To
Your Health
“The
body is not the source of its own health.”
A
Course in Miracles
Deepak
Chopra, Larry Dossey and many others report the results of some very
interesting research looking at what makes a difference in the health
and well-being of our bodies. One such study was reported in Chopra's book,
Quantum Healing. It took place at an Ohio University in
the 1970's; research on diet and heart disease that used rabbits as
it's model. As with all scientific double-blind research, the rabbits
were placed into groups, and people other than the primary
investigators followed a very specific protocol. The rabbits were fed
a diet high in cholesterol, designed to cause blockage in their
arteries. Pretty soon the expected results began to show up in all
the rabbit groups except one. That one group displayed sixty percent
fewer symptoms. Nothing in the rabbits' physiology or breeding could
account for this difference. What the researchers found was that the
technician who fed this group of rabbits picked up, petted and spoke kindly to each rabbit before feeding them. This alone
seemed to enable the rabbits to tolerate the toxic diet. Other
studies using the same variations in care came up with similar
results.
Clearly,
being loved makes a difference in our health that diet and exercise
alone cannot. Our total body chemistry responds positively to
being around caring, loving people. We may do all the right things
with diet and exercise, yet hold a negative, hostile attitude toward
our fellow humans, and that will result in disease in our body. Attitudes
affect how we process our food, which enzymes and hormones are
secreted from our glands, and how much acid is in our digestive
system. Emotions affect such diverse functions as heart rate, glucose
release and fat storage. We now understand many of these
mechanisms—the relationship, for instance, between activation of the sympathetic
nervous system and alteration of brain chemistry. Scientific research
has taught us so very much. Still, you aren't likely to hear a doctor
prescribe “find someone to love you,” instead of “take
Lipitor,” or “change your attitudes from negative to positive”
instead of “let me write you a prescription for Paxil.” That's
not a slur against doctors, it's just the world in which we live. We
are the ones who must wake up and grab life by the horns.
Our
bodies require many things to be healthy. A fresh diet and reasonable
exercise, sunshine and clean water, love, hope and faith in equal
measure. All of these together produce vitality in rabbits---and in us.
In
the spirit,
Jane
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