How our thoughts and emotions affect our health!
by Marie Baker
There are three major sections of the human brain.
The lower brain/reptilian brain is responsible for
breathing, blood flow, body temperature and homeostasis.
The mid brain/limbic system is referred to as the
emotional brain, it stores emotional and behavioral
patterns also known as our "adaptive survival responses".
The higher brain/cortex is responsible for cognitive
thought and gives us the ability to make choices; this
is what distinguishes us as humans.
Within 21 days of conception, our central nervous system,
which includes the brain and spinal cord, has begun to
develop. Our senses, including vibration, pain, sight,
smell, sound, taste, touch, plus information from our
internal organs, are relayed through the spinal cord to
the brain for a response, creating our neurological pathways.
With this in mind, you can begin to understand how long
some of our neurological pathways or "adaptive survival
responses" have been in place; this is why it can feel
difficult to create change in our lives.
Our sensory information is relayed to the lower brain
first and if necessary, on to the mid-brain where it is
integrated with your previous emotional and behavioral
responses or "adaptive survival responses". Based on the
information from the mid-brain, the cortex makes a judgment
and the brain produces peptides that correspond with the
emotion. These peptides go out into the bloodstream to
find receptors on each cell that respond to that particular
emotion and its peptide. So now we know that our thoughts
actually produce chemicals in our body and these chemicals
are called peptides.
This peptide network expands beyond the brain; it is the
language used by cells throughout the body to communicate
across systems such as the endocrine, immune and gastro-
intestinal systems. According to Candace Pert, author of
Molecules of Emotion, we not only experience our emotions,
they run every system in our body. It is a two way
communication between the brain and the body.
Every single cell in our body has peptide receptors; the
receptors receive the message and transmit it from the
surface of the cell deep into the cell's interior where
the message can change the state of the cell dramatically.
Events, feelings, sensations, thoughts and perhaps even
spirit or soul release peptides creating a biochemical
reaction in our bodies right down to the cellular level.
The life of a cell and what it's up to at any given moment,
is determined by which receptors are on its surface, and
whether these receptors are occupied or not.
Emotional memories (peptides) are stored in every single
cell of the body and emotional memory stored through out
the body can be accessed from anywhere in the network;
not only do cells receive peptides; they produce them.
Let's take a look at the gastro-intestinal system or gut;
the entire lining of the intestines is lined with cells
that contain peptides, it's entirely possible that this
is why we feel our emotions in that part of the anatomy,
often referring to them as the "gut feeling".
What, then, is the relationship of mind and emotions to
an individual's state of health?
The peptides and their receptors are the substrates of
our emotions, and they are in constant communication with
the immune system, the mechanism through which health and
disease are created. It is documented that there is a
connection between "happy thoughts" and a healthy immune
system but, it is also important to feel your anger, fear
and sadness - the so-called negative emotions. To repress
these emotions and not let them flow freely creates
blockages and insufficient flow of peptide signals to
maintain function at the cellular level, this is what
contributes to the weakened immune system that can lead
to disease. All honest emotions are positive emotions as
long as they are expressed responsibly.
So if we know that every thought is creating our future
right down to the cellular level, it goes without saying
that we need to feel good about ourselves and how we conduct
ourselves in the world around us. If our goal is to create
new thought processes, we need to create new neurological
pathways and recognize that our emotional responses are
"adaptive survival responses" that could have been put into
place long before we remember.
To create change you need to be present to each feeling or
emotion that you experience as it processes through the
mid-brain and use the higher brain to make a cognitive choice
instead of resorting to the "adaptive survival response"
that may not be appropriate for you anymore. Eventually,
you will have laid down a new neurological pathway and
therefore have a new thought process.
email Marie:
mariebaker@unfranchise.com
May be it's my limitation with the english.. I need to re-read to understand it throughly.
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