Jeera Shenoy enjoys the mind-calming effects of working in a Boca Raton community garden. Photo provided
By Jan Engoren
From Norman Vincent Peale’s The Power of Positive Thinking to the Dalai Lama’s The Art of Happiness, and songs such as Annie’s (The Sun’ll Come Out) Tomorrow, or Monty Python’s Always Look at the Bright Side of Life, much has been written about the power of optimism.
The Harvard Health newsletter reports that people with an optimistic outlook enjoy healthier and longer lives.
A study published in 2019, in the journal PNAS involving more than 70,000 people, found that those who rated themselves as having high optimism were more likely to live to age 85 or older compared with less optimistic individuals.
And, while an optimistic or pessimistic outlook may be partially genetic, researchers believe that it doesn’t have to be a life sentence — people can learn to improve their outlooks and thus their health outcomes.
Dr. Raphael Wald, a neuro-psychologist with Marcus Neuroscience Institute, part of Baptist Health in Boca Raton, notes that if our minds didn’t play a role in our well-being there would be no such thing as the placebo effect.
“If I get the flu, instead of dwelling on how sick I feel, I think, OK, this is an opportunity for me to rest for a couple of days,” Wald says.
“There’s no other time when I can sit in bed. If I have a positive approach, I feel better faster.”
To improve your cognitive, physical and psychological outlooks, Wald recommends walking at least 30 minutes a day, five days a week.
“Walking is also one of the greatest ways we have to combat, delay or prevent dementia, depression and anxiety and improve heart and overall health,” he says.
For Boca Raton resident Jeera Shenoy, 43, a mother of seven, it wasn’t walking, but gardening that helped her through a difficult period.
Suffering from domestic violence abuse for seven years, she separated from her partner this past year and found healing in gardening.
Due to the abuse and stress, she developed panic attacks, wasn’t able to drive on Interstate 95, couldn’t venture more than a mile from home, would cry, and developed ulcers and gastrointestinal distress.
“Gardening saved me,” Shenoy says. “I turned to gardening and community service to keep me grounded.”
She has a garden plot at the Pearl City Community Garden in Boca Raton and hopes to volunteer along with her oldest daughter at the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center butterfly garden.
A student of biology, Shenoy collects rare herbs and carnivorous plants such as Venus flytraps, pitcher plants and sundews.
She helps homeless people she has met near her garden find low-cost hotels, medication, shoes and electric scooters to use. Under the name “iAmSomebody” on TikTok, she calls herself, “Mom supporting Boca’s homeless with hope.”
And while it can be hard to let go of negativity, Shenoy says, “Go outside. Ground yourself. Look at the sky. Look beyond yourself.”
She recommends tuning out extraneous noise and distractions.
“Turn off the TV and radio, turn off your phone and focus on you and your potential,” she says. “Be thankful, count your blessings and realize what you do have.”
Also counting her blessings is neonatal ICU nurse Kaitlyn Nasto, 22, originally from Boynton Beach and now working at a hospital in Orlando.
Nasto, who knew she wanted to be a nurse since ninth grade at Santaluces High School, works the overnight shift from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. three times a week and sees many sad moments, but also joyful times.
“I fell in love with the NICU,” she says. “I found my calling; I was meant to be here.”
Now, after graduating from UCF College of Nursing and working for a year, Nasto still has the same excitement and passion for her work.
“I feel so grateful to have this job,” she says, while home in Boynton Beach for the holidays.
She’s a firm believer in holistic nursing — incorporating both the mind and body in healing — and believes in staying positive when working with patients and families.
“A positive attitude creates a more positive environment and a better space for healing,” she says. Noting that babies, even premature ones, can pick up on your stress, Nasto believes in “being a light in a time of darkness.”
A spiritual person, Nasto prays to stay grounded, does affirmations, keeps a positive mindset and celebrates the little milestones of her charges.
She remembers a preemie under her care who wasn’t taking a bottle and was in poor health. She wasn’t sure whether the baby would be able to go home without a feeding tube.
She and the parents talked to the baby and encouraged him, stayed positive and celebrated small victories. Over a course of weeks, the baby was able to finish a bottle and go home sans feeding tube.
Nasto, who likes to spend time with family and friends when not working, has this advice for staying positive: “Focus on the things that are meaningful to you and make you happy.”
“We only have one life,” she says. “It’s so much better to have a positive mindset and focus on the joy. It can reduce stress and improve your health.”
Tips to become more positive: Focus on the good; practice gratitude; laugh; spend time with positive people; practice positive self-talk; smile; start each day on a positive note. Your outlook may not change overnight, but with practice and mindfulness, you can learn how to improve it.
Jan Engoren writes about health and healthy living. Send column ideas to jengoren@hotmail.com.
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