Currently, in school I am learning a lot about allergies and there is always a mind, body, spirit connection. In the book Allergies, Disease in Disguise by Carolee Bateson-Koch DC ND, I came across a chapter I felt would be beneficial for everyone else to be informed about.

According to the book, Scientist Cleve Backster researched on the idea that electrical activity occurs at a cellular level. This electrical activity has been shown to be influenced by thoughts. They did an experiment where they took human cells from the top of someones mouth and monitored the activity through an instrument that measured their electric potential. He did a study where both a male and female were monitored on how they would react to a certain stressful event. Their mouth cells were a mile away and the cells would react with sharp swings on a graph during the same time the person was reacting to a particular situation. Backster goes on to saying that if emotionally charged thoughts can influence the electrical impulses of cells a mile away, then thoughts can certainly influence the cells that are still in the body.

Textbook of Medical Physiology states, “When a person experiences some powerful depressing or exciting thought, a portion of the signal is transmitted into the hypothalamus.” The hypothalamus is a tiny extension in the brain, but influences many vital functions, such as a person’s heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, hunger, thirst, when “fullness” has been reached from eating, uterine contractions, and water excretion.  The hypothalamus works by releasing hormones and nerve impulses directly to the pituitary gland, in response to some type of external or internal stimuli . The hypothalamus is unique, because it is the only part of the brain that contacts with blood directly. Every other part of the brain is protected by the blood-brain barrier to make sure certain substances do not get across. For example, large protein particles are not allowed to enter, but proteins broken down into amino acids can. Glucose, water, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and hormones are also transported across. Interesting note, alcohol and steroid hormones are able to easily penetrate the barrier, which explains why these two have such an effect on the brain.

This is just another reason why what you put inside your body is so important. What you choose to eat, drink, smoke, and supplement, makes up the substances in a persons blood. Not only that, thought signals are directed through the hypothalamus to the rest of the body, which proves there is a real physical body-mind connection. This can compromise normal body functions if there an over abundance of negative thinking, toxins and chemicals in the body.

Cells are constantly signaling and communicating with one another in response to changes or a particular stimuli. Emotions, either positive or negative, have the ability to mobilize cells in the body. Dr. Pert believes that “moods and attitudes transform themselves into the physical realm through emotions, which affect organs and tissues of the body”. Doctors estimate that each person will have 70 thousand different thoughts in a day. It is hard to always have control over every thought that goes through the mind, but making a conscious effort to become more positive about the things around us, and always trying to see the beauty in even the worse circumstances, can really have a positive effect on a person’s well-being.

The brain is always active during any thought or feeling. This activity can lead to numerous changes throughout the body, which links the brain and the immune system together. Immune cells have receptors located all over them and emotional ups and downs can influence if a person gets sick or not. A study at UCLA did a study where they told individuals to think about a scenario and act it out as if it was real. Hormones in their blood were tested and subtle changes to the immune system and hormones were documented. Dr. M.T. Morter, Jr., explains, “By understanding that mental activity generates energy and that this energy is transformed into the energy fields of the body, we can understand why thoughts and the mind are so important in gaining, restoring, or maintaining physical health.”

Lately, I have been reading the book “Take the Step, The Bridge Will Be There” by Grace Cirocco and I have found it very inspiring and uplifting whenever I am feeling down or discouraged. If interested on a way to expand one’s thinking and try and become more of a positive person, I suggest reading this book 🙂

xo

Mindful Harts.