Positive and Negative Thinking
By Dr. Gay Lynn Saunders
Our bodies run on positive and negative influences. Each impulse that is input has its effect upon body chemistry and determines the kinds of messages that get sent to the brain. Chemical substances run our bodies. They tell our organs what and how to do things. Nerves transmit and transfer messages through chemicals known as neurotransmitters. These are aided by other chemicals. Drugs work on the body by altering these chemicals or blocking their actions.
motions of man are are shown by scientists to be the flow of chemical charges moving through different portions of the body and brain. When emotions become uncontrolled or even slightly unbalanced, the chemical transmitters in our bodies become unbalanced, destroying the harmony of the body and mind. These imbalances cause our glands to generate inappropriate hormones and enzymes - chemical poisons that can cause pain, illness, and even death. For instance, anger and fear suspend the process of digestion, acidifying the blood and drying the glandular secretions. The result of these reactions show in our health and appearance; people can actually see when these things are happening to us. These effects are often felt in pain. Sometimes we feel nothing at all for years, but suddenly our bodies turn on us with disease and dis-ease.
So, if wrong thinking can tear down the human body, the opposite should be true of positive thinking. Good thoughts will harmonize and build up; in fact, the positive is constructive and infinitely more powerful and easy to see on people's faces and bodies. When body and mind are balanced, chemistry balances and all parts of the body are normally fed and nourished. Nothing will be under- or over-active and no negative thought messages are generated. So, we should think just as though our thoughts were visible to those around us.
The Gate Control Theory of Pain is an explanation of how chemicals translate into messages that turn pain on or off. The "gate" part of the theory is this: as impulses travel to the brain, they have to pass a "pain gate". This is made up of a collection of nerve cells in the spinal cord. When messages get through this gate, they wind up at the pain centers of the brain. This gate can be opened or closed by various factors. Among these factors are nerve messages coming from the skin, brain, muscles, and organs. These nerve messages use a chemical language. If our chemistry is unbalanced or poisoned, our messages are negative "gate opening" messages. We then have pain.
Opening the gate is an easy thing to do. Changing our chemistry in a negative way is easy. Trauma, bad food, illness, and overwork all stimulate messages to open the gate. Excess of something, even a good thing, can cause an imbalanced chemistry that opens the gate. You've all heard the saying, "too much of a good thing..."
Our mental attitudes are an extremely powerful stimulus to the nerves for sending messages to open or close gates. The most important factor in blood pH is negative thinking. Long-term attitude or huge blasts of negative attitude will make the body prone to disease and infection, especially the degenerative processes of arthritis and cancer, and Candida and virus infections. Pleasant, positive thoughts and situations, humor, pleasing sights and sounds can act to "close the gate" and relieve the pain. We are stronger in our bodies in this phase and more resistant to disease and illness. Stress-reducing techniques and meditation help to keep us in these positive states.
We can always find situations in which we find ourselves hopelessly negative and nothing we do will change that. We may not even be able to identify the negative situation. It's possible that we don't realize we are in a negative state. We may feel badly and can feel our bodies feeling more at dis-ease minute by minute. We can do all the stress-reducing we want, but the problem is still there. It is at these times when we must seek outside help. In my practice, I use several techniques to help you release negativities. Some of them help you identify the problem; others simply release gently without knowing or having to wade through the issue. Body workers also do many things to release emotion: Myofascial Release, Heller Work and Feldenkrals are just a sample. For the larger picture, counselors are invaluable.
No matter whether you are healthy or not, the important point here is that positive and negative attitudes, emotions and thoughts will make you weak; positive attitudes, emotions and thoughts will make you strong. Remember to keep watch over them and deal with the issues instead of creating an illness or dis-ease situation.
