Have no fear, have faith, and be healthy
Every mall window is now replete with Halloween decor. Fright seems to be the order of the day. Reminds me of the last few weeks when I was on the edge, fearful of the unknown outcome of a pending negotiation. I have approved certain things in good faith that our contract would be renewed. Communication was lacking or even avoided when the topic is brought up, complicated by some misunderstandings. For weeks, I squeezed my brain for options to take.
Exasperated, I told my staff we should just pray and surrender the whole situation to God. Then the unexpected happened, everything went on positive reverse. Everything fell into its right place. Our contract was renewed. In retrospect, I shouldn’t have even worried unnecessarily. Worry is tiring. I also felt more sore, even feverish. I also had bouts of splitting headaches. Conditions that all melted away after the worrying phase.
Heartmath says
Rollin McCraty and his research team at the Institute of HeartMath in California believe, just like other researchers over the past 25 years, that our emotions may be as important to our immune system as the food we eat (if not more important). In the 1980s, Harvard psychologist Dr. David McClelland found that immune system functioning, measured by IgA or immunoglobulin A levels, increased in students who were shown a video of the compassionate Mother Teresa.
In a study dubbed “The Physiological and Psychological Effects of Compassion and Anger,” McCraty asked a group to intentionally feel care and compassion for five minutes. Several days later, they were asked to feel five minutes of self-induced anger by remembering an experience that made them angry and trying to recapture the feeling they had at that time.
In both cases, IgA samples were taken immediately after and then every hour for six hours. After five minutes of feeling care and compassion, the participants had an immediate increase of 41 percent in IgA, some with an increase as high as 240 percent. What is interesting is that there is a slow increase versus normal even until six hours after the exercise. While there was an 18-percent IgA increase when participants experienced anger, after an hour the level is half of normal and after six hours was still not back to normal.
“Heart-focused, sincere, positive feeling states boost the immune system, while negative emotions may suppress the immune response for up to six hours following the emotional experience,” McCraty concluded.
To achieve emotional coherence and improve the immune system, HeartMath recommends that we be aware of how we feel about an issue at hand. Then to breathe a positive feeling of attitude. Followed by distancing ourselves from the issue; being objective as if the problem belongs to someone else.
They suggest that we rest peacefully in this neutral state, allowing heart intelligence to offer new perspective and possibilities. Then soak and relax all resistances and disturbing feelings in our heart’s compassion. Finally, ask for guidance, then be patient and receptive. They emphasize that while awaiting an answer from the heart, find something or someone to genuinely appreciate.
This method is called Cut Through.
Confucius say
In Confucius Institute Online, they claim that disorder of the seven emotions is one of the three major causes of disease. These are the emotions are joy, anger, contemplation, grief, terror, and fright. All are normal to human beings but when they are suddenly and greatly changed, such as sudden great joy or terror or prolonged grief, they will cause illness.
The website said that according to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), excessive anger damages the liver, excessive joy damages the heart, excessive contemplation damages the lung, and excessive terror damages the kidney.
Huang Di Nei Jing (Yellow Emperor’s Canon of Medicine) says, “All kinds of diseases are caused by disorder of qi. Excessive anger drives qi to flow upwards, excessive joy slows the movement of qi, excessive grief exhausts qi, excessive terror drives qi to move downwards, excessive fright disturbs the flow of qi, and excessive contemplation stagnates qi.”
The Institute further said that health depends on the regulation of emotions. Tao Hongjing said in his book entitled Yang Sheng Yan Shou Lu (Records about Cultivating Health and Prolonging Life), “The key to health cultivation is to avoid excessive grief and anxiety, which is known as harmonization. Those who can maintain a harmonized state of mind and body can enjoy a long life.”
The bible says
Faith and fear cannot exist in us at the same time. I sometimes try and fool myself that I have great faith yet I am anxious. As stressed in one homily I heard, both fear and faith ask us to believe what we can not see! We can choose to believe that God is in control and only the best can happen or choose to get worried and expect the worst. As Hebrews 11:1 said, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Fear is actually the direct opposite of faith. Fear is faith in reverse. But as often said, what we think about is what takes root or is what we attract. If we review our fear, again and again, it might just happen. As proclaimed in Job 3:25, “For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.”
As one pastor aptly described “Fear will dominate your thoughts. Fear will keep you awake at night. It will wake you in the middle of your sleep telling you the worst is about to happen. Fear steals your joy. Fear robs your enthusiasm. Fear makes you sick.” I believe the reverse can be said about faith. Faith gives you joy. Faith fires up your enthusiasm. Faith makes you well!
In Timothy 1:7 we are told, “For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love and of a sound mind.” Timothy was affected by the spirit of fear around him, people who were always complaining and worrying. That is why he had to be reminded to choose faith over fear! Worrying and believing are both strong, infectious energies. Surround your self then with positive, men and women of faith.
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Post me a note at mylene@goldsgym.com.ph or mylenedayrit@gmail.com.
