In a book called "The Healing Mind" written by Dr. Irving Oyle, he makes a startling statement:
We can create the conditions which will allow the healing process to occur, but his autonomous healing factor is under the complete control of the psyche which, by varying its rate of vibration, can cause disease or initiate healing. The therapeutic efficacy of any healing system is directly proportional to the patient's inner faith in that system. The stronger the faith, the faster and surer the healing.
Image via WikipediaTo some extent, we can see this played out in something that every medical researcher has come to understand as a part of experimentation....the placebo effect. It is a very recognized and accepted affect when dealing with the healing arts. Often times, when a new medication is being developed or a new medical protocol is being tested, researchers have a test group which is given a placebo rather than the new item being researched. Many times, in this control group, there are individuals who get better. They have not been given any medication, any different treatment - they have simply been told that they have been. The conclusion then must be drawn that what helped them was not the placebo, but the belief in the placebo to help them.Quantum physics is starting to identify the mechanics of why our thoughts effect our physical bodies as well as the world around us. One of the experiments I found very interesting was done by the Institute of HeartMath:
"In 1991 the Institute of HeartMath ( http://www.heartmath.org/ ) was formed for exploring the power that human feelings have over the body and the role those feelings play in our world. One of the most significant findings reported by HeartMath is the documentation of the doughnut shaped field of energy that surrounds the heart and extends beyond the body.
Knowing this field exists they went on to conduct further experiments between 1992 and '95 and began by isolating human DNA in a beaker and then exposing it to a powerful form of feeling known as coherant emotion.
They performed a series of tests involving up to 5 people trained in applying coherant emotion.
Using special techniques they analysed the DNA both chemically and visually, the results were undeniable and the implications unmistakable.....Human Emotion changed the shape of the DNA without physially touching it or doing anything other than creating precise feelings in their bodies!"
Image via WikipediaThey also found that positive emotions such as love, gratitude, joy and happiness decompress or relax the DNA, which they linked to increases in the physical immune system. Conversely, living in a state of stress, anger, rage or hate, the DNA constricts and our immune systems decrease. Personal experience might validate these findings in that when individuals find themselves under stress for long periods of time, they are often more susceptible to colds or flu.Dr. Scott Walker, DC has developed a healing technique called "Neuro Emotional Technique" where he has found that underlying emotional components have significant effects on whether a chiropractic patient is able to resolve chronic back pain or not. When the chiropractor can locate where in the body the emotional issue is and resolve the emotional charge on the memory, the spine can be adjusted with lasting results. He has gone so far as to make a chart listing the organs of the body, where on the spine they are connected and the underlying emotions that affect those organs and the spinal connections. His technique is very effective in dealing with these underlying emotions.
In recent years, science has come to understand the truth of scripture in several ways having to do with joy and its effects as opposed to bitterness and its relation to diseases like cancer. Scripture tells us that a "merry heart doeth good like a medicine"; Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire is fulfilled, it is a tree of life; A calm and undisturbed mind and heart are the life and health of the body, but envy, jealousy and wrath are as rottenness of the bones.
After 9-11, Dr. Barbara Fredrickson of the University of Michigan found that many survivors of the Twin Towers disaster developed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Understanding the traumatic volume of that day, it would be understandable to think that all of the survivors would have PTSD. However that was not true. All of the survivors did not show signs of PTSD. Why not?
What she found was this:
-- People high in happiness before the attack simply bounced back.
-- But those whose pre-attack happiness levels were lower didn’t do as well. Highly unhappy people developed PTSD much more frequently.
Dr. Lynn Johnson has a powerpoint presentation that can be downloaded, called Advanced Topics in Happiness, which outlines some of the science behind the field of Positive Psychology. It's fascinating stuff and it really works. For example...think about 4 or 5 people in your life who have been kind to you. Let yourself feel the emotions you feel about them - is it thankfulness, gratitude or perhaps thinking about these people makes you happy. Whatever the feeling happens to be - one a scale of 1-10, 10 being the most positive, did your state of emotion become more positive? Do you feel better? There is proof that if you can maintain a state of happiness the majority of the time in your life, you will be healthier, more successful and live longer. Bob Hope, Sid Caesar, and George Burns can't be wrong!
Thoughts are not to be our masters, but they are to serve us. If they do not serve us well, we don't need to pay attention to them. One of the things to understand is that just because a thought enters our head, we don't need to pay attention to it. There are many thoughts that we disregard every day. But many of the thoughts we pay attention to are given attention due to the emotions that are linked with them. Negative emotion is often linked to negative thought processes. If that negative thought process is producing negative fruit in your life, then what good is it? Perhaps you have had a very traumatic experience in your life - wouldn't you prefer to be like the 9-11 survivors who did not develop PTSD?
As human beings, we have the ability to inoculate ourselves against trauma with happiness and joy. Learn to see the positive in whatever situation you find yourself. Like Paul who wrote in Philippians 4:11, "Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am." Our circumstances do not dictate our emotional state. That may be news to some, but it is true. When Paul wrote those words, he was in a Roman prison. What is true is that some circumstances are more difficult than others, but if we can find something positive to hold on to through the circumstances, we will be inoculated against the more severe negative impacts. Hope is a powerful thing and it is one thing that more positive, happier individuals have in greater abundance.
This information might be seen to some as controversial so I am just bringing it to you and you can do your own research and make your own decisions. However, if you consider these things to be good evidence that your emotional life truly does effect your physical body and the world around you, you might consider making the changes that are needed to become a happier and more joyful person....not for anyone else, but for yourself.
