This month’s focus is on beliefs about health and I’m going to do something a little different with this post that will serve 2 purposes. First, it will be to share some things that I’m learning about health and healing. Whether you already know about them or not, it’s exciting stuff and reveals there’s a whole world of possibility if you’re willing to step outside the conventional box. Second, I want to take it a step further and use this info to help you examine your own beliefs.

Examining your beliefs is really powerful, especially when you are holding beliefs that don’t resonate with you. We are all doing that. It started when you were a kid and learned them from family, friends, your community and society. You were like a little sponge then, taking it all in as you learned about the world around you. As you got older, you started thinking for yourself, questioning things and not just blindly accepting them (well most of the time!). An example of this is a story about a woman who would cut both ends of a pot roast off before cooking it. When asked by a friend why she did that, the woman said she didn’t know, that’s how she learned it from her mom. The woman later asked her mom, who replied she learned it from her mom and that’s how she always did it. The woman then went to her grandmother and asked why. Her grandmother said she cut off the ends because the roast was always bigger than the pan she had. She simply did it to make it fit. That’s a funny example, but it isn’t so funny when you are operating from a belief that limits you or gets in the way of you living your potential and enjoying life fully.

As you read the info below, notice how you feel. If you feel any discomfort with or resistance to any of it, start examining that. How is it conflicting with your belief(s)? Is that what you really believe or have you taken on someone else’s belief? Does this feel expansive or limiting (ask this of your own belief and the info you are reading)? If it feels limiting, what or how can you shift it from limiting to expansive? If you start to feel defensive about your beliefs, take a look at that too. When you’re comfortable with your own beliefs, you’re also comfortable in the awareness that people have beliefs other than yours and it’s ok. It’s not a competition or one is better than the other. It’s allowing everyone to figure out what’s best for them, what the truth is for them. That awareness helps you to keep growing and expanding. You’ll know when you’ve hit on what’s right for you because any feelings of discomfort and resistance will go away and you’ll feel joy and relief. Make sure to pat yourself on the back for making a positive change for yourself!

Now that I got that out of the way, are you ready for some info? Let’s dive in!

1. I heard about this study recently and was excited to see there’s research demonstrating the power of belief. This study took 3 groups of people who were going to have arthroscopic surgery on their knee. One group had the damaged cartilage shaved, one group had the knee rinsed to remove material causing inflammation and one group was the placebo group that had a fake surgery. For this third group, incisions were made on the knee to simulate surgery, but nothing else was done. The patients watched their “surgery” on a monitor, which was actually a recording of someone else’s surgery. The doctor talked to them throughout the surgery as if was actually occurring. All 3 groups went through the same rehab process. The results? They were the same for all 3 groups! The placebo group improved just as much as the 2 groups that actually had the surgery! This study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2002. This is one of many studies out there that shows how powerful your beliefs are in healing.

2. Bruce Lipton is a biologist, researcher and medical instructor whose work I recently discovered. His presentations are fascinating to me because he takes complicated scientific principles and explains them in a way that is easy to understand while applying them to every day life. He shows the mind-body-spirit connection using science and biology! I recently heard one of his presentations about epigenetics, the new science of how our genetics can be changed by our environment and beliefs. The idea is that we are not controlled by our genes as was previously believed. Instead, our genes are affected by environment and perceptions, which includes belief systems. And we have control over that! Our beliefs have an effect on the chemical responses in our physical body, which then affects the genes. This means we are not victims of our genes or heredity. The power is in our hands when it comes to our health! Bruce also talks about the brain and our conscious and unconscious mind. He explains the different states the brain is in as we are growing up and how we take in the beliefs of those around us until the age of 6! It helps explain why and how we can be holding beliefs that don’t even resonate with us.

3. How many times have you heard a person or cause talk about fighting such and such disease or battling it? While it can rouse the spirit of someone who is dealing with the dis-ease and get them motivated (and their loved ones too), let’s look at it from an energy perspective. Close your eyes for a moment and focus on the words fight and battle. How do they feel to you? Now focus on the word love. How does that feel to you? Do you notice a difference between the two? Love is the highest vibration and a powerful force that can heal anything. Doesn’t it make sense to focus on that instead of the lower vibration of fear, which includes fight and battle? Because love is the highest vibration, it naturally promotes and encourages healing and wellness. The lower vibration of fear can only match the vibration of the dis-ease and add to it or amplify it. Some ways to work with love and come from a space of love are:

· Because dis-ease is your body’s way of telling you something is off balance in it, take time to tune into your body and ask what the dis-ease is really about.

· Or tune into the dis-ease itself and talk to it (an example of this is Wayne Dyer’s daughter, Saje, and the warts she had on her face as a child. Click here to hear her story).

· Visualize surrounding the dis-ease with love.

· Change your perspective and instead of fearing the dis-ease, see it as an opportunity to learn and grow.

· Cultivate self-love and accepting yourself as you are – a beautiful, unique being (Anita Moorjani talks about this in her book, Dying To Be Me).

These ideas may seem a bit out there to some, but we tend to go into and stay in fear when it comes to dis-ease, which is simply moving the energy in the direction we don’t want to go. Coming from a space of love though will move you in the direction of well-being!

4. This is also something I learned about very recently. It’s known as the alkaline diet, which focuses on the pH level in your body and fluids. 7 is a neutral pH and our bodies are slightly alkaline, around 7.4. Processed foods, sugar, fats, etc. are acidic and by consuming a lot of them, the body moves to a more acidic state. This can cause imbalances in the body, increase your susceptibility to illness and dis-ease and create an environment where some dis-eases like cancer thrive. The idea is to consume foods that keep your body close to that 7.4, promoting well-being because that’s its natural set-point.

So, how was that? Did that help you get clearer about some of your beliefs about health and healing? This was a mini version of what happens every day in life as you learn and experience the world around you. Can you see how your beliefs color your thinking and actions and why it’s important to examine them? And just to be clear, I’m not telling anyone they must go out and follow or do these things. I always advise to listen to your intuition and do what feels right for you. I do believe strongly in the power of sharing though, so if anything resonated with you, great! If it didn’t, that’s great too! If it gets you thinking or is a breadcrumb that leads you in a completely different direction, that’s also great! Regardless of which one happened, all of them show that you are allowing yourself to be open and grow, which is the whole point anyway!