I hate feeling cold—and unfortunately, I feel that way a lot. You, too?

Sure, some physical activity can dispel a chill pretty fast…but you can’t do a quick set of jumping jacks when you’re, say, at the office, in a restaurant or on a bus.

So you’ll be tickled to learn about a nifty trick for warming up using only your brain.

The secret is to tap into the power of nostalgia. Here’s how it works…

Nostalgia is defined as a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past. When waxing nostalgic, people typically reminisce fondly about personally meaningful relationships, places, things and/or events from their past.

Previous studies have shown that nostalgia helps maintain psychological comfort, so some clever researchers set out to learn whether nostalgia also can help maintain physical comfort. To do that, they set up five studies…

WARM THOUGHTS, WARM HANDS

In the first study, participants tracked their feelings of nostalgia over 30 days. Results showed that they felt more nostalgic on colder days. In the second study, participants were randomly assigned to sit in a room that would be perceived by most people to be a little cold (68°F)…or a room that was comfortable (75°F)…or a room that was warm (82°F). Then they rated how nostalgic they felt for yesteryear’s friends, pets, family homes, TV shows, etc.—and those in the cold room were found to be feeling the most nostalgic. Explanation: Nostalgia, an emotion with a strong connotation of warmth, is triggered by coldness—a phenomenon that reflects the brain’s attempt to restore the body’s comfort!

Now here’s where it gets really intriguing…

The third study investigated music’s well-known ability to evoke nostalgia. And, in fact, volunteers who said that music made them feel nostalgic also said it made them feel physically warmer.

In the fourth study, all participants sat in a cold room (61°F) and were asked to think about either an event that made them feel nostalgic or an ordinary event from their past. Then each person tried to guess the temperature of the room. Results: Those who had been recalling nostalgic events judged the room to be two degrees warmer, on average, than those who had been recalling ordinary events—indicating that nostalgia actually modulated people’s perception of temperature.

For the fifth and final study, participants again were asked to recall either a nostalgic event or an ordinary one…then they each placed a hand in ice-cold water and held it there as long as they could stand it. You guessed it! On average, those whose thoughts had been nostalgic tolerated the icy water 32% longer—for 26 seconds, on average, compared with less than 20 seconds for those who did not feel nostalgic.

Give yourself a warm glow: Next time you’re feeling chilled, why not try bringing to mind a favorite nostalgic memory from the past—of hitting a game-winning home run in Little League…or buying your first prom dress…getting together with your best friend as a young adult…or holding your child or grandchild for the first time. Such thoughts will warm not only your heart, but also your body.