Love and Health
By Lauren Archer
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Other than the claims that red
wine and chocolate are good for you (remember – all things in moderation),
have you ever thought about how the energy of love is connected to your
overall health and fitness?
When we talk about love,
especially around Valentine’s Day, we often think of romantic love, but the
energy of love is not limited to intimate relationships. Our health is
affected by how much love we can express in our lives -- by loving our selves,
our communities, and our world. It’s about getting in touch with what we love
and finding ways to express it.
Love is Expansion
Love is the energy that causes
us to expand, to reach outward, to give of ourselves. What is it that you
have to give? What parts of your self would like to grow and expand? Since we live in an
oscillatory universe (breathing in and out; day and night; ebb and flow), the
expansive part of love is only half of the cycle. The other half of the cycle
of love is receiving.
So here is the big question: How much love can you allow yourself to receive? How much goodness, joy, and
positive energy can you allow into your life? Into your heart? Into your very
being? Because guess what? You can only have what you are willing to
receive.
When I think about the concept
of love, and giving and receiving, I can feel it physically in the area around
my heart. Do you feel it? When I ask you how much love can you allow
yourself to receive, did you take a breath and feel it in your heart? It’s no
coincidence that the heart is a symbol for love. It’s a place where our
mental, emotional, spiritual and physical energies all connect.
Love's Impact on Wellness
Dr. Dean Ornish, who has
published numerous books on heart health, had this to say about love and
health:
“Although there is more
scientific evidence now than ever demonstrating how simple changes in diet and
lifestyle may cause substantial improvements in health and well-being, one of
the most powerful interventions - and often the most meaningful for me and for
the people with whom I work, both colleagues and patients - is the healing
power of love and intimacy and the emotional and spiritual transformation that
often result from these. These include:
-
Rediscovering inner
sources of peace, joy, and well-being
-
Learning how to communicate
in ways that enhance intimacy with loved ones
-
Creating a healthy
community of friends and family
-
Developing more
compassion and empathy for both yourself and others
-
Experiencing directly the
transcendent interconnectedness of life
Dr. Ornish went on to
describe how loneliness and isolation affect our health:
-
They increase the
likelihood that we may engage in behaviors like smoking and overeating that
adversely affect our health and decrease the likelihood that we will make
lifestyle choices that are life-enhancing rather than self-destructive
-
They increase the
likelihood of disease and premature death from all causes by 200-500% or
more, independent of behaviors, through different mechanisms, many of which
are not fully understood
-
They keep us from fully
experiencing the joy of everyday life
In short,
anything that promotes a sense of isolation often leads to illness and
suffering. Anything that promotes a sense of love and intimacy, connection and
community is healing. Healing is a process of becoming whole. Even the words
"heal" and "whole" and "holy" come from the same root.”
Fortunately, the pendulum of
modern medicine and science has begun to swing from its focus on objective,
measurable, physical results, back to recognizing the subjective,
hard-to-measure, intangible results. Clinical studies have confirmed over and
over again that supportive human relationships have genuine healing
properties. Did you know that cancer patients who participate in support
groups have a higher rate of survival than those who do not? We all know that
children need lots of love and nurturing to thrive. What about us busy
adults? How are we allowing the energy of love into our lives?
How to Attract Love in Your Life...
I believe
the key to experiencing loving relationships of any kind (intimate
relationships, friendships, business relationships, etc.) is this simple
truth: The very process of identifying and focusing on the qualities
within yourself that you want to express in a relationship will help you to
begin expressing those qualities as part of your life, even when you're not in
a relationship. You simply become the person that you want to be as
you express
the love that you already have within yourself. This process changes your
energy, and changes the very frequency at which your cells are vibrating. What
follows then is that others resonate with the energy of love radiating from
you, and they begin to reflect it back to you. As you allow
yourself to receive
their loving energy, the cycle is completed.
Love influences your health
directly by changing your very energy field, and indirectly by changing your
behavior. Getting in touch with what you love and want to express in your life
can be the force that gets you out of bed in the morning, inspires you to
exercise, eat right, and take care of yourself, puts a smile on your face,
energizes you to do what you need to do to get through the day, and encourages
you when you experience set-backs. It allows you to be kinder to others, and to
serve as an inspiration to help make the world a better place.
So before you overindulge in
wine and chocolate this Valentine’s Day (remember moderation is the key),
spend a few moments concentrating on the love you have within you and what
parts of yourself you would like to express. Focus on the energy you have to
give others and the world. Think about what you love most, on your gifts and
talents, passions and interests, and on offering those to others in the form
of service. Notice how this changes your energy. Then watch what happens!
As always, I welcome your
feedback.
Wishing you love and good
health,
Lauren
Lauren Archer
www.positivecentral.com
P.S...I'll be having my
wine and chocolate with a grain of salt!
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Relationship Myths & Facts
By Lauren Archer
Myth: We need someone else to
make us whole.
Fact: We are whole within
ourselves.
Myth: We must love others
more than we love ourselves.
Fact: We have to love
ourselves in order to love others.
Myth: We need an intimate
relationship in order to experience love.
Fact: The world is full of
people and creatures and causes that will receive our love
and allow us to
experience the joy of loving.
Myth: There is only so much
love to give.
Fact: Love is expansive – the
more you love, the more capable you are of loving.
Myth: Love can hurt.
Fact: Only our ego can be
hurt. Our Soul cannot be hurt by giving love, even if that love is
not returned.
Myth: Unconditional love
means staying with someone even if they hurt you.
Fact: It is still loving to
leave a relationship that causes you pain. You must love yourself enough to
leave a relationship that is not working. That is the most loving thing to do
for the highest good of all concerned.
Myth: There is one (and only
one) perfect person out there for us.
Fact: If we subscribe to this
myth, we may be setting ourselves up for failure.
This belief has us putting
others up on a pedestal. The fact is that each of us is capable of having
happy, fulfilling, loving relationships with more than one type of person. If one relationship ends, let there be room for another.
Myth: When a relationship
ends, love ends.
Fact: Even when a
relationship ends, the love you have given has enriched your soul,
and has
made a difference in the world. That love has made an impact that will last
forever.
Think about it -- when you pass from this world, all you really take
with you is love and wisdom.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
"Chance is always
powerful. Let your hook be always cast;
in the pool where
you least expect it, there will be a fish."
- Ovid
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