What a shakeup the past 12 months have been. Aside from major changes to our external world that have caused us to go about our daily lives differently, many of us have finally had time to focus on us. Our health. Some may have used quarantine time to start a new exercise regime, while others may have added a few extra pounds. For most, however, their immune health has taken centre stage.
Now that we see the importance of our immune system, it is crucial to understand that this system is more than just a physical entity. As much as we are made up of a body, mind and spirit, so too is our immune system a three-part framework: physiology, thoughts, and emotions. Nothing within us works in isolation.
For our immune system, it is not merely a question of how well we eat, exercise, supplement, and sleep to keep it strong. It is even more so a matter of how much we actively liberate this essential system from suppressed emotions, unresolved trauma, and negative beliefs. Put simply, now that we are taking better care of our physical immunity, it is time we address our emotional immunity.
How?
All our emotions, beliefs, and trauma share a common denominator: Stress! No matter if the nature of our stress is physical, mental, emotional or even spiritual, it all impacts the organism (us), especially our immune system. When we experience a stressor, such as fear, we involuntarily move into the “fight, flight or freeze” state, a primordial response to keep us safe from danger.
Nature created us this way to protect us and allow us to live long enough to propagate the species. Brilliant! However, it intended for us to remain in such a state for only very short spurts. Nowadays, our fearful thinking, unregulated emotions, and negative beliefs can keep us in this state for hours, days, weeks, months or longer. As a result, our organism shifts its life-sustaining energy away from supporting normal body functions to keeping us alert of danger.
For our immune system that means we are unable to defend ourselves properly against bacteria, colds, and viral infections due to insufficient amounts of energy. With low energy stores, we become vulnerable.
And while the solution is simple, it is not always easy. By turning inwards and allowing ourselves to feel our suppressed emotions, reflect on our negative beliefs, and explore our hidden trauma, we can process our blocks and get the energy moving freely again.
For many, destructive thinking patterns, feelings, and beliefs have become a habit, so in order to be free of them, we must break the habit. When we can establish new habits to replace the old ones, we can minimize the stressors that trigger us, allowing our organism and our immune system to function autonomously and naturally again.
INITIAL STEPS:
• The first step in releasing a negative emotion or sabotaging belief is to recognize you have it. Awareness is the jumping off point.
• Keep a daily journal on situations and thinking patterns that cause noticeable mood changes within you, so you can begin to determine common stressors in your life and enable yourself to face them.
• Explore meditation practices that suit you. Rather than trying to fit yourself into the classic model of sitting in stillness for long periods of time, try walking meditations, full-body movement meditations (like Qi Gong) or guided audio meditations while lying down.
• Reconnect with the sensations in your body. We spend our lives thinking during every waking moment. Take a moment to notice how you are feeling in your body and re-learn what it means to feel yourself being alive.
• Spend time in nature with undivided awareness: feel the nuances of the air; smell the scents of trees and flowers; taking off your shoes to sense the support of our planet beneath you; and notice the warmth of the sunshine on your face.
• Seek out resources to help you like The Work by Byron Katie (a free resource available as a PDF via https://thework.com
• If you need additional support, have a bioenergetic assessment done to uncover unresolved trauma and negative emotions that affect you subconsciously. Process them and relieve yourself of their heavy energy.
Finally, be gentle with yourself as you move through these steps to help improve your emotional immunity. Notice your thoughts, question your beliefs, and be consistent.
Maximilian Waid is a bioenergetic practitioner in Victoria, BC who empowers individuals to heal from deep within using energy medicine. To learn more, visit www.wholistic.guide
For website:
Link to The Work by Byron Katie: https://thework.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/English_LB.pdf)
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