Toxic thoughts and emotions create illness

We’ve always known that there’s a close connection between the body and the mind. We’ve all experienced it. That’s why more and more sufferers of chronic physical conditions are referred for counselling, and why, in the UK at least, the ‘talking therapies’ are over subscribed.

Some experts predict that they’ll soon be able to identify people at risk of contracting serious diseases such as cancer from their psychological profiles – others claim they already can.

For instance, in her book, ‘Your Body Speaks Your Mind’[1], Debbie Shapiro suggests there is a direct link between specific attitudes and emotions, and afflictions in specific parts of the body. For example, if you have problems with your ears, it’s because you cannot accept what you’re hearing and subconsciously withdraw energy from the hearing ability. Ear infections denote irritability with what you’re hearing. Eye problems, she writes, indicate that you’re having difficulty accepting what you’re seeing. Short-sightedness suggests introversion; long-sightedness extroversion. Blurred vision denotes confusion, and so on.

She is not alone in believing that it’s possible to link thinking and behaviour patterns to specific parts of the body:

‘Any distress of the mind slows down the liver. Living in the past, condemning one’s self, and regret of the past affects the liver…. Resentment and pettiness are reflected in the liver, since a healthy liver casts out the untrue and holds fast to the good.’ Catherine Ponder[2]

 ‘The lungs represent our capacity to take in and give out life. Problems with the lungs usually mean we are afraid to take in life, or perhaps we feel we do not have the right to live fully.’ Louise Hay[3]

‘There’s a surprising correlation between one’s choice of words and the ailments one suffers: ‘That makes me sick!’ (linked to ulcers); ‘I made a rash decision (linked to skin problems); ‘It’s doing my head in’ (headaches)….’ Arielle Essex[4]

Far fetched? Then consider this:

The body is constantly regenerating itself. Every second more than a million cells in your body die and are replaced with new cells. The cells of your heart, skeleton, liver, skin and digestive system are replaced every three to six months, and even the cells in your brain are constantly regenerating. Some say that every cell is replaced at least every two years – some say it’s more frequent than that.

We know through the work of cellular biologist Bruce Lipton[5] and others that every cell in the body has intelligence and responds to our ‘instructions’ (thoughts, mental images and beliefs). As they reproduce, they respond to the pattern we give them. This way, every emotion is locked into our physical makeup.

‘I’ve hurt my arm’ could be reinterpreted as ‘A hurt inside me is manifesting in my arm’. If you notice yourself thinking, ‘You’re a pain in the neck’ or ‘this is a real headache’, don’t be surprised if you get one.  Phrases like, I can’t stomach this,’ and ‘It’s too much for me to shoulder’ have obvious repercussions. When you talk like this you’re sending a direct message from the brain to that part of the body via the nervous system.

If you’re a generally positive person, the new cells are likely to be healthy and you’re improving your chances of a vibrant good health. If you’re generally negative in outlook, the new cells are weakened and you may even be curtaining your lifespan.

Over time, your body becomes a walking autobiography, because every physical state has an underlying non-physical state. One’s thought affect the shape of your face! The ancient art of physiognomy (face reading) is based on this premise. Indeed, the idea that a person’s character can be seen in his face is more or less taken as given around the world. Research shows that such traits as honesty, social dominance and aggression are indeed linked to facial features[6].

Over a hundred years ago, Sigmund Freud wrote: ‘Often repressed emotions will manifest either as behavioural problems or physical problems’. Although widely derided at the time, the evidence is now overwhelming.

©David L. Preston 24.3.2017

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[1] Deb Shapiro, Your Body Speaks Your Mind, 1996,  Piatkus Books,  ISBN 978-0749915957

[2] The Healing Secrets of the Ages, pg 240, De Vorss Publications, 1967, ISBN 0-875 16-550-8

[3] You Can Heal Your Life, pg 128, Axis Publishing, 1987, ISBN 1 870845 01 3

[4] The Eight Factors of Healing, pg 30, www.practicalmiracles.com, 2009

[5] Bruce Lipton, The Biology of Belief, Hay House Inc, 2008, ISBN 978-1401923112

[6] See The Economist, 21st August 2008

Psycho-neuro immunology

We’ve always known that there’s a connection between the body and the mind – if indeed they are separate at all. But for hundreds of years Western medicine ignored – even denied – this connection. But since the 1980s all this has changed thanks to the relatively new science of Psycho-Neuro Immunology or PNI. The term ‘psychoneuroimmunology’ was coined in 1975 by two researchers at New York’s University of Rochester, psychologist Robert Adey and Nicholas Cohen, an immunologist.

PNI researchers study the interactions between the nervous system and immune systems and the relationships between mental processes and health. They look for the exact mechanisms by which specific brain-immunity effects are achieved. And they’re finding them – tiny contacts which connect the nerves of the brain directly to the immune system through the nervous system. This is physical, biochemical proof that our thoughts and emotions are communicated straight to the immune system.

Science is telling us that the central nervous system extends to every cell in the body via chemical receptors and neurotransmitters. It no longer makes sense to think in terms of the traditional mind-body split.

The evidence exists at several biological levels. The immune system and the brain – the two major biological adaptive systems of the body – talk to each other through signalling pathways during an immune response. Two major pathway systems are involved in this cross-talk: the hypothalmic-pituitary-adrenal axis) and the sympathetic nervous system (SNS). This process is essential for maintaining equilibrium.

Their preliminary research showed that a signal via the nervous system affected immune function in rats. In 1981 Dr David Felten discovered a network of nerves in humans leading to blood vessels as well as cells of the immune system. This discovery provided one of the first indications of how neuro-immune interaction occurs. Ader, Cohen and Felten went on to edit the groundbreaking book Psychoneuroimmunology in 1981, which presented the evidence that the brain and immune system represent a single, integrated system of defence.

In 1985, neuropharmacologist Dr Candace Pert showed that neuropeptides and neurotransmitters act directly upon the immune system in close association with emotions, and suggested mechanisms through which emotions and immunology are interdependent. Showing that the immune and endocrine systems are modulated not only by the brain but also by the central nervous system has had an enormous impact on how we understand emotions, as well as disease.

PNI has continued to develop. There is now sufficient data to conclude that psychological and social factors such as stress lead to actual health changes by altering the immune function. The strongest evidence is in the areas of wounds and infections and evidence across other health conditions and diseases is growing.

Influencing the body using the mind

Following the success of two global best sellers, ‘Cosmic Ordering’[1] and ‘The Secret’[2], there’s been a great deal of discussion in the media about an ancient spiritual Law commonly called the Law of Attraction. It is enshrined in Buddhism, Taoism and both the Vedic and Hebrew scriptures. King Solomon is quoted, ‘For as <a man> thinketh in his heart, so is he,’[3] a message reiterated in the New Testament.

At first glance the impression given by these modern versions is that you can eradicate disease, enjoy perfect health, acquire massive riches and perform miracles just by asking the ‘universe’ for what you want and believing without question that it’s already yours. Let the universe take care of the details. When the time is right, you will receive exactly what you asked for.

In the context of healing, of course, nothing is ever that simple. Sure, the same universe that makes a person unwell also has the means to cure them. When the right causes are laid, the right effects surely follow.

The problem is, we are never in control of all the causes. Some, yes. Others, no. You can eat nothing but the right foods, exercise, regularly detox, control your thoughts by denying illness and affirming health, constantly assure yourself that you are fit and well, young and healthy, and still contract a seriously illness or die in an accident or terrorist attack. The physical and mental disciplines you follow will massively increase your chances of good health, but they can’t guarantee it.

Give yourself the best chance. Adopt a positive, cheerful frame of mind. ‘See’ yourself happy and kind. Adopt sensible habits. PNI shows that this is the best way of enjoying optimum health and dying young at a great age!

[1] Barbara Mohr, The Cosmic Ordering Service, Mobius, 2006, ISBN 978-0340933329

[2] Rhonda Byrne, The Secret,  Simon and Schuster, 2006, ISBN 978-0340933329

[3] Proverbs 23: 7 KJV

 

©Feelinggoodallthetime, 23.3.2017

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The Mind-Body Connection

We’ve always known that there’s a connection between the body and the mind – if indeed they are separate at all. For instance, anxious feelings can give rise to headaches, loss of appetite and an upset stomach – we’ve all experienced it. Sad thoughts bring on tiredness and lethargy, anger energizes, fear brings tension and can immobilize, and so on.

In contrast, a lover’s glance can send shivers down the spine and make the heart race, a relaxed mood calms the body, and when we’re happy, we feel more alive and have more energy.

Of course, anyone who has ever done a fire walk cannot fail to wonder how a pair of human feet can walk over burning coals without feeling any pain, or how someone can undergo open heart surgery or give birth by caesarean section under hypnosis (with no anaesthetic) and feel no pain. Or why one person reacts to an injury with little pain while another experiences excruciating, unbearable pain from the same injury.

In his book, Love and Survival: The Scientific Basis for the Healing Power of Intimacy[1], Dr Dean Ornish, a respected heart surgeon, gives the following examples of the mind-body connection taken from academic studies:

  • Passive negative emotions like grief and despair, and feelings of loss or failure, throw the auto-immune system out of gear, reduce the body’s natural defences against infections and increase the likelihood of degenerative conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis.
  • The most dangerous emotions from a health point of view are fear, anger and hostility. Prolonged aggression causes changes in the immune system and autonomic nervous system, increases the heart rate, blood pressure and breathing, tenses the muscles, and raises the level of free fatty acids in the blood – all of which can lead to migraines, hypertension, coronary heart disease and strokes.
  • In one study, researchers found that young people who were beset with anger were seven times more likely to be dead by the age of fifty. Low frustration tolerance is a better predictor of an early death than smoking, high cholesterol or high blood pressure.

We know that a single thought can bring about over a hundred biochemical changes in your body – instantly. Every thought, every emotion, and every change of thought or emotion, affects the body. A sudden fright, a burst of anger, a fit of jealousy all immediately impacts on the body. So do moments of pleasure, feelings of love and contentment, expressions of appreciation, gratitude and joy.

Why, then, did Western doctors once regard the mind-body relationship as relatively unimportant?

Long ago the Chinese, Hebrews, Greeks and many other cultures were well aware that our thoughts impacted on our health. So were Muslim doctors around 1000 CE. Why, then, for several centuries did Western doctors regard the relationship as relatively unimportant? What made them believe that they could fix bodies without taking the mind into account?

The idea that mind and body were quite separate is usually, and perhaps unfairly, attributed to the influence of Rene Descartes (1596 -1650). Then Sir Isaac Newton (1643-1727) built a model of the universe which dominated the scientific view of the universe for the next 250 years. There was no place in Newtonian science for the mind as non-physical and unseen, although, ironically, his major interest – magic and the occult – certainly did involve the human mind.

This suspicion lasted into our own era. As recently as the 1970s, few reputable doctors argued that our thoughts and emotions had a direct physical effect on the body. Without observable, measurable physical connections between the brain and the body’s immune system and nervous system, they said, the idea that thoughts and unresolved emotional pain can manifest as physical problems was just humbug. There was no concrete evidence, they said, just anecdotes.

But this is rapidly changing. Scientists such as Dr Candace Pert and the founders of PNI (psycho-neuro immunology) have discovered the exact mechanisms by which it functions and how to influence it. Nowadays all doctors are fully aware of the mind-body connection; once again science has finally caught up with the ancients!

[1] Dr Dean Ornish, Love and Survival: The Scientific Basis for the Healing Power of Intimacy, Harper Perennial, 1999, ISBN: 978-0060930202

 

©FGATT, 1.4.2017

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Health and Beliefs

No serious medical practitioner can now deny that mind and body are one. In the 1980s scientists such as Dr Candace Pert proved that thoughts travel along the nerves to the muscles, organs and tissues, influencing the process by which cells are renewed and that meanwhile, cells continually send messages to the brain.

The mind can make us ill, and it can make us well. A state of peace and well-being creates healthy cells; anxious states do the opposite. Negative thoughts can give rise to all manner of conditions. Beliefs are simply collections of thoughts to which give sanction, so be careful what you think and say about your body. If you hear yourself saying, ‘You’re a pain in the neck’ or ‘this is a real headache’ don’t be surprised if you get one!

In her book, ‘Positive Thinking,’ Vera Pfeiffer relates the incredible tale of a convicted murderer in the United States who chose to have his wrists cut rather than go to the electric chair. The poisoned was blindfolded, a warden traced across his wrists with a feather. He died instantly. There are similar stories of African tribesmen when witch doctors pointed a ‘magic’ bone at them. It’s not the bone that killed them, but their belief in the power of the witchdoctor.

If you are unwell and don’t believe that you will recover, your belief (not the illness) can prevent you from getting well. Norman Cousins, who cured himself of a terminal illness after doctors had given up on him, wrote:

‘Drugs are not always necessary. Belief in recovery always is.’

Those who believe that illness is a sign of failure on their part or a punishment for mistakes made in this and previous lives heal the slowest of all.

What we can learn from placebos

Placebos are pills and potions with no active ingredients (i.e. ‘active’ in the conventional sense). They are often used in clinical trials as ‘controls’. One group takes the test drug, the other a placebo, and the outcomes are compared. It is not unusual for the improvement to be similar in both groups. Some patients even get the same side effects from placebos as if they had taken the actual medication.

The main factor in successful healing with placebos is the belief of the patient, hence the size, shape and colour of the tablets influence results, as does the healing procedure. Anything that makes the treatment seem more credible, such as the doctor’s bedside manner, improves the placebo effect. Placebos are least effective when the patient is unconscious or unaware of what is going on.

Placebos tell us something important about the mind-body connection. They are rarely used these days because doctors consider it unethical to tell patients a pill has an active ingredient when it hasn’t. Pity. How much potential for safe, effective healing is being lost?

The biochemical revolution has almost run its course

Understanding the relationship between beliefs and health will be among the greatest advances in medical science in the coming century. The biochemical revolution of the last sixty years has almost run its course and will one day – soon – be seen as ‘old medicine’ as doctors look elsewhere for solutions to intractable medical problems.

Modern medicine

©David Lawrence Preston, 1.11.2016

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Health is Wholeness

What does health mean? It means wholeness in every aspect of our being. The terms ‘health’, ‘heal’ and ‘holy’ all come from ancient words meaning ‘whole’.

Good health has its origins in the invisible energy field from which the atoms of the body are formed. It is a by-product of good habits, physical and mental, and a healthy energy environment. We should all strive for health and wholeness.

Good health comes from within

The body is self-regulating. Every cell possesses energy and intelligence to enable it to perform its function. Cells know what the body needs – high-quality nutritional material (food, fluids, oxygen etc.) for constructing cells, and effective elimination of waste materials. Give it the care it needs. Eat and drink well, exercise, rest and cleanse yourself regularly – these are essential for good health. So are earth-based PEMF (pulsed eletromagneticfields), which improve the delivery of oxygen, nutrients and water to the cells and remove waste.

Most illness is due to the accumulation of waste materials which saturate the tissues. Removing waste depend on the flow of vital energy in the system. If this is interrupted, the body becomes ill. Illness is in effect the body is protesting about mistreatment and striving to free itself.

young fitness woman running on sunrise beach

Good habits are not like medicine, though, to be taken only when you are ill. If you don’t follow them all the time, you won’t enjoy continuous good health.

The Mind-Body Connection

Mind and body are one. Thoughts travel along the nerves to the muscles, organs and tissues, influencing the process by which cells are renewed. Meanwhile, cells continually send messages to the brain. A peaceful emotional state creates healthy cells; anxious states do the opposite.

Negative thoughts can give rise to headaches, an upset stomach, constipation and in more extreme cases, ulcers, irritable bowel syndrome, cancer and all manner of conditions. So be careful what you think and say about your body. Your thoughts send powerful messages to the nervous system. There’s a constant dialogue taking place, so if you hear yourself saying, ‘You’re a pain in the neck’ or ‘this is a real headache’ don’t be surprised if you get one!

What we can learn from placebos

Placebos are pills and potions with no active ingredients. They are often used in clinical trials as ‘controls’. One group takes the test drug, the other a placebo, and the outcomes are compared. It is not unusual for the improvement to be similar in both groups. Some patients even get the same side effects from placebos as if they had taken the actual medication.

Placebos tell us something important about the strength of the mind-body connection. They are rarely used these days because doctors consider it unethical to tell patients a pill has an active ingredient when it hasn’t. Pity. How much potential for safe, effective healing is being lost?

Pain

Pain is ‘an unpleasant and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage or described in terms of such damage.’

Pain is not a fixed thing but a perception.  Our experience of pain is subjective. In other words, identical physical stimuli are perceived differently by two or more individuals. Moreover, pain is a learned phenomenon. Levels of pain vary according to the sufferer’s family and social background, perceived (not actual) stress levels and beliefs about pain.

Hospitals around the world employ psychologists to run pain reduction programmes for individuals in chronic and severe pain where there is no medical explanation. These programmes often feature mind-body techniques such as Neuro-Linguitic Programming and have proved highly successful – more evidence that the mind and body are not just closely connected, but inseparable.

Healthy person

Mind and body are one

Doctors used to believe that they were separate, but enlightened practitioners have always known this was wrong. The body is energy in vibration, and energy is disrupted by wrong thinking. Our thoughts can make us ill, and they can make us well. When we give our bodies what they need, including plenty of loving attention, we increase the flow of life-giving energy.

It is no accident that happy, positive, emotionally balanced people tend to be healthier and live longer!

©David Lawrence Preston, 1.11.2016

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The Mind-Body Connection

We’ve always known that there’s a connection between the body and the mind, but for several centuries doctors in the West regarded it as relatively unimportant. The emphasis was on fixing bodies, rather like a mechanic fixing a car. If a part wasn’t working, mend it. If that didn’t work, replace it. The body was seen as a slab of meat with no intelligence of its own.

Nowadays, few would deny that mind and body are not just intimately related, but as one. The evidence is just too compelling.

Anxious feelings can give rise to headaches, an upset stomach, constipation and accident proneness etc. Upset can also lead to loss of appetite, weight loss and a pale, drawn appearance. Depression brings on a feeling of tiredness and lethargy…. And so on.

In contrast, a lover’s touch can send shivers down the spine and make the heart race. And when you’re happy, don’t you feel more alive and have more energy? Happy people need less sleep, and are less likely to catch a cold or other infection because the body is stronger and more resistant to infection.

The common cold is a good example. Colds and ‘flu are caused by a virus, but we are more than just passive ‘hosts’ to these unpleasant germs – research shows that we have some control over whether the virus takes hold.

In one experiment, volunteers were exposed to cold germs. Some became ill, others stayed well – even thought they had all been in the same room. Those who showed resistance to the germs were those who were happy and felt most in control of their own destinies.

Fact: people who feel stressed or under threat (real or imagined) are at greater risk of becoming ill. A single thought can bring about over a hundred biochemical changes in your body instantly.

The most dangerous emotions

The most dangerous emotions from a health point of view, are fear, anger and hostility. Holding on to these destructive emotions causes changes in the autonomic nervous system, increases the heart rate and breathing, elevates blood pressure, tenses the muscles, and raises the level of free fatty acids in the blood, which can lead to migraines, hypertension, coronary heart disease and strokes.

In one study, researchers found that young adults who were antagonistic towards others were seven times more likely to be dead by the age of fifty. Low frustration tolerance is, in fact, a more reliable predictor of an early death than smoking, high cholesterol or high blood pressure.

One hundred years ago, Sigmund Freud wrote: ‘Often repressed emotions will manifest either as behavioural problems or physical problems’. Although widely derided at the time, many experts now agree. Here’s a quote from a leading contemporary British doctor, Dr Gabriella Pulse, who takes a special interest in the mind-body connection:

‘One of the reasons, I think, that people feel their emotional pain through bodily functions is that sometimes the true emotions are too painful to experience, and experiencing them through a bodily pain keeps them one step removed.’

Some experts predict that they’ll soon be able to identify people at risk of contracting serious diseases from their psychological profiles. Others would go even further. In her book, ‘The Bodymind Workbook’, Debbie Shapiro (who has devoted a lifetime to studying these issues) suggests there is a direct link between our attitudes and emotions, and afflictions in specific parts of the body. For example:

  • If you have problems with your ears, it’s because you cannot accept what you’re hearing and subconsciously withdraw energy from the hearing ability.
  • Similarly, she writes, eye problems indicate problems with your perceptions.
  • Shortsightedness suggests introversion; inability to project yourself externally.
  • Long-sightedness results from an extrovert and gregarious nature, ignoring the ‘here and now’ in favour of dreaming about the future.
  • Eyestrain implies trying too hard to find answers outside, rather than looking inwards for explanations and resolution.
  • Blurred vision denotes confusion: your version of reality is not in harmony with the facts, and you’re having difficulty accepting what you’re seeing.
  • Stomach problems mean you are finding something hard to digest.

Far fetched? What do you think? Perhaps if you believe it, it’s true. For you.

©David Lawrence Preston, 1.7.2016

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Who do you think you are?

There’s a story of an anxious philosophy student who goes to see his professor. ‘Please Sir,’ he asks, ‘I’ve got a question that’s eating me alive. I must find the answer. Do I exist?’

The professor turns to him with a withering look and replies, ‘Who wants to know?’

The yearning to discover our true nature is universal. Many regard this as such an impossible question, they ignore it altogether, but others recognise that when one knows the true nature of this ‘I’, they find a potent source of freedom and potential.

So who do you think you are? A body? A mind? Your feelings? If not – who and what are you?

Biofield

You are not your body

One morning, I knock on my son’s door. ‘Are you up?’

A loud groan, then, ‘My body’s up, but I’m not!’ Is this a figure of speech, or does it reflect something more significant?

When you look in the mirror, who is doing the looking? Are you a collection of organs, muscles and bones covered in skin, an animal that has somehow learned how to think? You are physiologically very similar to some other higher mammals. No – your body is not what you are. You even refer to it as ‘mine’.

You are not your body because:

It constantly changes

You are born into a tiny, helpless body. It grows, matures, ages and dies – but your sense of self goes on.

With every breath, you inhale and exhale an astonishing ten thousand billion atoms from the environment – each one modifying your physical make-up. The cells in your body are constantly replaced. You grow a new skin every month and a new liver every two months. Your skeleton, which appears so solid and permanent, regenerates every three months. So do your muscles. You grow a complete new brain every year: yes, even the brain cells, where the memories, intelligence and knowledge are stored, are constantly replaced.

  1. The ‘I’ remains intact

 How long is it since you last rode a bicycle? If it’s more than one year ago, the body that cycled is now no more, and yet within a few seconds of sitting on the saddle, you’re as proficient as you ever were. Your old body died cell by cell – but your consciousness lives on.

Individuals suffer the most horrendous injuries, yet the ‘I’ remains intact. Thousands of serious accident victims continue to enjoy a high quality of life, their sense of ‘I’ undiminished.

Imagine: if your arms and legs were chopped off, would you still feel the same sense of ‘I’? Of course you would, because even when your body is completely paralysed you remain a fully self-conscious being.

 3. The ‘I’ is always there

Even when you are completely unaware of the body, e.g. under general anaesthetic, in a coma, in a deep sleep, or when you are knocked unconscious, the ‘I’ is still there observing.

Have you ever been with someone as they die? One moment, their body had life, the next it had not. And yet, although they were gone, their body was still there, exactly as it was a few seconds before, no lighter, no heavier, but completely lifeless. Whatever it is that kept them alive had gone.

 4. Brain activity is an effect, not a cause

 The brain is where our choices are executed, but in itself it has no power to choose. Scientists can identify which part of the brain reflects specific operations, like rational thinking, motor functions, memory and emotional responses – but they have not been able to find what causes it to happen.

Are You Your Mind?

Your mind, unlike the brain, is non-physical. It is the thoughts, ideas, memories and automatic regulatory systems that keep your body functioning. It can’t be seen, measured, touched or weighed. Perhaps (and this is a startling thought) it’s not in the body at all!

You are not your mind because there is something in you that is aware that and what you are thinking.

This ‘something’ is capable of understanding the need to monitor your thoughts. It can examine your thoughts and choose to accept or reject them. If the ‘I’ were just another thought or collection of thoughts, this would mean one thought is controlling another. Is this possible?

We know a great deal about the mind, and our knowledge is growing all the time. But where does this knowledge of the mind come from? Obviously it must come from somewhere other than the mind!

Thoughts come and go, but self-consciousness endures. It is possible to stop thinking (Eastern mystics become very adept at this) and yet remain conscious of the ‘I’. And insane people sometimes ‘lose their minds’ but remain self-conscious.

Are You Your Emotions?

Similarly, emotions change all the time, and some even cease altogether as we become more ’emotionally intelligent’ – but the ‘I’ goes on. Moreover, it is possible to be completely emotionless, in deep meditation for instance, yet still have a solid sense of ‘I’.

You are the Witness

The mind, body and emotions are something ‘I’ possess, which implies that the act of thinking involves the existence of a thinker and the mind is only an instrument. So who is this ‘I’?

You are that which watches the mind and body in action; the Witness, not what is witnessed.

The real nature of this ‘I’ goes beyond the limitations and capabilities of the senses. We know we cannot detect everything through our five senses. Dogs, for example, have a wider range of hearing and sense of smell than we; bats can pick up vibrations we can’t, and eagles can see much further than we. We have instruments which can detect stimuli which are out of range of our sensory equipment. It is beyond doubt that our five senses can’t be trusted to sense everything there is.

Spirit

Spirit is just a name for the Intelligence that sparks your body to life and leaves it when you die. Its existence is fully compatible with the latest findings of quantum physics. Once you discover the truth that you are a Spiritual being, you’re able to step beyond your previous limitations. How? By recognising that this is the part of you that has the power to think – in fact, this is the only power it has, and it is the power that shapes and directs our lives!

©David Lawrence Preston, 18.6.2016

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Consciousness and Healing (2)

In a previous blog, I observed that the discovery long ago that we could heal ourselves was a great step forward in human evolution, and the healing methods used at each stage of our advancement are a direct result of the consciousness which prevailed at the time. Healing consciousness is about how we experience healing; our awareness of the healing process and what healing could be. It also says a great deal about our view of what a human being actually is and what it means to be human.

I have identified seven levels of consciousness in healing – the mechanic, the naturalist and the microbe carrier are the first three; in this blog I discuss the next two, the biochemist and the mind-body healer.

Level Four: the biochemist

Biochemical consciousness is the prevailing medical mindset in the West today. In the media, finding a ‘cure’ for any condition is synonymous with inventing a new drug or, more recently, manipulating the genetic makeup of the body in some way. Biochemical consciousness assumes that human beings are basically cocktails of chemicals and we function by means of chemical reactions. Some neuro- scientists think that even our thoughts are just manifestations of chemical reactions.

Healing is therefore reduced to adjusting our biochemistry like a cook adds a little more salt or spice to improve the food. Manipulating genes falls into the same category.

Biochemical consciousness encompasses not only drugs, but also anything ingested with the aim of altering the biochemistry of the body. Thus biochemical and natural consciousness overlap, since natural remedies such as herbs and dietary supplements have the same function. Once, drugs were simply extractions of the active ingredient of a natural substance; nowadays they are more likely to be artificial chemical compounds synthesised in a test tube, then tested to see if they have the desired result.

This is hit and miss  medicine par excellence – it takes no account of individual differences, its effects are indiscriminate, and the side effects are often worse than the disease it’s supposed to cure. Moreover, it is prohibitively expensive; most of the world’s population simply cannot afford it. And it is manipulated by commercial concerns often at the expense of other, more suitable modalities.

Drugs do have a place, of course. Many people enjoy a better quality of life than would be possible without them. But how often are hard-pressed doctors too quick to reach for the prescription pad when there are better, less harmful alternatives? How often are drugs merely suppressing symptoms while masking the real cause?

Those at the biochemists’ level of consciousness are still on the lower slopes of the mountain. They will never understand the higher levels unless and until a shift in their awareness takes place – but a shift towards the next level is already taking place among some health professionals. Top doctors are realising that  many of the ills that plague the so-called advanced societies are stress related – and we know that stress is mainly a result of our beliefs and ways of thinking (there’s nothing new in this – the Greek philosopher Epictetus said as much 2,500 years ago). Hence Level Five.

Level Five: the mind-body healer

We’ve always known that there’s a close connection between body and mind. No-one doubts that anxious thoughts can give rise to headaches, muscle tension, impaired performance, an upset stomach and so on.

The evidence for mind-body consciousness is strong indeed. Firstly, there’s the placebo effect – the disturbing (to allopaths) fact that in some circumstances a pill or potion with no active ingredient is as effective as the best the pharmaceutical industry can offer. The medical mainstream dismiss placebos as illusory, even unethical, whereas in reality they tell us more about the ability of humans to heal than any amount of double-blind trials.

The second is the power of suggestion. Placebos are actually a form of suggestion. So are doctors’ waiting rooms, white coats, stethoscopes and prescription pads. But suggestion is most closely associated with hypnotists placing healing ideas and images in the subconscious mind of the patient. I can personally vouch for its effectiveness when used by a trained practitioner such as myself with the right person in the right circumstances. The great Milton Erickson, the inspiration behind Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) took this to a whole new level, and while we may congratulate ourselves that this knowledge is a recent discovery, it’s actually as old as our ability to smelt iron and build pyramids.

So why did the Western medical establishment ignore the mind-body connection for so long? Because of their blind reliance on the kind of science that confines itself to those things that can be observed and measured through the five physical senses (a case of limited consciousness if ever there was one). In a nutshell, you can’t see thoughts and you can’t measure their progress through the body. Hence there was no proof that the supposed causes and effects between thoughts and physical aspects were linked.

Then about thirty years ago, mainstream scientists such as Dr Candace Pert and the founders of Psycho-Neuro-Immunology (PNI) –  Hans Selye, Robert Adye, Nicholas Cohen, David Felten and others – began to discover the bodily processes by which thoughts and emotions manifested as physical changes in the body. In Germany, Dr Ryke Hamer showed how an emotional shock can affect the physical make up of the brain and result in illness (he was banned from practising in his native Germany and thrown into to jail for some of his ideas, but not this one). Now, I believe, most doctors understand that many illnesses have a psycho-somatic component and some even believe that  all illnesses are psycho-somatic in origin.

Patients who don’t realise their emotions affect the physical body will often fail to seek the right help, e.g. I once met a young man who suffered from serious eczema. He relied on creams to alleviate the condition (which was only partially successful), whereas anyone with half an ounce of awareness could see that the problem was emotionally driven.

Of course, mind-body healers work on the basis that we are shaped mainly by our thoughts and beliefs. Again, this is not a new idea: King Solomon said as much in the Hebrew Scriptures, as did the Buddha, Lao Tsu, Yeshua the Carpenter from Nazareth,  Plato, Hippocrates, numerous Roman scholars, and the great psychologist himself, William Shakespeare.

Some go further than this and say we are our thoughts, but this is far from the whole truth. If we are our thoughts, which thoughts are we talking about? The ones I’m having now? Or this morning? Or yesterday? Or long ago?

We are not our thoughts. We are not our beliefs. We are not our emotions. Something inside is not only aware of our thoughts, but is aware that we are thinking and can observe the activity of thinking; is aware that we are experiencing an emotion and can observe its effects. There is even an observer who observes ourselves observing our thinking! Experience this, and we are perhaps then we are approaching pure consciousness.

Awareness, intention, attention, imagination and belief are the keys to mind-body healing. Taken in combination, they increase the effectiveness of all forms of healing. For instance, F.W. Alexander – best known for teaching his patients to stand, sit, walk, hold their heads correctly and so on – taught his patients and students mindfulness and affirmations to accompany each healing movement.

I sum this up in my I-T-I-A Formula – intention, thinking, imagination and action. When all of these are applied to any given situation, the results can be astounding.

Mind-body consciousness is much more than just healing the body, though. The Great Teachers always said that we manifest our experience of reality through our thoughts, perceptions, beliefs, emotions and so on – and today’s leading scientists (e.g. quantum physicists) agree.  When we observe the world, all we see are billions of particles and waves moving and spinning haphazardly – what Deepak Chopra calls the ‘quantum soup.’ It is the attention and meaning we give them that brings them into form. Our minds – our consciousness – actually create the world we live in. And perhaps they create our bodies too.

© David Lawrence Preston, 7.5.2016

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What are we?

One morning I knocked on my son’s bedroom door. ‘Are you up?’ I asked. I heard a groan and then a voice answered. ‘My body’s up, but I’m not!’

Later that day, I turned on the TV.  A reporter was interviewing a woman with piercings all over her body. ‘Why did you do it?’ asked the reporter. She replied, ‘It’s my body. I can do what I want with it.’

We use the word ‘my’ for things that belong to us but are not us: my coat, my car, my chair. Expressions like my hair, my face, my brain, my mind, etc. infer that these belong to us but are not us. So what is this entity we call ‘I’? Is it nothing more than a body with a relatively large brain?

Brain cells die and are replaced at least every couple of years

A human body starts out as a handful of cells. It grows, matures, ages and dies. Then it decomposes.

At the molecular level too it constantly changes. With every breath, we inhale ten thousand billion atoms from the environment – each one modifying our physical make-up to some degree. Moreover, 98% of our atoms are renewed every year; if this were not so, we would die within hours, poisoned by our own waste.

We grow a new skin and liver every few months and the skeleton, which appears so solid, regenerates every six months. Not one cell remains from the body we occupied two years ago. Even the brain cells, where our personality and memories are stored, die off and are replaced – yet our sense of self goes on.

Could it be our body and brain are only part of what we are?

If you lost both legs, would you still be the same person? Of course. Our sense of self remains intact even if the body suffers horrendous injuries. As Walt Whitman wrote, ‘There is more to a man than lies between his hat and his boots.’

So who or what dwells within your body? If you contemplate your existence it soon becomes apparent that you are more than just a collection of muscle, soft tissue and bones. There is a part of you that endures despite changes in your physical form. It is non-physical – that is, spiritual.

Are you defined by the roles you play?

Over a lifetime we play many roles. We also occupy many roles at once. A man may simultaneously play the roles of father, son, brother, uncle, teacher, colleague, employer or employee, customer, friend and neighbour. Our roles also change several times a day, depending on where we are and with whom.

If we were what we do, what if we’re not doing it? Do we become a different person? And if we’re doing nothing, do we cease to exist?

Are you what others think you are?

Many people think so. If someone repeatedly calls them an idiot, they begin to believe it. But if you are what others think you are, to whom should you listen? Different people have different opinions of you, and they change over time. Some know you from work, others from home. Meanwhile, your deepest sense of ‘I’ stays constant and remains intact.

What others think of you – your reputation – is outside, in their thoughts. How can this be who you are?

Are you a mind?

To answer this question, we first need to understand what we mean by ‘mind’. Is it not just another word for ‘brain’? No. The mind is not a physical object, it’s an activity – a collection of memories and thoughts. The brain, on the other hand, is physical, a small organ housed in the skull which sends and receives impulses to and from the cells through a network of nerves.

Most of us were brought up to believe that the mind exists only inside the brain, but this is not true. The mind is no more confined to the brain than the electrical field is confined to a magnet. It is located in every cell and also extends into the energy field (biofield) that surrounds the body. Most people have felt they were being stared at on occasions, turned round and found that someone was indeed looking at them. This can only happen because the mind reaches beyond the body and brain.

Biofield

The mind uses the brain in much the same way as you use your body – as a vehicle. The brain is like the hardware and the mind the software, which begs the questions: Where is the programmer? And who is the operator?

Are you your thoughts?

No. Your thoughts are always changing, but the ‘I’ is constant. Try thinking the same thought for five minutes. Almost impossible. Similarly with your emotions. Moods come and go, but essence of you remains the same.

Even if you practise taking charge of your thoughts, you’re still aware of the ‘I’ that is doing the thinking. As Eric Butterworth wrote, ‘I am not what I think. I am thinking what I think.’

Part of you is aware not only of what you are thinking but also that you are thinking. This part can judge a thought right or wrong, good or bad, and choose to accept or reject it. It is even possible to stop thinking altogether, in deep meditation for instance, and remain fully conscious of self.

So what are you really?

A human being is a complex organism made up a body, mind, and a spark of the Life Force (often called ‘Spirit’) that brings life to the physical form.

  • The body is simply an instrument used by the ‘I’ to carry out its wishes.
  • The mind is the activity of thinking, remembering and imagining. It also regulates the functioning of the body.
  • Spirit is the spark of energy and intelligence that brought you to life and sustains you. When you die, it leaves the body which, with no life force to animate it, decays and returns to dust.

We are fragments of the same Creative Intelligence that underpins the entire universe and have its qualities just as a droplet of seawater has the same qualities as the entire ocean.

We don’t become spiritual beings – we already are. In the words of philosopher Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, ‘We are not human beings having spiritual experiences, but spiritual beings having human experiences.’ All we have to do is let go of whatever is preventing us from realising it!

©David Lawrence Preston, 19.4.2016

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Your Body Speaks Your Mind?

I recently came across a book by a Belgian mystic, Christiane Berlandt. Entitled, ‘The Key to Self-Liberation,’ it promises to reveal the symbolism of the main organs (heart, lungs etc.) and other parts of the body (e.g. fingers, chin), plus the psychological origin of a thousand diseases. First published (by the author herself) in 1993, it is a weighty tome of over 700 pages.

There’s nothing new about such works, of course. Louise Hay has been ploughing this furrow for many years, ever since her multi-million selling book, ‘You Can heal Your Life’ was published in 1984. Grounded in the American 19th Century New Thought tradition, she states that we are all responsible for our own experiences, releasing resentment will dissolve even cancer, and we create every so-called ‘illness’ in our body. Now there may be some truth in these for some people, but for a scientific truth to be true it must true for everyone, everywhere and for all time – and there’s not a shred of evidence that any of these statements is universally true.

Sometimes Ms Hay’s well-meaning diagnoses are trite, to say the least. ‘When there are problems with the ears,’ she writes, ‘it usually means something is going on you do not want to hear.’ (Tell that to a child born hearing-impaired.) ‘Deafness represents long-standing refusal to listen to someone.’ (Tell that to a factory worker denied proper ear protection.)  ‘Problems with the eyes usually means there is something we do not want to see.’ ‘The arms represent our ability and capacity to embrace the experiences of life.’ (Tell that to a thalidomide victim or a soldier who has had his arms blown off in a war.) ‘Prostate problems have a lot to do with self-worth and also believing that as he gets older he becomes less of a man.’ Bollocks!

I find Debbie Shapiro’s work more satisfying and very sincere; however she is not immune from the same unproven statements so prevalent in Ms Hay’s work. I opened her book, ‘Your Body Speaks Your Mind’, at random. On page 125 I found, ‘The ribs surround and protect the organs in the chest,’ I read, ‘so they are like your sentinels, guarding your inner being.’ ‘If you have bruised or broken ribs, you need to ask yourself if you have let your guard down and allowed someone to get closer than you would prefer….’ Now I broke two ribs not long ago, and thought long and hard about this. Perhaps I’m missing something, but I couldn’t think of a single way this statement might be true.

Another work along the same lines is Lise Bourbeau’s ‘Love Yourself’ – 350,000 copies sold, according to the banner on the cover, ‘The most complete book on metaphysical causes of illness and diseases.’ ‘She is certain that any physical problem is simply the outward manifestation of dis-ease on psychological or emotional levels.’ I looked up ‘ribs’: a fractured rib, she writes, indicates that ‘the person has lost his armor, that he is unprotected and unable to defend himself.’ Impressive – she broadly agrees with Debbie Shapiro.

What does Ms Beerlandt have to say about the ears, ribs and prostate? Lots. Ears are about listening to our deepest selves; broken ribs about life being more than we can handle; and prostate about self-worth and daring to be yourself. Not much agreement there. Indeed, she puts almost every ailment down to some degree of anxiety, lack of self-awareness or low self-esteem.

Now I have no problem with the notion that the mind affects the body; indeed, I’d go even further and suggest that they are one, integral, inseparable. It’s common sense (and scientifically verifiable) that people who are under mental, emotional or physical stress, depressed, suffering from low self-esteem and so on are more likely to get ill. But human beings are different from each other. How can we say that one person’s, say, broken leg has the same root cause as another’s? How can we discount environmental and lifestyle factors, which we know have a huge impact on health? How can anyone seriously say that we – all of us, everywhere, at all times – create every so-called ‘illness’ in our body? Nice theory, but simply not true.

So where does Ms Beerlandt get her ‘evidence’? Now here’s the remarkable thing. She claims to ‘draw information from an inner source,’ ‘listening deep inside me via my heart and consciousness, to the deep language of life itself.’ (My italics). She writes, ‘the contents have nothing to do with scientific observation, but neither with channelling or guides…. I offer only deep, called-up information….’ What does this mean? That she dreamed it? Or just made it up?

For the record, I am absolutely convinced that the mind and body are interrelated. I agree without question that we can, in certain circumstances, create illnesses through our self-talk, beliefs and emotions. I agree wholeheartedly with those who say that, in certain circumstances, we can heal the body using the power of our minds because I have studied the evidence and met people who have actually done so.  But, sorry, when someone purports to convince me that when people have problems in certain parts of the body they can listen to the ‘deep language of life’ and tell me the cause, I’m sceptical.

© David Lawrence Preston, 28.3.2016

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