A recent Harvard study of 1,305 men with an average age of 62 revealed that the men who were most plagued by emotional stress who were angriest were three times more likely to develop heart disease than the most placid ones. According to researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, stress as been shown to act as a sort of fertilizer that significantly accelerates the spread and progression of breast cancer in animals. Immune cells, which normally protect the body against disease, are biologically reprogrammed through stress into cells that actually help cancers grow and metastasize.
In a review of the scientific literature on the relationship between stress and disease, Carnegie Mellon University psychologist Sheldon Cohen has found that stress is a contributing factor in human disease, and in particular depression, cardiovascular disease and HIV/AIDS. There is no doubt about it, chronic emotional stress contributes to fatal disease.
Like a dietary cleanse, the emotional cleanse allows the
emotional body to reset itself, letting go of the cumbersome toxic load and
reducing stress significantly. Unless you consciously and deliberately engage
in the emotional cleansing process, you are leaving a large component of your
future health to chance. Don't leave your health to chance.
Recipe
for an emotional cleanse
The recipe will call to mind specific people and events and
ask you to take certain actions, always erring on the mature expression of your
emotions, rather than an immature expression.
1.
Cleanse anger
Identify the people at whom you are angry. Once identified,
the recipe calls for you to write down the mature expression of your issue (not
the immature one). Once you are clear on your adult position on the issue, the
road forward will be obvious.
2.
Cleanse guilt
Identify people you have wronged and of whom you need to ask
forgiveness. Identify specifically what you did or how you acted poorly toward
each person and what, if any, restitution you feel is appropriate. Make plans
to act on your insights.
3.
Cleanse negative memories you are holding onto
Write a list of negative memories that still bother you.
Once you have your list, review each memory completely and from a distance.
Imagine you are viewing the memory as a neutral observer from a safe and
comfortable distance. Ask yourself what there is to learn from each memory.
Record your thoughts.
4.
Cleanse self-criticism
Notice the specific words you use to criticize yourself.
Take a paper and pencil and write the words self-criticism at the top.
Then, write down all the phrases the come to mind that you use to beat yourself
up. Don't censor yourself. Review each phrase, curious about its origins. Next,
completely clear your mind by listening passively but intently to some mundane
sound in your immediate environment (the sound of a refrigerator motor, a fan,
the hum of your computer of the distant traffic). Once you are settled and
clear, throw the paper away.
5.
Develop resources
Finally, immerse yourself in a
positive memory, seeing what you saw at the time, hearing what you heard and
feeling what you felt. Imagine many, many more of these positive memories being
scattered into your future. By ending on a positive note and casting positivity
into your future, you set the stage for good things to come. Positive
expectations and optimism are linked to health and longevity.
The moral of the story: Take charge of your emotional health. Consciously process your emotions. Don't allow stress to dictate your state of being. When this happens, your mind and body become an environment in which disease is more likely to not just exist, but flourish.
The moral of the story: Take charge of your emotional health. Consciously process your emotions. Don't allow stress to dictate your state of being. When this happens, your mind and body become an environment in which disease is more likely to not just exist, but flourish.
-Natural News
