Is a visit with the chiropractor on your winter calendar?
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It has been documented that thoughts and emotions have a powerful influence over our physical health. There was an interesting study conducted at UCLA in the early 1990s where 14 professional actors were recruited to study the effects of emotion on the immune system. During the study, the actors were told which mood state they would be experiencing.
They then read the appropriate scenario, which was about 100 words long, and were told to create and experience a realistic mood by developing the scene and verbally and behaviorally acting it out while seated. Actors were encouraged to use their own personal memories to intensify the experience. Once the actors were in a particular emotional state, the researchers drew blood to measure any physical changes that may be associated with particular emotional states. What they found surprised everyone. Simply by shifting from one emotional state to another, the actors could stimulate or suppress their immune function. Subsequent studies have measured all kinds of physical changes that result from emotional states, such as changes in hormone levels, brain chemistry, blood sugar levels, even the ability to heal properly. In fact, the mind-body connection is so strong that an entire field of science has emerged called psychoneuroimmunology.
More and more scientific studies are published on a daily basis proving the idea that thoughts and emotions have a powerful influence over our physical health. This is one of the reasons why people are much more likely to get sick during job changes, holidays and other stressful times; or why people who are depressed have a much higher risk of developing cancer. How can emotions affect our immunity or resistance to disease? Research shows that the brain can release hormones and other chemicals that affect white blood cells and other parts of the immune system. Though the chemicals also have other functions, they are a link between our thoughts and our ability to resist diseases.For example, when people react to stresses with fear, their brains send a "danger" message to the body. Hormones are released to raise blood pressure and prepare muscles for quick action, as if to fight or flee from danger. The stress hormones also depress the disease-resistance system, and over time, can damage the brain, heart and digestive tract.Thoughts can cause physical abnormalities such as ulcers, indigestion, nervousness and high blood pressure. Thoughts can also depress the immune system, which leads to a wide variety of diseases. Whether a person experiences poor health, and how soon, depends on that person's heredity, environment, diet, and behavior.
An Australian study in the late 1970s showed that when one spouse dies, the other experiences a weakened immune system. This helps explain why grieving spouses have more diseases and a higher death rate than others of similar age. Other studies have shown that heart patients who are depressed have more heart problems than happier heart patients; depression was a better predictor of problems than physical measurements were.
Cancer is more common in people who suffer a major emotional loss, repress anger and feel helpless. Cancer patients who express their emotions rather than denying them seem to recover more often. The link between emotion and cancer is so strong that some psychological tests are better predictors of cancer than physical exams are. This does not mean that everyone who has cancer or some other disease has simply thought it upon himself. There are many factors involved in disease; even the best attitude is not going to prevent ill effects from genetic malfunctions and some chemical and biological hazards. A new study shows physical proof how one of those aspects - a strong and happy marriage - can be a boon to your health. According to the study, physical wounds take much longer to heal in marriages marred by hostility and conflict than those in which couples build a more pleasurable home life.
As our thoughts and emotions have such a powerful influence over our physical health, we must take proactive steps to regain our health through healthy thinking, relaxation, and positive affirmations. Explore this section for more on how to calm your mind and improve your health.
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January Newsletter: Why You Should Visit Your Chiropractor This Winter
Category: Newsletter Library
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December Newsletter: Custom Orthotics Could Be What You Need to Fight Foot Pain
Category: Newsletter Library
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December Newsletter: Healthy Eating Tips for the Holiday Season
Category: Newsletter Library
Worried about gaining weight during the holidays? The healthy eating tips will help you avoid piling on the pounds.
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Tension Headaches
Category: Common Conditions Treated, Chronic Condition Relief, Headaches
Tension headaches are the most common type of headache. The pain usually spreads throughout the head so that sufferers feel like they’re wearing a tight band. Doctors divide tension headaches into two types — episodic and chronic. The episodic variety lasts from half an hour to a week, and recurs
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Migraine Headaches
Category: Common Conditions Treated, Chronic Condition Relief, Headaches
About 36 million Americans suffer from the debilitating headaches known as migraines, according to the Migraine Research Foundation. Women between the ages of 25 and 55 are the likeliest victims. Migraine headaches can last anywhere from a few hours to three days, drastically compromising individuals’
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Headaches
Category: Common Conditions Treated, Chronic Condition Relief, Headaches
Headaches affect just about everyone at some point and they can present themselves in many different ways. Some people only experience pain in one part of their head or behind their eyes, some people experience a pounding sensation inside their whole head, and some people even experience nausea, while
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Cluster Headaches
Category: Common Conditions Treated, Chronic Condition Relief, Headaches
While no headache is pleasant, cluster headaches can be particularly uncomfortable. Sufferers liken the sensation to a hot poker being stuck in their eyes, and may even feel like their eyes are being shoved out of their sockets. Cluster headaches get their name because they occur in a cyclical pattern.
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Hall of Shame Ingredients
Category: Health & Wellness, Wellness Lifestyle Tips, Eat Well
Sugar When you eat or drink sugar the sudden energy surge your body experiences is followed by an insulin surge that rapidly drops the blood sugar level-so two hours later, you feel famished and tired. To keep an even keel, replace simple carbohydrates with complex ones so the absorption is more controlled
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Hall of Fame Ingredients
Category: Health & Wellness, Wellness Lifestyle Tips, Eat Well
Healthy Oils There are many healthy oils, such as olive oil, sesame seed oil, flax seed oil, grape seed oil and canola oil. To maximize their health benefits good oils need to be used properly. Keep it in a dark bottle or in your refrigerator-that's how to keep it healthy so it doesn't go rancid. Healthy
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Prosperity Consciousness
Category: Health & Wellness, Wellness Perspectives, Spiritual
Einstein reputedly divided people in two groups, those who believe we live in a friendly universe, and those who don't. Brilliant in its simplicity, it points out the fundamental basis of wellness psychology - that a well mind knows that we live in a friendly universe, brimming with opportunity and potential,
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Personal Growth
Category: Health & Wellness, Wellness Perspectives, Mental
The end product of wellness psychology is ongoing personal growth. Rather than a psychological treatment for a mental or emotional condition, wellness psychology leads someone from wherever they are to wherever they want to go mentally and emotionally. Instead of stopping therapy when the symptoms resolve,
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Choices & Decisions
Category: Health & Wellness, Wellness Perspectives, Physical
Scientists tell us that much of our self-talk is negative, so learning to be kind and supportive in your mental chatter is a direct step toward a well mind. Practice saying constructive things to yourself, like "I'm a good person, today's going to be a great day, I can do this," simple stuff like that.
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Aging & Longevity
Category: Health & Wellness, Wellness Perspectives, Physical
People who practice wellness typically enjoy their lives and want them to last as long as possible. That's why the wellness mindset usually accompanies other constructive, healthy lifestyle habits. By adopting positive behaviors like: eating well, exercising, saying affirmations, developing healthy self
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Relationship with Self
Category: Health & Wellness, Healthy Thinking, Get Positive
Your relationship with your self is the most important relationship because as they say wherever you go there you are. Wellness begins with "being" well first and then is about "doing" things to be well. If you do not address who you are being than just doing things will not make you well. A simple way
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Positive Affirmations
Category: Health & Wellness, Healthy Thinking, Get Positive
We function a lot like computers: Garbage in produces garbage out, while great stuff in produces great stuff out. We talk to ourselves far more than we talk to others. In fact, most experts agree that about 80 percent of all conversations we have are with ourselves. All too often, we talk to ourselves
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Muscle Relaxation
Category: Health & Wellness, Healthy Thinking, Relaxation Techniques
The goal of progressive muscle relaxation is to reduce the tension in your muscles. First, find a quiet place where you'll be free from interruption. Loosen tight clothing and remove your glasses or contacts if you'd like. Tense each muscle group for at least five seconds and then relax for at least
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