Up How Positive Outlook Can Transform Our Health and Aging

What if there was a part of you that held the key to how fast and how well you age? What if it could not only improve your health but also make you feel better? In Up, physician and NIH-funded researcher Hilary Tindle reveals that our outlook - the unique patterns of thinking and feeling that drive so much of our lives - has the potential to influence every facet of our health, from how quickly we recover from illness or surgery to whether we become depressed or suffer a heart attack, stroke, or cancer. Our outlook grows and evolves with us from childhood to old age, and what's more - we have the power to change it.

Diagnosed with a serious congenital heart condition at age twenty, Tindle made a complete recovery, only later wondering whether her instinct to play the hope card might have made the difference between life and death. Inspired to pursue the question further, she took it into her practice and research to make some compelling discoveries about the science of outlook and aging. What we call aging is a series of biochemical processes within our cells, resulting in telltale signs in our organs and visible changes in our bodies. Research (including Tindle's own) has confirmed the links between outlook and aging on all three of these levels.

Upidentifies several kinds of outlook, including optimism and pessimism, revealing the nuances, and inviting us to discover our own starting point. A self-described 'struggling' optimist, Tindle encourages each of us to find the one of many varieties of optimism that suits us, and guides us throught the process of reaching our desired outlook destination. Through the 7 Steps of Attitudinal Change, Tindle provides tools to improve other aspects of our outlook, illustrating how even small adjustments can make a big impact on health and aging. She incorporates traditional medical and psychological therapies, as well as alternative approaches such as guided imagery, to help readers root out negative thinking and adopt practical approaches to better health.

Prescriptive, accessible, and rich with intriguing case studies and research, Up puts forward nothing less than a paradigm shift in how we age and treat disease, giving the most struggling optimists among us a real chance for hope.

Praise for Up

'The latest scientific research confirms that developing a sense that you can make things better in the future is a key first step to improved health. The trick is how to do this, Upis Dr. Hilary Tindle's excellent guide to making the turn to that important new direction. It's a path not only to better hlalth but to a happier life.' Howard S. Friedman, PH.D., author of The Longevity Project

'Wonderfully written, wise, and ultimately practical book for helping people age in a meaningful and healthy manner. Full of personal examples, exercises, and easy-to-digest research findings,Upwill help you understand how powerfully a positive and accepting attitude can impact your body and mind.' Kristin Neff, PH.D., author of Self-Compassion

'In this groundbreaking book, Dr. Hilary Tindle takes us on a fascinating journey to a hidden spring of health and longevity - our attitude or outlook. Upreveals that we have the power to change our outlook to become more positive (and realistic!). Dr. Tindle makes the case with compelling scientific evidence and delightful stories, and offers practical strategies for moving ourselves in the right direction. This intelligent, warmhearted book will help you gently take back control of your own health and well-being.' Christopher Germer, PH.D., author of The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion

'Upis as hopeful as it is helpful. . . .Dr. Tindle reminds us that the power to substantially improve our