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Psychosomatic Health, Good and Bad
385 Plays2 years ago
So many times we hear the term "psychosomatic illness" used in a disparaging way, as though the sufferer is faking it or only imagining it. But the fact is, and research backs this up, that a person's mental and emotional state has a tremendous impact on their physical health. Sometimes that is a negative impact, and that's what has been emphasized so often. But actually, we can can take steps to establish positive thoughts and emotions that will literally improve our physical health and reduce our susceptibility to illness or disease. Take a listen and see how you can use this information to help yourself!
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Transcript
Introduction to Holistic Health
00:00:03
Speaker
Welcome to the Full Spectrum Holistic Health Podcast. This podcast is all about holistic health, what it is, various holistic and alternative health therapies, and how those may help you to be a healthier person. Thanks for choosing to listen today. I know that there are a lot of podcasts out there for you to choose from, but I'm glad you're here.
00:00:27
Speaker
I'm the host for the podcast, Dr. Anthony Burton. I'm a Reiki master, EFT therapist, meditation teacher, and a shamanic practitioner. My goal is to help people be healthier in body, mind, and spirit. And that's why I'm here.
Purpose of the Podcast
00:00:45
Speaker
A large part of what I do is educational in nature because so many people are unaware of the power and efficacy of various holistic and alternative therapies.
00:00:57
Speaker
In these podcasts, we will hear stuff that will inform you, enlighten you, and help energize and balance you. Of course, it won't always be just my opinions and ideas, because sometimes I will be interviewing knowledgeable and interesting guests from a variety of areas of holistic and complementary health practice. So kick back, relax, open your mind, and listen.
Spectrum Holistic Health Overview
00:01:25
Speaker
Spectrum Holistic Health is a complementary health and wellness business located in northwest Georgia, USA. Check out the website at www.spectrum-holistic.com for more information.
Mind-Body Connection
00:01:54
Speaker
If I were to talk about psychosomatic illness, a lot of people would probably think I'm at hypochondria or some sort of imaginary condition. You know, like a woman thinks she's pregnant when she's not and having morning sickness or reading about an illness in the latest health magazine and suddenly becoming convinced that you've had this thing, but you're not sick.
00:02:23
Speaker
However, in the last few years, research has shown, and most doctors accept, that our thoughts and emotions can cause not only imaginary illness, but actual physical sickness. Even when to outside observers, it doesn't make any sense. This is called psychosomatic illness. Psychosomatic illness can be just as real and debilitating as any condition caused by an injury or by a microbe.
00:02:54
Speaker
The word psychosomatic is made up of two Greek root words, psyche or the mind and somatic, which means of or pertaining to the body. So it literally means illness that is caused by the influence of the mind over the body. And lest you think that your mental or emotional state has no control over your body, think about these situations.
Impact of Emotions on Physical Health
00:03:24
Speaker
You're about to speak on stage in front of 200 people for the first time, or maybe even the second or the third time. Now, that feeling in the pit of your stomach, we call it butterflies in the stomach. But I've seen people get sick and throw up because they were so nervous in situations like this. Or maybe you're stuck in traffic on your way to an important job interview.
00:03:50
Speaker
And you know you're going to be at least 30 minutes late because traffic is terrible and people keep cutting you off. You may get angry. You may be anxious. You may be worried. Whatever emotion you have can make you tense up your neck and your upper back and make your headache or have other physical effects. Maybe, as some people I know,
00:04:17
Speaker
You're trapped in a job where you have to do things that you hate. Working for a boss who doesn't appreciate you and is constantly on your back with clients or customers who treat you with total disrespect. After a couple of years with that, maybe even a few months, you can develop ulcers or maybe high blood pressure, all because of the stress being caused by your thoughts and emotions.
00:04:48
Speaker
There's so many situations and settings where our thoughts and emotions can have negative influences on our physical condition. And some of those impacts can be long-term. PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder, is something that's gotten a lot of press in the last few years. And it's a tragic example of how emotion-laden situations can cause long-term physical and emotional issues.
Positive Emotions and Health Benefits
00:05:19
Speaker
But you know, if we acknowledge, if we realize and say, yeah, these negative influences exist, these things that our emotions and thoughts have over our physical condition and over our health, then the opposite is true too. We have to acknowledge that our minds and emotions can also help us to achieve a healthier life. It only makes sense. Now, this is not just my opinion,
00:05:49
Speaker
But it's also the opinion of a lot of very smart and educated people in the health and healing arena. Researchers, scientists, doctors. And I want to take a look at some of that information from both sides of the coin. Now, positive emotions and attitudes can have the opposite effect of those stressful emotions and attitudes.
00:06:13
Speaker
For example, there was a Harvard University study of 200 research articles on the correlation of emotions and physical health. Its lead author, Julia Bolem, stated, quote, we found that factors such as optimism, life satisfaction, and happiness are associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease regardless of such factors as a person's age, their socioeconomic status,
00:06:42
Speaker
their smoking status, or their body weight." Now, I want to say something here. I want to emphasize this, that the absence of negative emotions, the absence of things like, gosh, I'm ugly, or I'll never get ahead, or, oh, I'm such a failure. No one cares about me. The absence of those emotions and feelings is not the same thing as the presence of positive emotions.
00:07:11
Speaker
We all have a few negative emotions, and occasionally they can be useful. They can sometimes, within reason, serve as motivation. Think of it like a cup. A cup can be full of pebbles, or it can be an empty cup, or it can be a cup full of clean water. Now a cup of pebbles won't do anything for your thirst, but then neither will an empty cup.
00:07:42
Speaker
but a cup of clean water can be refreshing and life-sustaining. And that's true, even if there are a few pebbles in the bottom of that cup. So in the same way, it's good not to have a lot of negative feelings and thoughts about yourself, but you will get more health benefits from having positive thoughts and attitudes in your cup. Now there's more research on the topic too.
00:08:13
Speaker
The NIH, or the National Institutes of Health, part of the U.S. Government Department of Health and Human Services, has funded a lot of studies on the connections going both ways between mental and emotional health and physical health. Researchers found links between a positive mental state and improved health. That includes having lower blood pressure, reduced heart disease risk,
00:08:42
Speaker
healthier weight for your body type, improved blood sugar levels, and just an overall longer life. Well, you know, why? There's the rub, I guess, because the researcher's not really sure about the actual mechanism of improvement. To quote one of the researchers, while earlier research suggests an association between positive emotions and health,
00:09:09
Speaker
It doesn't reveal the underlying mechanism, says Dr. Richard J. Davidson, a neuroscientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Quote, to understand the mechanisms, I think it will be crucial to understand the underlying brain circuits, unquote. But the thing is, even if they do not understand the how of its, this effect, the fact is it still happens.
00:09:40
Speaker
Another researcher, Barbara L. Fredrickson, a psychologist and expert at UNC Chapel Hill, says this about positive emotions and their impact.
Practices for Enhancing Well-being
00:09:51
Speaker
Quote, positive emotions expand our awareness and open us up to new ideas so we can grow and add to our toolkit for survival, she says. But people need negative emotions to move through difficult situations and respond to them appropriately in the short term.
00:10:09
Speaker
Negative emotions can get us into trouble, though, if they're based on too much rumination about the past or excessive worry about the future and that they're not really related to what's happening in the era now, unquote. So that's kind of like that whole cup of pebbles versus cup of water thing again. Now, this is research, and I'm sure that research is interesting to some people and to other people. It's like, well, what the heck does that have to do with me?
00:10:40
Speaker
So let's think about that. Now, is it worth trying to change your attitude, your emotional responses to day-to-day aggravations in order to live a happier and maybe a longer life? Now, if you think it is great, how can you make changes in your attitude and responses to improve your health? Well, here are some suggestions. First,
00:11:10
Speaker
When you wake up in the morning, give yourself a pep talk. Even if you have to fake it a little bit at first, tell yourself what a great day you're going to have as soon as your feet hit the floor. One of my favorite inspirational teachers and speakers, the late Dr. Wayne Dyer, had a morning ritual. Each day as he sat up to get out of bed,
00:11:34
Speaker
and put his feet on the floor, he would say, thank you, thank you, thank you. As a way of expressing to the universe that he was looking forward to having a good day and he was grateful for having awakened one more time. Another thing that's important is to stop being so serious about everything. Laugh, even when the laugh is on yourself.
00:12:04
Speaker
Research has shown that laughter reduces the level of stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. And it also increases the level of health enhancing feel good hormones like endorphins. Add to that, that when you laugh, you are, well, your body is increasing the number of antibody producing cells that we have working for us. And it improves T cell effectiveness. And what does that mean?
00:12:34
Speaker
Well, all of that means you have a stronger immune system. And that means you can fight off infection better. And it doesn't require taking a drug, just getting some good humor in there and laughing. The next one probably isn't as popular, but it's really important. It's called exercise. Now, everybody knows exercise is good for your health, but it's also great for lifting your mood.
00:13:06
Speaker
It doesn't need to be something super tiring or super exertive. Think of something physical you enjoy doing that's not so hyper-exertive. Maybe walking or dancing or swimming. Or you might like playing pickup basketball or jogging or whatever. Add it to your daily routine.
00:13:32
Speaker
Exercise, in addition to simply being good for your physical body, also increases the amounts of endorphins and the serotonin and the norepinephrine in your system. And those things, in turn, elevate your mood and make you feel more positive. Now, for those of you that have been listening to my podcast in the past, I know I say this more than you probably want to hear, but meditate.
00:14:02
Speaker
Scientific research shows that folks who meditate daily display more positive emotions than people who do not. It's really simple. But since I talk about meditating pretty regularly, that's all I'm going to say about that. What about your mental and emotional focus?
00:14:23
Speaker
Focus on positive outcomes. And honestly, you know, I'm not going to say that you can manifest anything you want because that would set me up to look like a fool and ruin my credibility. Now, if you could do that, a lot of my clients would have mansions and Maseratis too.
00:14:42
Speaker
But by focusing on positive outcomes, you do give yourself more of a chance of attaining those outcomes than you will by always worrying about the negative outcomes or failing. Dr. Norman Vincent Peale had it right. Positive thinking has power. Something really, really important.
The Importance of Self-Compassion
00:15:08
Speaker
Be kind to yourself.
00:15:11
Speaker
If you screw up, don't give yourself a hard time about it. Everyone makes mistakes and everyone sometimes makes a big mistake. Believe me, I have made a few in my life. Life-changing mistakes, some of them. And for a long time, I beat myself up over them. But you know, it never changed one thing for me to beat myself up and self-criticize.
00:15:41
Speaker
It didn't allow me to go back in time and make a different choice or to go left when I should, you know, when I should have instead of going right. I don't believe that anybody wakes up in the morning with this on their mind. Today I'm going to make poor choices and bad decisions. Not if they're sane anyway. Now I just said, be kind to yourself.
00:16:08
Speaker
You should also be kind to others. Now some people might think this should have come before the last item, but I disagree. How can you show kindness to others when you don't even show it to yourself? How can you love others when you don't love yourself? The answer, you can't.
00:16:34
Speaker
except that some things are simply going to go wrong. It is possible for a person to make every right decision, to be exemplary at their studies, to pass every exam with flying colors, to learn everything they can, and still get things wrong, still fail at what they try to do. It's just the way life works.
00:17:06
Speaker
But remember that, in spite of the fact that life seems to be demonstrably unfair, life is still pretty great.
Maintaining Positivity Amidst Challenges
00:17:14
Speaker
After all, you woke up this morning. According to the World Population Review, over 166,000 people die every day. And you were not one of those people who died. You're still alive.
00:17:34
Speaker
If you are listening to this now, you have internet access. In the USA alone, over 33 million people do not have internet access. You know, you really are lucky, seriously. In my holistic health practice, I started asking my clients to name three negative things that happened to them that week and three positive things.
00:18:04
Speaker
At first, most of them are easily able to name the negative things, but they have a harder time with the positive. But after inquiring more generally about how things are going, they admit that positive things have happened. And I asked them to think about those positive things rather than dwelling on the negative. Yeah, I know. This sounds a lot like Mary Poppins.
00:18:30
Speaker
or one of those fluffy bunny new age types who thinks everything is sweetness and light and you know, everything's going to go perfectly every day. But that's not my point. My point is that yes, negative things happen. But if we focus on the negative things, we create negative thoughts and emotions and energy that can mess up not only our emotional health, but actually have damaging effects on our bodies.
Seeking Help and Support
00:19:02
Speaker
Now let me say this, I am not saying that you should ignore depression or PTSD. If you are clinically depressed or even if you just have a lot of days dealing with depression but have not been diagnosed as having clinical depression, seek out help. If you are suffering from PTSD and there are thousands of people out there who have PTSD,
00:19:31
Speaker
Whether some combat, a bad marriage situation, life-threatening illness or accident, being raped or whatever, find some help. You do not have to continue to suffer.
Conclusion and Listener Engagement
00:19:51
Speaker
As true, everyone cannot run a marathon or be an Olympic athlete.
00:19:59
Speaker
but doing things that increase your personal satisfaction and focusing on the good things in your life. The people you love, your pets, your favorite vacation spot, a hobby that you enjoy. Those kind of things can have actual positive effects on your mental and physical health both. And they usually don't require a lot of sweating or even changing your shoes.
00:20:34
Speaker
Well, thanks for being here and listening to the podcast today. I trust it has been interesting, informative, and thought provoking. If you did find it interesting, please be sure to return for another episode and tell your friends too. I'd really love it if you did that, it helps me out. You can share directly from most podcast platforms and be really great if you followed or subscribed to the podcast too. If you want to tell me that you like the show, that you hate it,
00:21:03
Speaker
that you agree or disagree with me or anything else really, hey, go for it. You can leave a voice message if your particular podcast platform allows that, or you can leave a message. Until next time, stay safe, stay healthy, and keep an open mind. Namaste.