Maintaining Optimal Health, Part II

Our thoughts impact our overall state of health.

Caroline Myss in her best seller book Anatomy of the Spirit writes about three principles in the field of Energy Medicine (also known as psychic energy).

The First Principle is that Our Biography becomes Biology

We are all living history books, as our lives unfold our biological health becomes a living, breathing biographical statement that conveys our strengths, weaknesses, hopes and fears. Every thought that you have ever had has traveled through your body and elicited a physiological response- good or bad.

For instance a thought of fear activates the sympathetic nervous system which now stimulates the release of the hormone adrenaline and cortisol (also called stress hormones). These hormones produce a complex cascade of physiological responses such as tightening of the anal and urinary sphincters, widening of the pupils (in order to allow more light to the back of the eyeball), dry mouth, rapid heartbeat etc.

In our daily lives, we go through varying levels of emotional responses c and depending on how we modulate our response to these stressors; this may have a cumulative effect on our bodies.

All our thoughts regardless of their content first enter our systems as energy. Those that carry emotional, mental, psychological or spiritual energy (charge) produce biological responses that are then stored in our cellular memory. In this way our biographies are woven into our biological systems gradually, slowly, but surely every day.

Research has actually shown the impact of chronic stress on the telomeres. The telomeres are located at the tip of the chromosomes. When they break off, they accelerate the aging process.

It sometimes takes a concerted effort to execute a mind shift in order to allow you to heal. Accepting the fact that every part of your life -from your physical history, relationships, every attitude and opinion that you hold or belief that you carry inside yourself, affects your biological makeup. We all possess negative emotions and to create disease, negative emotions are predominant even if at a subconscious level.

For instance if dealing with a chronic medical condition and your whole mindset is that of hopelessness then this only leads to further dis-ease. In the wellness continuum, it is not the absence of disease that makes a person healthy but how they choose through their thoughts and every day actions to move toward a higher level of wellness.

The second Principle: Personal Power is Necessary for Health

Power is at the root of all human existence and none of us is free from power issues. We may be trying to cope with feelings of inadequacy or we may be trying to maintain control over others in our personal relationships. It is noteworthy that there are instances where a person loses something that represents power to them such as a job, a spouse, lover or a child and then subsequently develops a disease.

Our relationship to power is at the core of our health. Our lives are structured around various power symbols such as money, status, beauty, our jobs etc. We need to be conscious of what we give our power to. Healing from any illness is facilitated by identifying what our power symbols are and our symbolic and physical relationship with those symbols.

The third Principle: You can help yourself heal

Here is the summary teaching of energy medicine:

"I am responsible for the creation of my health. I therefore participated, at some level in the creation of this illness. I can participate in the healing of this illness by healing myself, which means simultaneously healing my emotional, psychological, physical and spiritual being"

Unlike a cure which is a passive process of handing over one's authority to an outside force usually a physician as I outlined in the earlier part of this discourse, healing is an active and internal process that includes investigating one's attitudes, memories, and beliefs with the desire to release negative patterns that present one's full emotional and spiritual recovery.

By choosing to remain in a receptive attitude, optimal health and wellness can be achieved despite physical health challenges. In the wellness continuum this is truly moving toward a higher level of wellness.