Superhealing: Engaging Your Mind, Body, and Spirit to Create Optimal Health and Well-Being (ARC) (16 page)

If you don’t believe in the power of positive thinking, you are not alone. Neither did I when I first heard about it. I was skeptical when I was introduced to the practice of repeating affirmations, such as “I am healthy, happy, and whole,” to uplift my thinking. And guess what: they didn’t work for me. It turns out that belief and emotional commitment to the affirmation you are repeating is an essential aspect of the technique. Gradual y, over the years, I began to consider the effect of my negative thinking on my health. Massive, sometimes uncontrol-lable, fears had taken hold of me, and I recognized that my anxiety was ffecting my health, at least indirectly. I tried affirmations again and saw a dramatic, positive improvement in my state of being.

Since I’ve begun to monitor my negative thoughts, I’ve become

much more aware of their power to influence my moods and health.

I am certainly not on “thought patrol,” and I don’t recommend pay-

ing attention to each and every thought you have, because that would be far too time-consuming. But I do think it is important for you to take stock of trends in your thinking. It’s like the difference between watching a wave and and watching the tide. An individual wave can

knock you down from time to time, but it’s more important to know

when the tide has shifted direction.

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PART ONE:
Your Superhealing Mind

Now that we understand that our thoughts shape the brain’s wiring

and establish patterns, we can practice repeating beneficial thoughts until they become imprinted on our brains and in our unconscious

minds. These repeated thoughts are affirmations.

Affirmations so powerful because over time, whatever we think

about repeatedly sets up chemical, biological, and electromagnetic patterns in our minds and our bodies. Since these become habitual, our thoughts are critical to our health and well-being. Affirmations can be a very important tool in the transformation of your thinking.

Superhealing Affirmation Engagement Suggestions

Get a fresh notebook and spend a few minutes a day for the next

forty days writing down your affirmations and feeling them. You can make the affirmations any time of day that you like.

Focusing on your health, on getting well, as often as possible is

important, because your thoughts and emotions engage your super-

healing mind and catalyze your body’s ability to heal and regenerate.

Here are some affirmations I want to share with you; use these or go ahead and design your own:

• I am healthy.

• I am superhealing.

• I am a superhealer.

• I am strengthening my mind, fortifying my body,

and expanding my spirit.

• My mind has superhealing powers.

• I am tapping into my superhealing powers, and my

body, mind, and spirit are improving each and every day.

• I am focusing on my body’s amazing, superhealing powers.

• I intend to improve my health.

• I am superhealing now.

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Engaging Your Superhealing Mind

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• I am superhealing my life now.

• I have the ability to superheal.

• My body was created to superheal and has optimal

health and well-being.

• I can superheal my life.

• I am getting well faster now.

• I am healthy, happy, and whole.

• My health is improving more and more, and I am

superhealing faster than I can imagine.

• My body is strong and remarkable.

• I am feeling better and better.

• I am getting stronger and stronger.

• I am so happy and grateful for all that is

functioning in my body.

• I am grateful for my body.

• I love my body.

• All is well in my body.

• All is well in my mind.

• All is well in my spirit.

These affirmations may sound sil y, but let me assure you, if you

focus on them or similar ones for at least fifteen to thirty minutes a day you will see a profound shift.

Psychologists call the affirmation technique
cognitive behavioral
programming
. You can call it whatever pleases you. Just know that if you use affirmations appropriately on a daily basis, saying and feeling them as though they are literal y true, it will change the cel s and organs in your body. Affirmations can help you get well faster if you’re sick. If you’re wel , they can help you establish and sustain optimal health and well-being.

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SUPERHEALING WORK SHEET:

ENGAGING YOUR SUPERHEALING MIND

Choose one superhealing mind technique to play with for the

next week. You don’t have to wait until you’ve read the entire book to begin to experience these benefits. Commit to just a ten to fifteen minutes a day; that is sufficient to begin. Answer the following questions:

1. Are you actively using any of these superhealing

mind-body techniques?

2. Do you want to add more?

3. Which ones do you find most appealing?

4. How much time do you want to commit?

5. Do you have any reservations?

6. How do you think you can shift your perspective?

7. How many techniques are you willing to try?

Part Two

ESTABLISHING A

ENVIRONMENT

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CHAPTER 4

Establishing a

Superhealing Environment

Study nature, love nature, stay close

to nature. It will never fail you.

—Frank Lloyd Wright

For most of my life, I was a city dweller. I grew up in De-

troit, went to college in Providence, Rhode Island, and for many

years lived near my workplace in Chicago with my husband, Vic-

tor. Ultimately, however, city dwelling began to take a toll on me.

I became increasingly sensitive to the loud noises, congestion, and fast-paced energy of my urban surroundings. I often felt on edge and had difficulty sleeping. My health already suffered for a variety of reasons related to stress, and the urban environment offered me little relief. Although I felt torn about relinquishing the city lifestyle, with its easy access to stores, restaurants, entertainment, and Lake Michigan (which was a five-minute walk from our home), I reluctantly

did. A few years ago, we moved to a rural town an hour’s drive away from the heart of the city, and this move restored me mental y, physical y, and emotional y.My husband and I now live in the midst of one of Mother Nature’s forests, a setting filled with the most beautiful sights and sounds I could ever imagine. The only noises I regularly hear these days are the cal s of geese, sparrows, robins, woodpeckers, bluejays, and cardinals. On our property, I am able to watch and participate in the subtle changes of the seasons that I missed in the city.

And even though I still work in an office in the city, every evening I 101

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am eager to return home to this peace and restoration. In my heart I know that living surrounded by nature has added years to my life by improving my health and well-being. Nature is one of the keys to superhealing.

THE STRESS OF URBAN AND

MAN-MADE ENVIRONMENTS

More than half of the world’s population now lives in urban en-

vironments, and by 2050, at least 66 percent of the global popula-

tion will be city residents, according to sociologists’ predictions.

Although there are advantages to city life, the sensory input we constantly receive in cities makes them stressful places to live. A German study found that the amygdala, an area of the brain involved in the stress response, was much more active among urban residents

and that another area of the brain involved in regulating the stress response, the cingulated cortex, was more active in people born in cities. In other words, living in the city causes an overstimulation of the brain, making urban dwellers much more susceptible to stress-related physical and mental illnesses.1

Cities are stressful because they are man-made settings: they are

crowded, noisy, and visual y distracting and have lots of social activity. Although rural and suburban dwellers also live in man-made environments, they tend to be spread out more; cities, in contrast, tend to be constricted places, with buildings standing tall and tight together. Most have a shortage of open spaces and sunlight and lack meaningful signs of nature or the opportunity to interact with it.

Just being in an urban setting like this interferes with our most basic mental processes. After a few minutes of exposure to a crowded street setting, the brain loses a portion of its capacity to remember, and people experience diminished self-control.2 For these reasons,

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city residents are general y more stressed than those living in the suburbs or in the country.

There is, of course, no place on the planet anymore that has not

been affected by the presence of people, but in cities, besides being more crowded together, we are typical y exposed to higher levels

of toxic chemicals and pol ution. Most cities have a visible layer of smog in the air above them, which comes from the fumes of cars

and trucks, factories, dry cleaners, construction work, and trash in-cinerators. Cities are filled with the waste products of homes and businesses. Wherever we live today, we are exposed to thousands of chemicals on a daily basis—and ironical y, a great number of these come from the cleaning products we use.

There are two kinds of toxicity to be aware of. The first is acute toxicity, which is caused by a large single dose of a poisonous substance. The second is chronic toxicity, a low-level exposure that leads to a gradual buildup in the body. It is remarkable how well our bodies can process and eliminate chemicals. But sometimes the body simply cannot keep up with the environmental demands placed upon it.

The liver, kidneys, intestines, and skin are the four principal organs of detoxification. It is best to minimize our toxic exposure as much as possible to ensure that these organs can do their jobs effectively so there is less buildup of toxins over time and we remain healthy. I recommend that you pay attention to the following toxins:

•
Lead.
Although regulations have changed, lead used to be in gasoline and paint. Exposure comes from the bottom of our

shoes, which pick up lead particles that are then tracked into

our homes. Take your shoes off when entering your home to

reduce this kind of contaminant exposure. Lead can also get into

our drinking water when plumbing equipment and old fixtures

begin to corrode.3 Use a water filter to purify your tap water.

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•
Fluoride.
Long added to toothpaste and water-supply

systems to prevent cavities, on the recommendation of the

American Dental Association, fluoride is, in fact, harmful. It

reduces children’s intelligence; penetrates the bones, where

it causes hip fractures and osteoporosis; and has also been

linked to cancer in young males.4 To protect yourself, choose

a toothpaste that does not contain fluoride, and again, use a

water filter to purify your tap water.

•
Mercury.
A liquid element, mercury is commonly found in products like lightbulbs and thermometers. It is also

released into the environment when coal is burned, which

many American factories do. The trouble is that when

mercury particles from the air settle into water, the mercury

is transformed into a highly toxic pol utant, methyl mercury,

which builds up in the fish and shellfish and gets into our food

supply.5 The Environmental Protection Agency issues annual

advisories of which kinds of fish are safest to eat. You can find

their most up-to-date recommendations online at http://www

.foodsafety.gov.

•
Bisphenol A (BPA).
Found in polycarbonate plastic and

epoxy resins, BPA is present mainly in food and beverage

containers but also in plastic shopping bags, the air, dust,

water, and dental amalgams used for fillings.6 A surprising

source is the thermal paper used to print store receipts. You

can protect yourself from BPA primarily by not drinking

beverages stored in plastic bottles and by washing your

hands after you shop.7 Aluminum. Exposure to aluminum

can come through the foods we eat and the air we breathe.

It is especial y hazardous to older people and those with

diminished kidney function. Symptoms of aluminum

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