Write It Out
Just One Thing - with Michael Mosley
BBC
4.6 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 8 March 2023
⏱️ 15 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
When things go wrong, you might think that focussing on the bad and writing about them would make things worse. But in some cases, the opposite seems to be true. Michael Mosley investigates a technique called “expressive writing”, a simple tip which can have surprising benefits for your health. The idea is to set aside 15 minutes to write about any worries that keep you up at night, showing many benefits - from improving lung function in people with asthma, to improving scores on exams and cognitive tests. In this episode, Michael Mosley speaks to the man who kick-started it all, Professor James Pennebaker from the University of Texas, Austin. He tells Michael about his original findings in the 1980s and the astonishing link between expressive writing, reduced doctor’s visits, your immune system and how quickly your body heals wounds…
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds. |
| 0:02.0 | Hello everyone, it's Michelle Vassage, and welcome to my podcast Rule Breakers. |
| 0:06.0 | But you sit down and be bright. |
| 0:08.0 | Celebrating women's voices. |
| 0:10.0 | You're very welcome to now you're asking with me, Marion Keys Keys and me Tara Flynn. |
| 0:14.8 | This is juicy. No limits, no limits. |
| 0:17.2 | Celebrating women. |
| 0:18.8 | Where to be a woman is the podcast celebrating the best of women's well-being. We're on a quest to find out |
| 0:24.4 | where in the world women are living their best lives. Celebrate yourself. |
| 0:28.8 | Lesson on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:40.0 | BBC Sounds, We would all like some quick and simple ways to improve our health, but we're inundated with |
| 0:45.1 | often conflicting advice. |
| 0:47.3 | So if you were going to try just one thing to improve your mental and physical well-being, what should it be? |
| 0:53.6 | Perhaps the martial art of Tai Chi |
| 0:56.2 | to improve your immune system. |
| 0:58.3 | Maybe a few nuts to slow aging. |
| 1:01.0 | Or how about cleaning your teeth to give your brain a boost. |
| 1:05.0 | I'm Dr Michael Mosley and this is just one thing where each episode will explore |
| 1:11.0 | one thing you can start doing today to improve your health or life in ways you might not expect. |
| 1:20.0 | I do a lot of writing in my day job as a journalist and an author. But today, sitting at my computer, |
| 1:26.8 | I'm going to try something very different. What I'm writing now is not for publication |
| 1:31.6 | or for sharing with anyone else. |
... |
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