Your thoughts. Do Emotions really effect your Health?

Thoughts, Emotions and Your Health

  Proverbs 17:22

"A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones."

Being happy is good medicine and unhappiness results in poor health. Negative thought have been shown to stimulate the release of hormones such as cortisol, which over time will harm your health and well being. In fact, high levels of cortisol, which is an adrenal hormone, will suppress specific immune cells resulting in the decreased production of antibodies leading you to be more vulnerable to bacteria, viruses and illness. Prolonged stress, fear and anxiety over time suppresses the immune system and effects the very marrow of the bones (where the white blood cells of the immune system are produced) resulting in the "drying of the bones".

Everything that goes on in our thoughts is converted into a physical or biologic response. It is not so much what enters our mind but how long we choose to dwell on it. We live in a world that is often more negative than positive. We get hurt, offended, abused and taken advantage of. We make mistakes and often let our own selfish interest determine our actions, resulting in hurt for ourselves and others.

I remember reading the results of a scientific study, which concluded that the major cause of stress in peoples lives came from making bad decisions. Duh!! Certainly the consequences of our poor choices impact our lives, but dwelling, contemplating and ruminating (that is what cows do - regurgitate what they've eaten to chew on it some more) make matters much worse. As we entertain and recount the negative in our lives (often by sharing again and again with others), it impacts which hormones and chemicals are secreted in our bodies. Positive thoughts bring us toward healing, health and happiness. Negative thought toward illness, pain and disease. Not to mention being unhappy. 

The glorious thing about thoughts is we can choose which ones dominate our minds stage. We can choose which thoughts are allowed to be principle characters and which darker more sinister thoughts get driven from the stage to be relegated to minor roles. Even horrific life events can be transformed to much less dominate players.

The scriptures are loaded with advice, guidance and direction that affirm the benefits of dwelling on good or happy thoughts. We are taught to "let virtue garnish our thoughts unceasingly" and that "as a man thinketh in his heart, so does he become". Thoughts are powerful. So powerful that your health and even your life will not be sorted out and healed until your mind and thoughts are sorted out. You cannot have a positive life and a negative mind. What you think and dwell upon is what you get, for better or for worse. It is entirely up to you. Many of us are so nice and pleasant with others, but within the protected walls of our minds, we are not so nice to ourselves. 

 

Therefore if you want to change your life, if you are not happy with your state of health, you've got to change your thinking. This will take some effort and practice but if you truly desire happiness, you can do it.

Here are a few examples of how negative thoughts can result in specific illness or disease. These are general observations not hard fast rules.

Fear and Anxiety = Heart Disease, High Blood Pressure, Allergies and Asthma

Anger/Rage/Resentment = Stroke, aneurism, Varicose veins

Perfectionism/Drivenness = Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue

Jealousy/Envy = Osteoporosis

Bitterness/Unforgiveness = Cancer, Arthritis

Low Self Esteem/ Guilt/Self-Hatred = Depression, Addictions, Weight Gain, Auto-immune disease, Migraines and Crohn's Disease.

Understand that much of what we experience emotionally can be genetically passed down to us from parents, grandparent and great grandparents. So if you have a predisposition towards depression, for example, due to a long family history of depressed people, it may not be your fault, BUT it is your responsibility. Even though you may have spent 40, 50 or even 60 years of dwelling on toxic thoughts, you can change and heal your brain relatively quickly.

We will discuss this in more detail later, but to begin with, become aware of your thoughts. Imagine your mind as a stage. When a dark or unwanted negative character walks on, you must drive them off. For many this is best done with a song. But playing or singing an inspirational song in your heart and mind, the light produced by uplifting music will chase the darkness away. Many use spirituals, hymns or even children gospel songs. Others can quote scripture and still others will cast these demons out in the name of Christ. The point, with controlling our thoughts, is the hurt, the anger, the fear, the anxiety cannot be given stage time. It is normal and even okay that darkness crosses the threshold, but you and you alone determine whether it stays or not. As you begin a serious work of this, you will observe your spirits rising and with that less pain and discomfort.

Much of this information is from Dr. Michelle Strydom's book: Healing begins with Sanctification of the Heart. She is a medical doctor in Zimbabwe and offers it as a free download, which I highly recommend.

Interested? Click on this image for a free download of this book.