HOW OUR EMOTIONS AFFECT OUR HEALTH
Recently, scientists at the Institute of HeartMath in the US have been exploring the concept of how emotions affect health. What they have found is that the heart emits electromagnetic fields that change according to our emotions.
At the same time, their research proved that negative emotions can create nervous system chaos, which leads to stress and anxiety. Considering these findings, it makes perfect sense to say that if we want to change our lives, then we need to change our minds. However, like all transformations, changing the way we think does not come easily.
By measuring these fields, the scientists have been able to prove that positive emotions create physiological benefits, like boosts to the immune system.
by Catherine Plano
THE POWER OF THOUGHT At a basic scientific level, a thought is an electrical impulse that fires up the neurons in the brain. Neurons are brain cells – electrically excitable brain cells – that process and transmit information via our five senses. These impulses can also be triggered by our senses – what we see, hear, taste, touch or smell – as well as memories of our senses. Thoughts are often repetitive and negative. And, due to the way we’re wired, the brain listens to everything we think. When we say something to ourselves like, ‘Oh, I am hopeless at www.coachinglife. com.au
meeting new people and making new friends’, then we give the brain permission to search through its filing system – the archives that go back to our earliest memories, thoughts and actions. Time and time again, it will strive to find the proof to back up what we are telling ourselves. When we allow our pessimistic, unproductive thoughts to fester, the part of the brain that is responsible for decision-making and creative problem-solving actually shuts down.
When this happens, we can suffer a kind of mental paralysis that can lead to depression, anxiety and chronic stress. We become incapable of finding a solution for ourselves to break our negative state of mind. It can all happen without us even being aware of it.
