Optimal Physical Health

When you're very sick, it's difficult to picture yourself in a state of optimal health. What if you were told that your ability to be optimistic about your health and your ability to picture yourself as healed would be a major factor in your future wellness? Would you be willing to do the mental work it would take to give yourself that chance? All of us take our health for granted at one time or another. Sometimes a health crisis occurs quickly and without warning. The sudden shock of a scary diagnosis can send our mental stability tumbling. Although there's still much for physicians and meta physicians to learn about the mind-body connection, there are some things that we do know for certain.

• Chronic depression, patterns of negative thinking, and the way we handle stress can cause disease.
• Although genetics are a factor in hereditary diseases, our thoughts and beliefs impact whether these genes manifest disease or not.
• Our subconscious minds are "hard-wired" to handle the day-to-day workings of all the physical and mental systems of our bodies. You don't have to consciously control the beat of your heart or the work of your kidneys. The subconscious manages these systems without verbal or mental commands on our part.
• Our subconscious minds are "soft-wired" to respond to the thoughts, beliefs, and affirmations we feed to them for better or for worse. For example, you see a co-worker in your office who has the flu. You feel a little tired that particular afternoon so you start thinking thoughts like, "I'm probably going to get the flu. Everyone in our office has the flu. The flu is really contagious and my immune system feels weak." Before you know it, whether consciously or unconsciously, you've weakened your own immune system and you come down with the flu. The good news is you can also give yourself positive affirmations to keep your immune system strong and impervious to disease.
• Many patients have decided to use a combination of Western and Eastern treatments, both conventional and alternative therapies, to speed healing and support their physician's plan to cure them. Empowering yourself to make decisions about your own treatment plan can potentially bring positive energy into the situation and help you on the path to healing. Your conscious and subconscious mind are powerful tools in your journey to both physical and mental well-being. Use them to help you recover when you're sick and to prevent you from succumbing to sickness again.

Curing Negative Thought Patterns that Create Disease

Healing can occur through many different avenues. In ancient times, potions and powerful incantations were used to help patients heal themselves. In Western medicine, science, surgery, and synthetic medicines have taken the place of spiritual healing. Eastern medicine uses acupressure, acupuncture, herbal medicines, and traditional Chinese medicine. Hypnotic suggestions can be used to create symptoms or to heal symptoms of a disease. Faith and religious healings have been documented throughout the centuries. Spiritual healers use the power of prayer and their own ability to tap into the Universal Mind for healing over vast distances.

As Dr. Joseph Murphy states in his book, Power of the Subconscious Mind: "Any method, which causes you to move from fear and worry to faith and expectancy, will heal." No matter which avenue you pursue for healing there's one very important factor that will help or hinder the result of any therapies you try--it's your own ability to transform your subconscious mind and replace toxic thoughts and beliefs with positive affirmations and energy.

Many people believe that disease is a manifestation of negative thought patterns and emotions that have become deeply rooted in the subconscious mind. This type of mental toxicity brings your energy and your vibrational levels down and makes you prone to disease.

Using Positive Affirmations

To begin your path to wellness, customize some affirmations that have meaning to you and that you can say or think with great emotion.

Here are some examples:

• "My body is capable of great healing powers."
• "I feel positive energy coursing through my veins."
• "When I think about or do the things I love, I have unlimited energy."
• "I'm so thankful to have my health and vitality."
• "My immune system is strong and healthy and protects me from disease."
• "I listen to my body and give it the nutritious food and restful sleep it needs."

Repeat your chosen affirmations throughout the day. Write them on cards and place them somewhere where you will see them all the time or carry them inside your wallet or purse. If, at the current time, you're very ill, it's difficult to accept these messages because your conscious mind will reject them or judge them, making it impossible for your subconscious mind to accept them. In this case, it's best to use either hypnosis, self-hypnosis, or subliminal audio to ensure that your subconscious mind will accept these messages and act on them.

Using Hypnosis or Self-Hypnosis

Working with a hypnotherapist can ease your stress during a severe illness and help you to retrain your subconscious to a state of wellness. You can also train yourself to use self-hypnosis to bring up the positive vibration of your subconscious mind. Find a place and time where you'll be undisturbed for a half hour to an hour. Take long, slow, deep breaths. Imagine positive energy coming into your body and toxic, negative energy going out. Once you are deeply relaxed you can begin to think or say your chosen affirmations. When you're on the edge of sleep, your conscious mind won't reject these new thoughts. You can affirm your wellness and visualize yourself happy and filled with energy.

Using Subliminal Audio

If you find self-hypnosis difficult, another technique which works quickly over a period of just a few weeks is subliminal audio. These audios are designed with healing messages that are audible to the subconscious mind but don't trigger a rejection by the conscious mind. Soothing music and background sounds accompany the messages providing you with a relaxing way to train your subconscious mind to accept well-being and vitality as its natural state.

Using Visualization Techniques

Visualization is a powerful technique you can use to promote wellness. Think about the time in your life when you felt the most fit and healthy. Imagine yourself in the peak of health and experience the feelings of vitality at this moment. Replay these healthy images over and over in your mind. Visualize the diseased cells leaving your body and being replaced with new, healthy vibrant cells. Believe that your vision will become a reality and give thanks for your health and vitality with the full expectation of its manifestation.