Ive been reading up on a lot of recent mind-body research lately, - TopicsExpress

Ive been reading up on a lot of recent mind-body research lately, and its exciting to see the number of studies showing that we can heal our bodies using just our minds. Beliefs, and the emotions they generate, are being linked to chronic pain, allergies, heart disease, and more recently, asthma. The statistics around asthma are pretty shocking. According to the CDC, around 25 million Americans suffer from the disease, and that number gets bigger each year. Its also the most common chronic disorder in childhood, impacting more than 7 million children under the age of 18. Asthma triggers have always been thought to be things like smells - ranging from cigarette smoke to perfume - pollen, and pollution. While all of these things, and more, do contribute to asthma, an interesting new study suggests that beliefs about asthma triggers also impact the way the body responds to potential triggers. The Power in Our Minds... AsthmaWomanIn the study, published in the Journal of Psychosomatic Research, a group of participants who classified their asthma as moderate-persistent were divided into two groups. All were exposed to the same harmless scent. One group was told the scent would help to relieve asthma, while the other group was told the scent could make their asthma worse. The group that expected the scent to aggravate their asthma experienced significantly more inflammation in their airways. Whats more, that inflammation was still evident 24 hours later. The group that was told the odor may help to alleviate their asthma did not experience any irritation or inflammation from the scent. Just by believing their asthma would get triggered, the first group not only helped the body to create inflammation, but they also made themselves more vulnerable to future asthma attacks, and even more inflammation. The other groups belief that the scent was therapeutic protected them from experiencing inflammation. Amazing! Studies like these dont mean that asthma is all in your head. Its just the opposite. Research like this means that our beliefs, as well as the emotions they generate, contribute to very real processes in the body. In other words, your body interacts with your beliefs the way it would with a set of instructions, so if you believe a certain scent aggravates your asthma, your body will obey by creating inflammation. Stop and really think about that for a minute... its pretty incredible when you consider how a single belief can kick off an entire process in the body. That process can be potentially harmful, like inflammation, or it can be protective, like boosting immunity or preventing inflammation. All of that, from a single belief! Beliefs create reality... Thats a lot of power were holding in our minds. When we talk about how our beliefs create reality, though, it can be tempting to start harping on what were doing wrong. We notice that we have a lot of limiting beliefs, and wonder things like, Does my ashthma mean I havent done enough work on myself? Why cant I let go of my limiting beliefs so I can be healthier and more positive? The reality is, we all have limiting beliefs, and we all experience negative emotions. Were human, and thats a good thing! Instead of criticizing ourselves, which just adds stress and continues the negative cycle, we want to stop, and start noticing our limiting beliefs. So do that, think about your own limiting beliefs, then write them down in a journal, and tap through them. Beliefs run deep, so they can take a long time to transform, but youll be amazed by the positive changes that happen when you do.