degree in multimedia journalism, with minors in professional writing and leadership from Virginia Tech. She is a co-author of Leaving Depression Behind: An Interactive, Choose Your Path Book and has published content on Thought Catalog, Odyssey, and The Traveling Parent.

Check out “Leaving Depression Behind: An Interactive, Choose Your Path Book” written by AJ Centore and Taylor Bennett."

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