Have you ever considered that what your mind consumes on a daily basis plays an integral role in your overall health and well being? Evidence shows that what you consume mentally and emotionally can literally, well, ‘consume’ you.
The thoughts we have daily and the static around us via the television and our daily encounters are increasingly negative. We are regularly fed a diet of hate, anger, isolation, guilt, fear, and paranoia through our conversations with ourselves, with friends, strangers and, of course, the television. And all of this is contributing to an unhealthy mindset one that is not conducive to health but to that of ‘disease’.
Disease can not exist in a body where the mind is full of peace, love, joy, gratitude and harmony. 
Whether we are aware of it or not, all of this negativity is causing stress which appears to be the common thread running through all our lives. For a long time now, we have been aware that stress is wreaking havoc on our society from an epidemic of depression to an increasingly high disease rate.
The World Health Organization raised the alarm over 20 years ago and still we neglected to acknowledge the true physical danger of stress. We continued to focus a good portion of our scientific energy and money on the tangible self and we neglected the possibility that our emotions could be the key to our health and happiness. But, finally, this is beginning to change. New research is showing the medical powers of the heart, the emotional heart that isÖÖ
Emotional Diet Impact
It is now well known that emotions have a powerful effect on our physical and mental self. Therefore, understanding the importance of shifting our emotions from anger and frustration to love is the key to healing ourselves and living fulfilled lives. The way to accomplish this is to establish synchronicity between the mind and our emotions; this synchronicity is referred to as ‘Heart Coherence.’
According to Bruce Cryer and Rollin McCraty of the Heart Institute “briefly experiencing a cherished memory creates synchronization in your heart rhythm in mere seconds. This increases the release of healthy, energizing hormones, while at the same time decreasing levels of damaging stress hormones, at the same time your immune system is strengthened, blood pressure decreases and health and focus increase. Using a simple prescription that consists of a number of exercises that anyone one can do anywhere in a few minutes.
Simply put: when people experience love, they not only feel happy and joyful, but they also produce, for example DHEA, the hormone that prevents aging, and gives us feelings of youthful vitality. Not surprisingly, a synthetic form of the hormone is currently sold in pill form at drugstores and health food stores. At the same time, the production of damaging stress hormones like cortisol is reduced. High levels of cortisol have been associated with Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, depression and fatigue. By contrast, a “loving body” absorbs less cholesterol, thereby preventing arteries from clogging while boosting production of immunoglobulin A, an important biochemical that boosts immune function. In addition, blood pressure stabilizes.
So the bottom line is that love is both an emotional and a physical state: positive feelings like love-generate health. The reverse is also true. Someone who is angry produces less DHEA and more cortisol.”
Dr. James Chappell states that “recent scientific studies have shown that happy people are healthier and live longer. Furthermore, scientists have discovered that happy people have activities they share in common — and these activities can be learned and practiced by unhappy people with the proven result of making them happier. This is very good news!
Back in the nineteen sixties a well-known journalist named Normal Cousins was diagnosed with an “irreversible” condition that was debilitating him. Instead of buying into his doctors’ prognosis and sinking into gloom and despair, he arranged to see Marx Brothers movies in his hospital room and made of point of enjoying them. “Miraculously”, his condition reversed itself and he recovered.
The medical authorities disregard evidence like this as “anecdotal” — meaning that it doesn’t prove how or why a cure occurred — and they ignore it.
Fortunately, Mr. Cousins was both famous and a good writer. His book, “Anatomy of an Illness as Perceived by a Patient”, started a major trend in medical and psychological research. Scientists started studying healthy mental states, not just ill ones. A whole new discipline of “Positive Psychology” grew out of it, and the person who led the movement — Dr. Martin Seligman — conducted major scientific studies into the roots of happiness, which he published in several important and easy-to-read books.
Dr. Seligman discovered that if unhappy people routinely did 8 things, they became happier. And because being happy is positively linked with a healthier, longer life, it just makes sense that to experience true healing we need to make a positive change in our mental and emotional state. Simply put, we need to experience more joy.
Here they are:
-
1. Count Your Blessings
2. Practice Kindness
3. Savor The Joys Of Life
4. Thank Someone Who Has Helped You
5. Forgive and Move On
6. Make Time For Friends and Family
7. Honor Your Body
8. Be Prepared to Cope with Unforeseen Hardships
Lightening up is essential to developing a ‘natural cure mindset’ and will not only provide you with a better mood but likely better health.” So, consider an emotional diet that consists solely of peace, joy, gratitude, love, and harmony; it just might save your life.
References:
Dr. James Chappell
Bruce Cryer and Rollin McCraty of the Heart Institute
Quote by: Michelle Toole
