It was Buddha who said “your worst enemy cannot harm you as much as your own unguarded thoughts". Now science appears to have proved him right, after new researched showed that negative thoughts can be physiologically harmful, while positive thinking calms the heart rate and even boosts the immune system.

The findings suggest that taking time to think positive thoughts about oneself can make a significant health difference.

In a study carried out by academics at the universities of Exeter and Oxford, 135 healthy were divided into five groups and played a different set of audio instructions.

The team took physical measurements of heart rate and sweat response and asked participants to report how they were feeling.

Questions included how safe they felt, how likely they were to be kind to themselves and how connected they felt to others.

The two groups whose instructions encouraged them to be kind to themselves not only reported feeling more self-compassion and connection with others, but also showed a bodily response consistent with feelings of relaxation and safety.

Their heart rates dropped along with the variation in length of time between their heartbeats - a healthy sign of a heart that can respond flexibly to changing situations. They also showed lower sweat response.