At the deepest truth of it all, only you hold the power to heal yourself. And your beliefs are the key to this healing.
Beliefs shape behavior- Every action you take is a reflection of your beliefs. If you believe food can heal, you may choose to eat impeccably. If you believe exercise is important, you will more likely move your body. If you believe you don't have the time to eat well or exercise (or sleep), this belief will equally guide your behaviors.
The truth is that conscious diet, regular (appropriate) exercise, and good-quality sleep prevents, improves, and heals a huge majority of contemporary disease. However, choosing to believe you are incapable of taking better care of your body disempowers you. You do have the capacity to choose better, and it will make a difference.
Belief impacts your ability to heal- Studies that have high-touch points with their control groups, generally show marked improvement in participant symptoms- even though placebo participants received no physical therapeutic treatment. (see my blog post on the power of placebo).
If you believe you will benefit from a treatment, you are much more likely to experience improvement. Along the same vain, if you believe you will not improve, you are much less likely to get better. Pay attention to your thoughts and beliefs- do you believe healing is possible for you?
Beliefs shape physiology- If you believe your negative emotions, they will shape your physiology. Negative emotions create stress, and stress causes your body to be flooded with hormones that alter your health. Cortisol and norepinephrine impact what genes your body activates, your body's metabolic rate, your energy level, your ability to sleep, and your overall brain function.
Empowering your negative emotions, by giving them space to run rampant in your psyche, will change how your body functions, and have an effect on your ability to heal. Are you able to believe that you can shape your emotions to experience greater peace, and therefore, greater physiologic balance?
When offering the greatest service to patients, medical providers and healers remind you of the truth: beliefs are one of the greatest barriers to achieving improved health and wellbeing. All the medical care in the world cannot meaningfully help you, if you believe you do not have the power to heal, and are unable to make the necessary changes your body is craving.
Providers and healers are guides. We encourage you, and illuminate areas for improvement. We help investigate how biology can be leveraged. Based on our investigation, we offer tools, in the forms of lifestyle recommendations, supplements, pharmaceuticals, bodywork, or technologies to accelerate healing. But in the end, the true work of healing can only be done by you and your body.
What beliefs do you have that are shaping your health? Can you believe better?
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