Health Intentions: Building Habits That Support Your Care

This page used to tell stories of people who healed chronic illnesses and injuries through manifestation. Those stories were not verified and should not have been published. We have removed them.

To be plain: manifestation, visualization and affirmations do not cure or treat illness. If you are unwell, see a doctor. If you are being treated, keep following your treatment. Nothing on this page is medical advice, and no mindset practice is a reason to delay, change or stop care.

What the evidence says about positive thinking and illness

The idea that the right attitude can beat disease is popular and has been studied closely. A review of the research on cancer concluded that claims about a "fighting spirit" extending survival, or psychological interventions slowing the disease through the immune system, were not supported by the evidence (Coyne & Tennen, 2010).

That finding is kinder than it sounds. It means that people who get sicker did not fail to think positively enough. Nobody causes their illness with their thoughts, and nobody should be made to feel that fear, anger or sadness is harming their recovery. Those feelings are a normal response to being ill.

Where intention is useful: everyday behaviour

Much of long-term health comes down to things done regularly: moving, sleeping, eating reasonably, taking medication as prescribed, going to appointments. These are behaviours, and behaviour is where intention setting and planning have good evidence.

Make if-then plans

Linking an action to a specific moment makes it much more likely to happen. Across 94 tests, plans in the form "if X, then I will Y" had a medium-to-large effect on reaching goals (Gollwitzer & Sheeran, 2006).

• "If I finish my morning coffee, then I walk around the block."
• "If it is 10 pm, then I plug my phone in outside the bedroom."
• "If I brush my teeth at night, then I take my tablet." (Agree any medication routine with your doctor or pharmacist.)

Think about the obstacle

Pleasant daydreams about being fit and healthy feel good and, on their own, tend to go with less effort (Oettingen & Mayer, 2002). The WOOP method adds the missing part (Oettingen, 2012):

• Wish: walk for twenty minutes five days a week
• Outcome: more energy in the afternoon
• Obstacle: when it rains I tell myself tomorrow will do
• Plan: "If it is raining, then I walk the stairs in my building for ten minutes."

Track it

People who record their progress are more likely to reach their goals, and writing it down adds to the effect (Harkin et al., 2016). A tick in a journal is enough.

Give it time

In a study that followed people adopting a daily health behaviour, the middle participant took about 66 days for it to feel automatic, with a range from 18 to 254 days. Missing a single day did not noticeably set people back (Lally et al., 2010).

Using visualization sensibly

Mental rehearsal has a real, moderate effect on performing the thing you rehearse (Driskell, Copper & Moran, 1994). For health habits, that means picturing the routine: shoes by the door, the route, the moment you would normally stop and keep going instead.

If you are in rehabilitation after an injury or surgery, ask your physiotherapist whether imagery has a place in your programme. It is sometimes used alongside physical therapy, under professional guidance. Do not use it in place of the exercises you were given.

Relaxation, slow breathing and calm imagery can help some people feel less tense. Feeling calmer is worthwhile in itself. It is not the same as treating a condition.

A gentle four-week start

• Week 1: Choose one small habit. Write it as an intention about what you do, and make one if-then plan.
• Week 2: Do it daily and tick it off. Rehearse it for a minute each morning.
• Week 3: Run WOOP on the obstacle that has shown up most.
• Week 4: Review. Keep it, shrink it or change the cue. Add a second habit only when the first is easy.

If you have a medical condition, are pregnant or are returning to exercise after a long break, check with your doctor before changing your activity or diet.

About health affirmations

Affirmations such as "my body is healing" will not change what is happening in your body, and it is fine if they ring false. If you like using affirmations, choose ones about how you treat yourself: "I take my health seriously," "I can do the next small thing," "I am allowed to rest."

A short gratitude note has modest, documented effects on mood (Emmons & McCullough, 2003). Use it if it helps. Skip it on days when it feels like pressure to be cheerful.

When to get help now

If you have symptoms that worry you, contact a doctor. If you are in crisis or thinking about harming yourself, contact your local emergency number or a crisis line in your country straight away. An app is not the right place for that.

Using Manifestive for this

• Write your habit as a manifest and read it in the morning.
• Use the journal to tick off the day and note how you felt.
• Let your streak be a record of showing up, not a score to protect at all costs.
• Record your if-then plans as affirmations in your own voice.

Manifestive is free to start on iOS and Android.