We contribute to our health and well-being by repeatedly thinking thoughts of well-being and we create pain, upset, and disharmony by repeatedly thinking thoughts about how bad things are, how awful others are, or how miserable we are. Our body is aware of every thought we think and our thoughts powerfully influence the body's chemical and corresponding emotional state.
As infants we imitated our care givers and learned our original habits of thought from our parents, teachers, and environment. Every experience we had caused a deepening of the neuro-circuits in the structure of our brain. Those circuits begin to operate automatically, without any conscious thought on our part, in the same way our ability to drive a car or play an instrument becomes an automatic process.
Within the unconscious part of our mind, resides the habitual thought patterns we have accumulated through out our life and these patterns are running our life today, like it or not!
If our unconscious mind could be free of all hatred, anger, dishonesty, violence, sloth, envy, jealousy, and condemnation we would have everything in life we desired. We would be unlimited, undaunted, and unstoppable because we would have only positive thought patterns and we would pursue our desires without fear, resistance, or doubt.
The limiting, self-destructive thoughts are part of the collective consciousness of humanity. The good news is there are also beliefs of goodness, justice, kindness, peace, generosity, and cooperation in the collective consciousness as well. It is up to us to decide which aspects will operate more noticeably in our day to day activities and we do this by setting our intention, focusing and making conscious choices.
If we can accept ourselves totally and completely, knowing these negative aspects are a part of us, we are in a better position to have greater conscious choice over which ones run automatically. Our work isn't to despise our self or others for having and acting on negative thoughts. We are part of the collective consciousness and we can not help that. Our work is to love and accept our self and others while we do our best to function within the boundaries of our humanness.
We live in a dualistic, material world which has built in contrasting forces. In the physical world we have strong/weak, hot/cold, light/dark, and in our consciousness we have love/hate, joy/sadness, and so on. These contrasting forces exist in every person. It makes no sense, in fact it weakens us to want it to be different. It is just the way things are!
By the thoughts we allow ourselves to focus on, the words we speak and the action we take, we are deciding which force will dominate our life. An ancient story depicts this: A man explained to his son that a white wolf and black wolf fights inside of him. The boy asks which wolf survives and the father says the "one you feed!"
We have the ability to affect our health and well-being by taking more conscious control of our thoughts. We can train our thoughts to love and accept what is and we can train our thoughts to love and respect our bodies more. By doing this, we can improve the bodies performance and health.
Our imagination, our emotions, our habitual thoughts are affecting the state of health in our body all the time. Every cell in the body responds with a chemical reaction to our emotional state. Emotions become chemicals (see the book, "Molecules of Emotion;" by Candace Pert). Therefore, deliberating focusing our thoughts and using our imagination to direct them, will have a powerful effect on the body.
Using the mind as a tool for healing is practical, effective and very cost effective. I believe in and practice regularly, a method of self-healing that works for me. I enter into a quiet, peaceful state of relaxation or meditation and direct my thoughts to each part of my body in a loving, appreciative way. The more often this kind of practice is repeated the more profound the effect.
After about 10 minutes of focusing my attention on my breathing in order to quiet my body, I imagine I am inside my body and I begin to speak to it:
"I love and appreciate my eyes for allowing me to see all the beauty there is in this world, the colors, the textures, the patterns of everything fascinates and delights me. My ears and the structures associated with hearing allows me to listen to music, to the voice of those I love, to birds, waterfalls, fire crackling and this delights and enlivens me. I love and appreciate my brain, the left hemisphere and the right hemisphere. I love learning, calculating, analyzing, sorting, and labeling which the left brain allows me to do and I love the peacefulness, the all inclusiveness, the artistic, poetic, musical, imaginative right brain. I respect the functions of both sides of my brain and I am grateful for all they allow me to do.
I love and appreciate my amygdala,( the structure that is responsible for fight or flight response). It takes good care of me whenever I need it. I give it permission to relax and takes it's rest for I am safe, secure and well-being abounds for me. I gently massage it and place soft, fluffy, cottony clouds around it so it can relax and only activate when there is a real threat. I am so grateful for the way my body supports me.
I love and appreciate my thyroid which sits on my windpipe, shaped like a butterfly, reminding me that metamorphosis is natural and possible, that I can transform any seeming bad condition to a better one. I see it pollinating the environment of my body with the substance every cell in my body needs for balance and harmony.
I love and appreciate my lungs as they expand and constrict. They remind me of the natural rhythm of life, the in and out flow of air, of the tides, the receiving and giving, the give and take that must take place in all interactions. My breath is my connection to life force, my connection to others. As they breathe out molecules, I breathe them in. Nature sends out oxygen and I breathe it in and I send out carbon dioxide and nature takes it in. We are one in this energy soup of life. Dependent upon each other. Supporting each other. I am so grateful life supports me in this way.
I love and appreciate my heart. As blood comes from the lungs in to the top, right chamber of my heart I am aware of the natural rhythm of contraction and relaxation. Two opposing forces that must be in order for life to exist on the material plane. The four chambers of the heart filling and emptying, receiving and giving, expanding and contracting, pumping about 2,000 gallons of blood a day. Pushing the blood out into the many blood vessels where it nourishes and cleanses trillions of cells. I feel tremendous gratitude for its nonstop rhythm. I imagine radiating the energy of love to my heart and I say thank you."
I continue through out my body, focusing my attention on each organ, acknowledging what it does for me, and I radiate love to it and thank it. At times I notice a response from a body part. I have felt my pancreas shudder, my pelvic bones vibrate, my lungs more fully expand. These responses have been the stimulus for me to continue my love and appreciation meditations. I love experiencing the feeling that I am communicating directly with my cells.
Many people have used visualization and guided imagery as a tool for improving the health the body. It is an ancient technique, , used by Shamans and modern day healers. I know of many stories of cancer patients using visualization to help their bodies rid themselves of cancer.
Our mind, our imagination, our beliefs and our emotions are the most powerful aspects we have and we can use them to improve any condition. We can create a placebo effect with our imagination. The body responds to beliefs and beliefs can bring about spontaneous healing of even the most threatening types of disease.
My very first experiment with visualization and healing was many years ago when I had a plantars wart. I began to imagine it gone while I bathed every night and in a short period of time it was! My interest in self-healing techniques grew from that experience.
A neurosurgeon I once worked with told me about a patient he had who had a brain tumor and wanted to use visualization to treat the tumor. She began to visualize a white light entering into her skull and removing the tumor. Unfortunately for the patient, the tumor continued to grow and surgery had to begin. The surgeon described how moved and surprised he was when he shaved her head prior to surgery and found a white spot on her skull in the area where the tumor was located. He admitted he wondered how much she could have achieved in her self-healing technique if there had been more time for her to practice it.
We our much more powerful than we know and allow ourselves to be. Our mind, attitude, emotions are the best tools we have available to promote health within our bodies. I hope you will investigate the idea further for it has been powerful for many.
If you would like more information or help developing a personal guided meditation,please click on the Contact Me button located on the right side of your screen.
Health and well-being are our greatest assets. May you enjoy yours to the fullest.
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