In the dead of winter about 10 years ago I went through a number of emotionally trying situations all taking place within a relatively short period of time.  My wife tried unsuccessfully to console me.  It was a difficult time.  We just had a number of things happen in our church that were emotionally painful.  Even though logically I could analyze what had happened yet emotions tend to override all logic.  These incidents resulted in about two months of illness including high fever, swollen tonsils, sinusitis, and abdominal issues culminating into Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).

The spirit, mind, body connection is so evident to me as I live my life but it was not so evident back in those days.  When we face emotional stress such as dealing with a difficult person, being fired, losing a job, or an environment of constant conflict this eventually results in different forms of illnesses.  Some of these illnesses are acute and some are chronic, possibly not showing up until months or years later.

Is there a solution?  Is there hope?  Absolutely yes!  I remember one time talking with my holistic health care provider and asking him if there was hope for me.  He smiled reassuringly and told me that I was going to be healthy and not to concern myself over it.  There is hope for you!

Immune System

The immune system is quite complex and to fully explain it here would be impossible.  However, I will attempt to give you some key components so that you can understand some of its basics.

The immune system works from the bone marrow all the way to the outer layer of the skin.  Even though the following organs and tissues have other purposes, yet the immune system is supported and operates from these:

Thymus

The Thymus is located under the breastbone and is at its peak during adolescence.

Bone Marrow

Produces lymphocytes—T-cells and B-cells and sends them through the lymphatic system to secondary organs.

Lymphatic System

The lymphatic system runs throughout the entire body and consists of nodes.  Many of these are in the chest, neck and head.  They are connected to our organs, in particular the spleen, tonsils and thymus.

Intestines

Here is where many white blood cells reside and are tagged for “specific service”.  When our intestines do not function well our immune system loses its potency. Intestines are particularly vulnerable to disturbing emotions.

Spleen

The spleen is found in the left upper quadrant of our abdomen. Its function primarily is to remove old red blood cells and to hold a reserve of blood in case of hemorrhagic shock. The spleen also synthesizes antibodies and removes certain kinds of bacteria through blood and lymph node circulation.

Tonsils

We have two tonsils, one located on each side of the back of the throat.  Tonsils are part of the Lymphatic system and are said to tag white blood cells for certain tasks.  Tonsils are the first line of defence.

Liver

The liver is located mostly on the right side of the body and primarily sits under the ribs though it does extrudes beyond that.  The liver a multi-functioned organ which directly and indirectly effects our immune system.  The liver is a mediator of systemic and local innate immune regulation.

Appendix

What was once considered a useless appendage in our body now is showing its value in helping to maintain a healthy immune system.  Some new research indicates that the appendix harbors and protects bacteria (probiotics) that are beneficial in the function of the colon.

Emotional Stress and Illness

Unfortunately mainline medicine (allopathy) treats primarily the symptoms that arise in our bodies.  But, there are many physicians who are now asserting that between 80-95% of all ailments reported by patients are the result of unresolved emotional issues, grudges, and emotional stressors.  Natural health care practitioners are trained to treat the cause rather than the symptom.

In an earlier blog I wrote about how the spirit affects the mind and body, the mind effects the spirit and the body.  In the end the body is affected and will eventually “kick back”!  According to biblical teaching all physical illness is the result of spiritual ailment(s).  When we are spiritually, mentally, emotionally ill we eventually become physically ill.  In acute cases we may suddenly get a virus, or some infection due to an emotional shock or overload of some kind.  In chronic disease cases this is due to long held unresolved emotional issues.

In the beginning of this article I wanted to point out that emotional stress could cause sickness in our body because our emotions either support healthy immune function or they shut it down.  If we are in a constant state of hyper vigilance (fight or flight) we will unconsciously be constantly suppressing our immune functions and after awhile this will develop into serious illness(es).

Wisdom Factors

I could give you a list of things to do, but there are hundreds of such lists on the Internet and in books.  Instead I have a few thoughts to share with you.

It is also important to consider other things such as environmental stressors on our immune system of which we need to be aware so that we can support our body’s health.  Such things as wearing suitable clothing when it’s too hot or too cold, drinking clean water, eating properly, exercising, taking proper supplements, etc.

A big mistake I used to make was that I could figure it all out myself, or I could do it all myself and save the money!  But, I have discovered that being your own mentor, coach, therapist, physician, or spiritual leader is a disaster in the making!  By relying on other qualified people’s help I have saved money, aggravation, time and as a result have gotten light years ahead in self-improvement and empowerment.  Investing in yourself should be top priority.  Besides, if you won’t nobody will do it for you!  Remember, “Love your neighbour as yourself.”  Loving and supporting yourself will put you in a healthier position to love others more appropriately.

For a quick questionnaire online to help determine your level of emotional stress go to:  http://www.carolespiersgroup.co.uk/questionnaire.html

For consultation or therapeutic help you can contact me at (905) 633-7410.

Last time I began with explaining the spirit and its connection to the spirit, mind, body continuum.  Today, I would like to look at the mind’s role in this threesome.

In my own spiritual journey I very quickly came up against the struggles of my mind. The great Apostle Paul once wrote, “For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.”[1] In essence we have two minds.  The mind that reacts and wants to do things that are unhealthy and irrational and the other mind that wants to do the just things, the compassionate things, the truthful things.  Think back to the time when you were a child and your mother told you not to touch the cookies before supper and when she wasn’t looking, or so you thought, you sneaked one.  This childhood behaviour is in every human being even if you are 100 years of age!

The more I sought to follow spiritual principles and sought to practice spiritual disciplines I found that there was a part of me that rejoiced and experienced the abundant life but there was another part that at times wanted to throw it away!  The rebel versus the saint!  Now some are just rebels and some are saints that have a rebel inside of them that is looking for some unhealthy action!

Though the words of Paul can be discussed in great depth, but suffice it for now to look at the mental/emotional struggles that is inherent in all human beings.  We want to do right, make the right choices – at least those that are self-aware do.

I found in my journey through life that I have repeatedly from time to time done what I hate, that I do!  In 1999 I decided, after a few years of soul searching, to go back to school to better myself.  While in my Master’s year I changed my course of studies to psychology.  I was not so conscious that I myself needed some help as I was conscious that my counselling abilities as a pastor was not very successful.  All I knew is that I wanted to be in a better position to help people.  Through the course of these studies I discovered that I needed some help myself – to better myself.  My wife once told me that studying psychology really helped me to be a more understanding person.

The two minds, unconscious (subconscious) and the conscious, involve spiritual and elements to them.  On a level the two minds, involve the two hemispheres of the brain.  The right hemisphere of the brain is the emotional side and the left hemisphere of the brain is the logical side.  Often when new clients come in they tell me about how they don’t understand why they are having their particular struggles and they believe they should be over it, or shouldn’t be thinking or feeling a particular way.  I tell them “It’s simple.  The right brain stores emotional information which is the part that feels, acts, and thinks in ways that our left brain says isn’t right.”

Our emotional brain functions so fast that it can and often does over-ride the logical, rational brain.  The emotional brain usually responds in about a ½ a millisecond, where the logical rational brain takes about 2 seconds to respond.  That is an eternity when you think about the differences in time response.  This is the natural process of brain function.  For example a war veteran, particularly the Vietnam War veterans have been known to be particularly resistant to traditional talk therapy approaches.  These war veterans may hear a car backfire and within a second they hit the deck!  This is dangerous especially if you are driving a car on a highway.  Now, you don’t need to be a war veteran to have unwanted reactions all it takes is some incidences in your life, some even that you may not be able to remember.  For example, if you were an infant in a crib with a messy diaper crying for 20 minutes before someone came to assist and comfort you this could create PTSD in the brain.  Through Dr. Ruth Lanius’ research, out of Western University in London, Ontario, Canada, she and her colleagues have been able to substantiate such findings through modern tools like neuroimaging, in particular fMRI brain scans.  As in the above mentioned example, brain scans have shown the child to develop PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).

When in life we have consciously or unconsciously experienced trauma and/or neglect of which some can go back as far as prior to ovulation, according to cellular biologist Dr. Bruce Lipton[2], we end up developing a warped perception of the world around us in which we live.  This perception he refers to as the perception of belief. These beliefs are based on our perception of our environment – life’s experiences.  No human has gone untouched; we all have some kind of issues to work through.  Some people are successful to some degree in repressing the past while others notice their inner struggles more readily.

In my own journey I further discovered that mere talk therapies only have limited effect.  Even in my own life, I discovered that knowing something does not equate to solving the problem.  Much like when a person goes to their family physician and discovers that they have some disease, the discovery doesn’t equate to the answer it simply unmasks the problem so that an intervention can take place, so it is with our mental/emotional struggles.  As I have personally received therapy, I have learned that I can only do so much for myself; I need other qualified people to help me.  I believe that is true spiritually, mentally, and physically for everyone.

In my last article I spoke of the spirit as being the unconscious mind and the soul the conscious mind.  The connection is so intertwined that to be able to totally separate and distinguish the intricate differences between the two is much like trying to unravel the neural networks of the brain, or the encoding of our DNA, it is a much too complicated thing to do.  It is best to simply understand that we are a unity of parts that make up the whole – the “us”.

Don’t worry about being normal or crazy; just remember that normal is a setting on your wash machine.  Only God is normal the rest of us need to be working on it with divine aid and through qualified human agency.  We owe it to ourselves to transform, to heal, and to better ourselves.

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[1] Romans 7:15, New King James Version, Thomas Nelson Inc., 1982.

[2] Lipton, Bruce; DVD & Video : Nature, Nurture, & the Power of Love: The Biology of Conscious Parenting, Spirit 2000 Inc., 2002.