Your thoughts can affect your health. An article detailing exactly how this happens ran in this section a month ago. In short, positive thoughts stimulate the release of ‘happy’ hormones like serotonin, endorphins and enkephalins, that all have beneficial effects on cell functioning in the body. In contrast, negative, or fear-based thoughts stimulate the release of adrenalin and cortisol which cause stress and sickness in the body.Counsellor Saadia Bean of the Family Intimacy Centre said it’s important to take control of your thoughts as they directly affect how you feel. She categorises feelings as either faith-based or fear-based.Mrs Bean suggests that for good mental and physical health, it’s important to be aware of what you are thinking and how you are feeling. If you are having fear-based thoughts or feelings, her advice is to take note and train your brain to have a faith-based approach. “Feelings are important. Do not ignore them,” she said at a women’s empowerment conference last month. “Our feelings help us to describe experiences in life and give information about what is happening inside of ourselves and inside of others.”She said that feelings help us to understand where we should focus our attention and efforts. Mrs Bean prepared the following list to help us recognise when we are having feelings that can actually hurt or help our bodies. In a recent seminar she advised that we should intentionally guide our thoughts “to extinguish everything negative in our lives”. Recognising that this is easier said than done, she also offered five mechanisms that can help us to take control of what we think.They are:1) Switch all thoughts about problems from what you don’t want to what you want.2) Set goals and spend some time each day thinking about them.3) Feel excitement, fulfillment and satisfaction about goals before they are a reality.4) Read affirmations and goals every day.5) Record gratitude every day. Celebrate everybody, including yourself.