Awaken Your Immunity

Most of us have an intuitive understanding of the relationship between life events and health. Until quite recently, however, the majority of medical doctors remained unconvinced that there was a link between our emotions and our susceptibility to illness. This perception is now undergoing a dramatic shift.

A healthy immune system is dynamic
Our immune system is continuously responding to a dynamically changing inner and outer environment. Healthy immunity requires strength, balance, and flexibility.

The Sanskrit word for immunity is bala, which means strength. This strength, which keeps us vital and resistant to illness, is the fruit of balanced living. When energy is flowing freely between our environment, senses, body, mind, emotions, and soul, our immune system is awake and responsive. When we have congestion in some aspect of our life—a stressful job, a turbulent relationship, poor diet, disrupted sleep—vital energy is blocked and we become susceptible to imbalance, distress, and disease.

Beliefs become biology
A study by Dr. Robert Ader aroused the scientific community by showing that perceptions and interpretations are metabolized into physiology. In his experiment, Dr. Ader gave rats a shot of a potent immune-suppressing drug the moment they tasted sweetened water. Like many similarly powerful drugs, this one had severe nausea as a side effect. The animals associated the sweet water with the nausea from the drug and thereafter avoided it. Dr. Ader then repeated the experiment, but this time he injected the rats with a placebo the moment they tasted the sweetened water. After the first taste, they refused to drink the sweetened water, as expected. What was unexpected was that, despite the fact that the animals received only a harmless placebo, their immune cells became suppressed as if they had received the potent drug. Their cells had interpreted the sweet water as toxic and responded to their interpretation. Their beliefs became their biology.

The connection between immunity and stress
Hundreds of subsequent studies have demonstrated that people respond similarly to how the rats responded in Dr. Ader’s experiment. If we are having a stressful month, we are more likely to come down with a cold. If we are anxious about passing a college exam, an allergic skin problem is more likely to flare up. Rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and ulcerative colitis are just a few of many immunological conditions that are influenced by stress.

Alternatively, using meditation, massage, diet, exercise, and conscious communication skills to reduce stress levels can improve immune function and ward off illness. From colds to cancer, we can now confirm scientifically what many of us have always known intuitively: Learning to stay balanced while managing the inevitable stresses of life will keep us healthier and happier.

Mindfulness Meditation Can Heal
Boost immunity and improve mental and physical health

In a study conducted by West Virginia University, 103 adults participated in an 8-week stress reduction program in which they learned, practiced, and applied mindfulness meditation to daily life situations. The group completing the meditation program showed a 44 percent decrease in psychological distress and a 46 percent decrease in medical symptoms.