TOTAL SYMPTOMS _______
If you have more than ten symptoms, the time has come to make some intelligent decisions about your lifestyle! And if you have over twenty symptoms, you may well already have significant maladaptation or illnesses!
Even without significant symptoms, it is wise to consider by age 30 some tests that might help you avoid major illnesses later:
Complete blood count—red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, etc.
Chem panel—electrolytes, cholesterol, liver, and kidney functions, etc.
Homocysteine—this should be 7.5 or LESS. Anything higher increases risk of heart attack, stroke, and cancer.
Cardiac calcium index—the simplest, safest, least expensive way to be sure you are not beginning the process of coronary arteriosclerosis
Susan Kobasa has been a major contributor to our understanding of hardiness—our resilience or tolerance of life stressors. Since so many people are not optimally healthy and suffer the ravages of stress, it is important to look at the foundation of a healthy life. Clinically, about 40% of Americans are depressed and a similar number are not truly happy—they have what I call a subclinical depressive miasma. In addition to the genes we receive from our parents, there is a social environment that is critical for health. Obviously, there are essentials such as air, water, food, clothing, and shelter. Without those, nothing else is even worth considering. The next most essential is nurturing, which should begin with conception. Therein begins the problem for the 40% of individuals who are conceived out of wedlock. Children of unwed mothers are much more likely to be born prematurely, have lower birth weight, and have many times more emotional and physical problems than children born to committed parents. In the 70s, Ann Landers wrote a column in which she reported that of the 10,000 individuals who had written her, 70% said that they wished they had never had children! This led my wife and me to write To Parent or Not? This implies that a huge percentage of parents are too stressed themselves to provide adequate nurturing to their offspring.
The minimum requirements for providing a child the essential nurturing:
A committed relationship of both parents who want a child
Optimal health habits while pregnant
A healthy delivery without spinal or general anesthesia
A nurturing home for at least the first seven years of life
Absence of any one of these situations leads to severe deficiency in oxytocin production, which is a problem in:
ADHD
Autism
Anxiety
Depression
Addiction
Borderline personality
Inadequate personality
Schizophrenia
There are of course many factors, but the outstanding finding in every one of these emotional/mental disorders is that oxytocin is deficient. And of course, major trauma at any age may block a previously healthy person’s production of oxytocin, leading to PTSD, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. In fact, I consider virtually all depression and significant anxiety to be post stress! Interestingly, stimulation of the Ring of Air also raises oxytocin, the bonding hormone which is deficient in ADHD, Autism, Depression, Addiction, and even in Schizophrenia!
From a physical point of view, disorders/diseases fall into several diagnosable categories:
Addiction
Autoimmune
Benign tumor
Biochemical/metabolic
Degenerative
Electrical
Endocrine
Hematologic
Hereditary/congenital
Immunological
Infectious—amoebic, bacterial, fungal, protozoan, viral
Inflammatory
Psychological: emotional, mental/spiritual
Malignant tumor
Parasitic
Surgical
Traumatic
Vascular
Almost all of these have some inflammatory component and some biochemical abnormality as well as a variety of immunological disorders.
And these problems seem to be associated with significant physical locations related to the psychological/spiritual issues of the seven chakras of the body:
First—All parts of the legs. Family issues
Second—Low back (bottom of third lumbar spine through sacrum), abdomen from belly button down and pelvis. Sexuality, finances, and security
Third—From the belly button up to the rib cage (1st through 3rd lumbar vertebrae); upper abdomen. Self-esteem and responsibility
Fourth—Chest, heart, lungs, breasts; (1st through 12th thoracic vertebrae). Love and judgment
Fifth—Mouth, neck, shoulders, arms and hands; (1st through 7th cervical vertebrae). Will power—ability to express needs and desires
Sixth—Brain, eyes, ears, nose, mind. Reason and logic
Seventh—Spirituality, soul, God
In other words, stress not only initiates a variety of biochemical abnormalities, but specific parts of the body and organs are also affected when the anxiety, anger, guilt, or depression are related to the specific issues of the chakras! The stress initiates inflammation in a specific organ which cascades into many biochemical dysfunctions and the wide variety of possible diseases. Now, the “physical” cause of disease does not in any way mean that there is not an underlying stress issue. In general, some current life stress elicits anger, guilt, anxiety, or depression, and it reminds you at a deep “unconscious” level of unfinished issues from a previous life! Then a cycle of lost memories feeds the underlying cauldron of worries and aggravates the situation.
Now that you have some understanding of the causes of all illnesses, the big questions are:
Are you ready and willing to examine the problems in your life and to make whatever changes are necessary to correct all health issues??
Are you willing to develop the absolute essential practices for optimal health?
No smoking
Maintaining a body mass index between 18 to 24
Eating a minimum of five servings fruits and vegetables daily
Exercising a minimum of thirty minutes at least five days a week
Only three percent of Americans have all four of these practices.
Having talked to thousands of individuals at my workshops over the past forty years who have come to hear about health, at most 25% of each audience maintains these four practices! All the drugs and surgeries in the world cannot substitute for common sense! As far as I can tell, health is far more important than any other aspect of life!
In addition to these