Making a Case For Peace

It seems that the world is getting busier, people have less time and we are constantly being challenged to become more efficient and get more things done in a shorter amount of time.  As a result, stress has become a legitimate health concern. As many of us have discovered, stress and anxiety are not only problematic to our emotional lives, but in addition are destructive to our physical well being.

As a large number of natural health professionals have discovered, many of the physical ailments we contract have their roots in emotional distress.  According to Dr. A.F. Beddoe, "our thoughts and emotions combine to form vibrations - frequencies - our 'line of resistance'.  Our thoughts, mingled with either love or fear, will create our experiences that will then manifest in our lives physically, mentally, and spiritually, either as health or dis-ease."  He goes on to state in his book "Biologic Ionization As Applied to Human Nutrition" that 80% of all illness begins with holding on to negative emotion. Negative emotion tends to create a more acidic environment in the body which leads to disease and the breakdown of healthy physical functioning.  In essence, it isn't the exterior circumstances that create the stress, it is what we think about the exterior circumstances that creates stress.  This is not to say that a person cannot push themselves beyond their physical limitations, creating stress from exhaustion.  However, on many levels we tend to emotionally respond to life which often produces stress if those emotions are based on fear. 

Love and fear are the basic motivators in life.  Fear puts the body into fight or flight mode, releasing adrenaline and noradrenalin.  These chemicals contract muscles as well as activate the sympathetic nervous system.  When a person lives in even a low level of fear consistently, the body responds as if there is a consistent threat.  Eventually we reach a level of adrenal fatigue, the body is no longer able to counteract the effects and we become tired, depressed and irritable.  Over time, our neural net reacts to this chemistry by creating more receptor sites to accommodate the excess negative chemistry.  As a result, when those neurotransmitters are not available we can be agitated in a similar way an addict is agitated when their drug of choice is not present in the body.  In essence, we become addicted to our own body chemistry.

Love, on the other hand tends to enhance the emotional states of joy, happiness and well-being.  When we are happy, we are not anxious.  Our bodies are producing more calming types of chemicals such as PEA and Dopamine, and our cortisol levels are lower.  When we are calm, thought processes are more coherent, we make better decisions and our bodies are not working so hard to maintain balance. Many people find this a much more desirable state in which to live.  Additionally, the science of Positive Psychology confirms that happier people are more productive, live longer and have a healthier quality of life.

 So, you ask....how do I live a more peaceful life?  The short answer is balance.  Everything in nature, including human beings, is designed to live in a state of balance.  Our work life, family life, spiritual life, pleasure and rest all must balance out.  If we rob from one area to give time to another area, we will pay the consequences by not receiving the full benefit from the area we have robbed.    For example, if we rob from our time of rest to give to our time of work, our body will pay the price over time. If we spend too much time in pleasurable activities our work life and family life may suffer.  Each time we make a decision to be out of balance, there are consequences.  

If you are plagued by stress or anxiety, it would serve you well to take a look at your life and determine where you are out of balance: 

·        What makes you happy?  If you are not including in your life the things that make you happy, you are not in balance.

·        Look at your relationships.  How many toxic people are in your life?  You may want to make some changes

·        How many hours a week are you working and for what return?  Your life is worth investing in areas that will bring you the highest return...whether that be financially or emotionally.

·        Are you resting?  Down time gives us the opportunity to rejuvenate, both physically and emotionally.  It is not an option.

Learn to take care of yourself and the result will be a happier, more productive and more peaceful life.