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From the desk of Richard
Penfounde, your Naturally Healthy Lifestyle specialist.
Your body is here to help you. Give it positive messages and it will
fight for your life." So said internationally acclaimed author and
lecturer Dr Bernie Siegel He should know, he has survived a few
life-threatening illnesses in his time.
Look back to the late 1800’s and discover the words of William James
who, asked at the dusk of his life. “What is the greatest discovery
in your life time?", answered: "That human beings may alter their
illnesses and their lives by altering their attitude of mind."
Strong stuff. Over the past 100 years we have heard so little about
"thinking" ourselves well. We have heard plenty about the latest
pill for this or that disease, but to imagine another dimension
within ourselves - not pestle-and-mortar produced - is still way
beyond the comprehension and belief systems of most people.
Not surprising. Most of us have been brought up to believe mind and
body are separate entities and that the only connection they have is
that they were physically attached to each other at
birth.
But today a great many eminent scientists and researchers worldwide
are discovering really powerful facts about our mind-body
connections.
I picked up a mind-blowing (it you'll pardon the expression) book
the other day called "The Healing Power of Illness", by one of
Germany's best-known medical psychologists and researchers.
The first sentences give you a real piece of scene-setting: "This is
an uncomfortable book. It deprives people of illness as an alibi for
their unresolved problems I propose to show readers that the patient
is not the innocent victim of some quirk of nature, but actually the
author of his or her own sickness."
He goes on to show us that in his researches, symptoms are the
bodily expressions of unresolved psychological conflicts. Of
rheumatic sufferers, he says: "They tend to inhibit their aggression
on the motor level - they block their energy at the muscular stage.
They just do not want to address personal problems, they are too
rigid and immobile".
Many medical commentators are increasingly coming forward with
examples in which our emotions, attitudes, beliefs and upbringing
are the contributing causes of so many of our modern diseases.
We see plenty of examples around us of unhappy people succumbing to
untold illnesses. We are beginning to believe that laughter and a
cheerful heart are good medicine and that there is truth in the fact
that love heals. In effect, we really do have the power to heal
ourselves, each and every one of us.
I've been wondering why, in recent years, there has been such an up
surge in flower remedies. Flower remedies were "discovered by Dr
Edward Bach at the beginning of this century and they have,
therefore, been called the "Bach Flower Remedies”
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Now Australia has launched flower remedies; so, too, has California
and some amazing results have been reported These powerful little
flowers provide extracts that help alleviate states of mind such as
worry, anger, fear, stress and negativity, with no harmful
side-effects.
Bach realised that continued stress resulting from emotions such as
anger, fear or worry lowered a person's resistance to disease. At
the same time, he observed that emotional outlook influenced the
course, severity and duration of diseases or symptoms.
For business and relationship problems, here is a sample of flower
remedies that might strike a note or two:
• Clematis if there is an inability to concentrate.
• Elm for exhaustion from over-reaching for perfection.
• White chestnut for persistent worrying and mental
arguments.
• Impatiens for mental tension due to irritability.
• Willow to clear resentment or bitterness.
Now, for mental help on the nutritional side, comes feedback that
phenylalanine, one of the eight essential ammo acids (that means the
body doesn't make it, we have to ingest it by means of food or a
supplement) is responsible for a significant increase in endorphine
levels in both humans and in animals.
Endorphins are morphine-like substances produced by the adrenal
gland in times of stress. Depression victims who have been given
endorphin professionally have experienced sudden and dramatic
relief. Foods supplying phenylalanine are soya, pumpkin seeds,
sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, cheddar cheese, tuna, almonds,
cashews, eggs, beef, pecans and milk.
Co-factors that are needed in the body for assisting in the
bio-availability of phenylalanine are magnesium, zinc, B1, B3, B6
and C
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