Happiness is Good Medicine
https://mailchi.mp/amethysthousehealing/wisdom-coachs-corner-the-real-holy-grail
How do you stay looking so youthful? You always seem to have so much energy! Are you 40+? Listen up - dump the trends and do this instead…
According to Web-Wire, in the United States alone, the self-help publishing industry as a whole raked in over twelve billion dollars last year. They offered advice on everything from diet to forest bathing as the new well-being ‘silver bullet’. You would think with all of those dollars spent in 2025 that most Americans would put in a positive report when it comes to overall mental health. Instead, according to the last NHIS health survey just over 30% of Americans (about 100 million) reported depression, with another 30% reporting regular feelings of anxiety. But why?
As life coach (wisdom coach) much of my job is to help people move from where they are to where they want to be. Many of my clients present with wanting to have more energy, feel younger, be pain free, experience less fear and more well-being. In 2015 when I started the Wisdom Coach path I needed to answer this question for myself before I could start helping others and that question was if we spend so much money teaching ourselves better ways of being how come we aren’t experiencing more results?
To answer this question for myself, I started to look at my own history as well as family members and personal role models. I accounted for messages coming from mainstream medicine (clinically referred to as allopathic medicine) as well as experiences I’ve had while participating as a practitioner within the alternative wellness space. In my Reiki practice I’ve encountered fit, objectively beautiful people who work out 2-5 hours or more 5+ days a week who still struggle with sleep and overthinking; some who are dreaming of procedures and products that will make them prettier or healthier. I’ve also encountered people of all walks of life who are denying themselves things they need and want in order to check a box or fill a prescription placed on them by someone in authority. Sometimes the authority is culture or social pressure and sometimes its a spouse, a boss or a mentor.
What I discovered personally, is that, in practice, the people around me who have stayed the healthiest into their golden years are not practicing all of the things the medical, therapeutic and fitness industries are obsessing over but they are all doing this one very important thing that has nothing to do with doctors, nurses, personal trainers or psychiatrists.
Take the Wilsons*, for example, family friends whom I’ve known for decades - they are anything but the industry standard for later life health practices. If Lydia has been to a gym since 1980 or stepped on a treadmill since 2005 I’d be shocked. Her husband Hugh has worked to bring his weight down over the past few years due to personal choice (rather than medical or social influence) but he still exceeds traditional weight charts that put a “healthy woman” at 135 pounds and a “healthy man” at 155 pounds. Neither half of the couple participates in socially promoted visual trim like botox, face peels or fads like vitamin drips, yoga, spiritual or health related retreats etc. even though they could afford them if they wanted to. Lydia doesn’t wear make up and most of the time at 78 years old yet her skin still looks about where it did in her 40s. Neither of them puts too much stock in the latest trends on anything, let alone health, but somehow between the two of them together at 78 and 82 respectively they manage to have only one moderate health issue of record between them.
I started to think about how they live, where they put their time and money instead and I landed on these categories: Leisure, Travel, Family and Home rather than Exercise Studios, Med Spas, Diets, and trendy ‘get fixed quick’ strategies. You are more likely to catch up with them on a summer trip to Europe or a day of wine tasting in Napa. (Yes, they have some alcohol in their daily routine and they are still thriving better than many counter parts.) If there is a choice to clean up around the house all day or go to the theater with friends it will definitely be option two. They also have each other - a happy marriage - built on way more than appearances and chemistry. They tend to have reasonable expectations of themselves and others and it is rare to hear them ‘shoulding’ or ‘musting’ themselves ever - to the point that their millennial daughter sometimes complains they ‘should’ help out with the grandchild more frequently. [They do plenty of course … on their own time and schedule… only when they want to.]
So where are theses societal rule breakers after years of not hitting the gym and having a glass of wine here and there? They don’t get sick any more than the average 30 year old annually and neither one of them has experienced any of the dreaded illnesses that seem too common today - any type of cancer, autoimmune disorder or significant heart condition. Both are mentally healthy and at 78+ still have a decent outlook on life, even in these difficult times. They frequently hear ‘you look great what are you using’ from peers who on the hunt for fads and trends that will keep them looking and feeling young.
Before you say “must be good genes” or “they are just lucky outliers” consider the secret ingredient instead. Lydia and Hugh have been using the secret ingredient for years without even trying! Have you guessed this magical solution?
The Wisdom Coach’s Recipe…
The recipe starts with “no” and finishes with “this is what I want”; it dumps all the ‘shoulds’ and ‘musts’ and gets really selfish in a good way. But you can’t start right there because if you could start there all those self help books would have worked for you!
Keep reading for the Wisdom Coach’s formula:
First, determine your happiness quotient. If it is hard to do this on your own (as it is for many) you can enlist a therapist, life coach or energy healer to help if you need assistance.
1 Gain awareness and then acceptance around what makes you happy and feel good.
2 Acknowledge that happiness is a subjective state that you create. It is a choice.
3 Take time to calibrate your happiness standard (don’t go with the ones you see in self help books and trendy blogs unless they actually suit you)
Notice I said “your”. If you go by what an ad said, what a social post claimed or let your friend tell you what will make you happy, you may as well give up now because you are not going to produce that natural chemistry in your body that is going to have you glowing with health in no time.
4. To find your happiness quotient you are going to need to be radically honest with yourself.
If you lie to yourself about what makes you happy your calibration is going to be way off. No amount of listening to doctors, health gurus and marketing agents who claim two hours at the gym and a body that functions like a well oiled machine is going to make you happy is going to help, unless exercise and physical appearance is actually part of your happiness quotient.
The secret is that you must accurately calculate your own recipe - the realrecipe - the one that creates the chemistry of “happiness” “wellness” in you - the one that releases plenty of endorphins, serotonin and oxytocin from your natural pharmacy.
You see where I’m going right?
Yes, what I realized by studying a set of people who are quite healthy despite breaking most industry and social health norms in the meme and blogosphere, is that happiness may be a much bigger factor in long term genuine health than allopathic medicine acknowledges.
Consider “The Lifestyle Loop” - biology isn't a one-way street. Neurochemically, happy people are statistically much more likely to get high-quality sleep, exercise regularly through genuine action rather than appointment or force and have a better outlook on life. This creates a powerful positive feedback loop: healthy biology fosters a clearer mind, and a happier mind protects the body with it’s own chemistry bank (instead of needing pills).
Here is a real scientific inside look at the biological mechanics connecting a happy mind to a healthy body.
1. The Chemical Toolkit of Happiness
When you experience positive emotions, your brain releases a specific cocktail of neurotransmitters and hormones. While we often think of these as just "feeling good," they double as systemic health regulators:
Dopamine & Serotonin: These neurotransmitters don't just regulate mood. Serotonin plays a massive role in gut health and vascular tone, while dopamine helps modulate motor control and your body's internal reward pathways.
Oxytocin: Often called the "bonding hormone," oxytocin is also a natural cardioprotectant. It triggers the release of nitric oxide in blood vessels, which dilates (widens) them, directly lowering blood pressure and reducing strain on the heart.
Endorphins: Acting as natural pain relievers, endorphins reduce physical stress signaling in the nervous system.
2. The Biological "Shield" Against Stress
To understand how happiness protects long-term health, it helps to look at its relationship with its opposite: chronic stress.
When you are chronically stressed or unhappy, your adrenal glands flood your system with cortisol and adrenaline. In short bursts, this is fine. But over years, high cortisol levels act like battery acid on your tissues—causing arterial stiffness, suppressing immune function, and disrupting sleep.
Hormones produced by happiness act as a biological brake system on this process:
Lowering the Inflammatory Blueprint
Chronic inflammation is the underlying driver of many age-related diseases, including heart disease, diabetes, and more. Studies show that individuals with higher positive affect have lower circulating levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein (CRP). By keeping these markers low, happiness literally reduces the rate of cellular wear and tear.
Cellular Aging and Telomeres
At the ends of our chromosomes are protective caps called telomeres, which shorten as we age. When telomeres get too short, cells can no longer divide and they die. Emerging research in psychoneuroimmunology shows that chronic stress and depression accelerate this shortening, whereas high life satisfaction and positive traits are linked to longer telomeres and higher levels of telomerase (the enzyme that repairs them). Happiness quite literally slows down aging at a genetic level.
3. Systemic Long-Term Health OutcomesWhen you track these chemical differences over decades, they translate into starkly different medical outcomes:
Cardiovascular
Lower heart rate, reduced cortisol, and oxytocin-induced blood vessel dilation. Up to a 30% reduction in coronary heart disease and stroke risk.
Immune System
Increased production of antibodies (like secretory IgA) and enhanced Natural Killer (NK) cell activity. Increased resistance to respiratory infections and faster wound healing.
Metabolic
Better insulin sensitivity and regulated glucose metabolism. Lower incidence of type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome.
Conclusion? A naturally maintained positive happiness based life style loop may have more to offer when it comes to well being than the latest trends, big pharma or your general practitioner and that taking time to sit at calibrate your true happiness quotient in the starting place.
So the next time you see that woman walk by on the street, the one who looks half her probable age but you can tell it’s in a natural way and you think ‘I want that too’ consider starting with the secret weapon - honor yourself and choose to be happy on your terms.
*This article is for educational purposes only and should not be used as medical advice
*This article does not suggest people ignore allopathic medicine for acute conditions. If you have an emergency, acute illness or serious condition, please seek immediate care from a licensed clinician
*All names changed for privacy
Staff Writer Elizabeth Black for Amethyst House LLC
©️Elizabeth Black 2026