Powerful Methods

7 Powerful Methods for a Practically Impenetrable Immune System by Cathy Chapman, Ph.d., LMSW, C.Ht, CBP 713-681-2400 [email protected] www.OdysseyToWholeness.com

You Have the Power! Are you aware of how powerful your own immune system is? If yours is not working well you may be saying, “Powerful? Humph!” Unless you were born without an immune system, yours, at one time, worked wondrously. If you were cut, your body sent white blood cells for healing. The cells knew how to knit together when torn. Your body identified foreign invaders and swarmed white blood cells to fight the infection. What you may not be aware of is how very simple lifestyle changes can ramped up your immune system into a powerhouse. This report contains 7 powerful tips to strengthen your immune system. Take advantage of all seven tips and you could “kick-start” the most compromised immune system. To better understand how these effective yet simple methods work, let me first give you a straight-forward explanation of how the immune system functions. I’m not using technical terms and am speaking from an action perspective. First, know that I am not a medical doctor. I am a practitioner of mind/body psychology. I’ve studied how the mental, emotional and spiritual life affects the body. Here we go! The Innate Wisdom of the Body Your body has intelligence and wisdom. Within it is a medical library of knowledge about how it is to work. Your body knows when and how to release hormones and chemicals which fight infection, keep your heart beating and your lungs breathing. Your body knows how to make babies, digest food and work when you sleep. Your body knows how to do things that doctors are trying to learn! For millennia bodies have reacted in a specific manner to keep humanity on this wonderful earth. Your body keeps you alive as long as it has what it needs to sustain it. Before written history, your body learned to increase all physical resources to keep it and humanity alive. If a saber 1

tooth tiger jumped in front of you, your body sent life saving power to critical parts of you so that you could run away or fight for your life. When a car cuts in front of you threatening your life, your body immediately shuts down all nonnecessary functions. Your body marshals its resources to do one thing: keep you alive. The body is wise, but it still works as if you need the long-lasting power to run from a saber tooth tiger rather than the short burst of energy to avoid a car. The Body Reacts! If you have to run like the wind to stay alive, you don’t need to digest food, have sex or fight off disease. Staying alive NOW is critical. You do need adrenalin, increased thyroid and pancreas function as well as more cholesterol to give you extra fuel. You need more oxygen to move your arms and legs quickly! That’s why your heart beats faster and your respiration increases when you are scared. You need more glucose to provide fuel to run or fight for your life. Endorphins increase to kill pain if wounded. In addition, all five senses are more acute so you can see, hear, smell and sense the enemy more easily. Your body is exquisitely made so that you can physically run as far and fast as possibly to escape that wild animal. Your body responds to danger so you can do one of two things: fight or flee. We call this response “fight or flight.” Today, most of what threatens you cannot be evaded by physically running away. In fact, running away, literally or figuratively, sets your body up for pain, suffering and dis-ease. You know that word “stress?” Here is what it does to your physical body. Stress is Perception! You’ve heard the word “stress” but do you know what it really is? Stress is the physical result (rise in blood pressure, heart rate, etc.) of thoughts, feelings, and beliefs. Imagine the following: The sky is beautiful. The air is clear. The birds are singing. You are in the car going to the hospital. How do you feel?

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Were your first feelings pleasant or neutral? What happened when you discovered you were going to the hospital? Did your feelings change? Are you happy or sad? Worried or excited? Any tension, anxiety or worry you felt when you imagined that brief scene was the physical reaction to stress brought on by your thoughts, feelings and beliefs. I was at the hospital in early October on just such a day. I met my great-niece for the very first time. What a cutie! Your body responded to your beliefs, fears and expectations of the word “hospital.” Did you notice any changes when I told you I was there to see a new born baby? What Was to Save Us is Killing Us! Our body was designed to move us from harm’s way. The physical reactions to stress are only needed IF under physical attack. However, the body reacts when people worry about what has or will happen. The body is hyper-alert elevating heart and breathing rates, as well as adrenalin and sugar. You go into fear, and your body enters the fight or flight response. A continual state of being hyper-alert depletes hormones, lowers the sex drive, shuts down digestion and weakens the immune system. The long term result is illness. How much illness? A few years ago it was estimated that more than 70% of all doctors’ appointments were stress related. That is a lot of illness! The number of stress related diseases is astounding. A few illnesses researchers are attributing, at least in part, to stress are: High blood pressure, asthma, obesity, high cholesterol, colds, flu, auto-immune disorders (arthritis, fibromyalgia), heart disease, accidents, ulcers, rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, allergies, cancer, indigestion, back trouble, migraines...to name a few. The Way You Respond Can Hurt You! How you respond determines not only whether your body enters fight or flight mode thus weakening your immune system, but how long you stay there. The longer you are in fight or flight mode, the more worn out your immune system becomes due to fatigue. Four personality characteristics have the greatest negative effect upon the body. These are: depressed, anxious, hostile and angry. We all experience one or more of these characteristics at various times. The key is, how long are you in a state other than joy? How extreme is your mood from joy?

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Anger, depression, hostility and anger are so prevalent there is a drug for each one of them. The meds are not working! If they worked there would be a decrease, not increase, in emotional and physical disease. On top of that, the meds make many people sicker! As a psychotherapist I’ve had teens and adults feel better when they get off their antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs. Some felt increased depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts on the medications. Don’t take the above statement as a reason for quitting your medication cold turkey. If you are bi-polar, schizophrenic or have other debilitating disorders, stay on your medication. You are among those for whom drugs are a lifesaver. Don’t ever consider going off your meds without consulting your doctor! The results could be catastrophic. Sticks and Stones May Break Your Bones, but Your Words May even Kill You!! Remember the children’s saying ending “words can never hurt me?” The truth is words are creative. They can bring joy or despair. Words have a powerful effect upon anyone who says or hears them. Each time you think something negative you instantly change the chemical makeup of your body and weaken your immune system. Happy thought...happy feeling...happy immune system. Angry thought...immune system weakened. Joyful thought...immune system stronger. Jealousy...immune system weaker. Thankful...immune system stronger. Get the picture? Sounds depressing! (Whoops), weakened immune system.) Now for the good news? (Hope... strengthens immune system.) There are strategies you can use to change your internal messages. Skeptical? Just keep reading. Method 1 Quit Stinkin’ Thinkin’! The most crucial method to strengthen your immune system is watching what you think. New thoughts could change everything. Feelings are the result of our thoughts and beliefs. If we quit thinking negative thoughts, then we won’t have immune suppressing feelings. When you continually rehash a negative message, “You are so stupid.,” feelings of unworthiness, anger, despair surface. These feelings cause a chemical reaction in your body 4

which depresses your immune system. Someone sneezes on you and, pow, you get a cold. Quit the “stinkin’ thinkin’.” How do you do it? Simple, have thoughts that are life-enhancing to replace those that are lifedepleting. Is it easy? No, but it is simple. You need to “catch” yourself involved with the thoughts you don’t want and bring yourself to think the other thoughts. Substitute pleasant and positive thoughts for the negative thoughts. Have an internal “file” of pleasant thoughts. The Power of Body Talk The BodyTalk System (www.bodytalksystem.com) works with the Innate Wisdom of your body to move your body back into balance. The process is very simple and extremely powerful. You lie comfortably on a massage table or sit in a chair. I set up a communication system with your body. You simply place your hands where instructed and say a few words once in a while. I do most of the “activity.” Your body does all the work! The BodyTalk System protocol takes me through various aspects of your bodymind. Your body wants to be in balance and do what you want. Negative thoughts give your body messages you never intended. The BodyTalk System assists in realigning your bodymind’s perception of what you want and the functioning you desire. For your bodymind to work smoothly you have to give it proper instructions. Combining BodyTalk with your own determination to change how you think, your bodymind responds in a powerful and healing manner. The Power of Psych-K™ Psych-K (www.psych-k.com ) addresses the beliefs that can cause negative thoughts as well as sabotaging behavior. In Psych-K you do more physical activity than in BodyTalk. Innate wisdom is accessed using applied kinesiology. (See http://psych-k.com/tyb/index_tyb.php for a full explanation.) You will hold your arm out and resist the touch of the practitioner. In BodyTalk your arm is gently resting on a surface as the practitioner accesses innate. In addition, to balance the various beliefs, there are certain actions or words that you will say during the balancing process. There are more than 100 belief statements already formulated which innate can identify as the priority for balancing. These statements are in the categories of relationship, personal power, health and body, self-esteem, spirituality and grief and loss. You can also develop a personal belief statement particular to your needs and desires. 5

Method 2 If You Don’t Have Something Good to Think, Find Something! In Method 2 you begin your day thinking in a life enhancing manner. One way would be a positive thought or affirmation. Make a commitment to develop the habit of thinking only positive thoughts. First, decide upon the thought to hold throughout the day. It could be a prayer or the thought of a spring day...your child’s first step...the smile of someone you love...the fun you are going to have on your vacation...the last time you made love. It is much easier to begin with the life enhancing thought than having to break through an immune suppressing thought. Each time you discover you’re doing “stinkin’ thinkin’,” gently bring your mind to the thought you want to hold. Here is a little trick to assist in this method. Don’t try not to think of something. Instead, think of something else. If I ask you not to thing of polar bears driving red convertibles, what do you think of? Polar bears in convertibles! Now, instead, think of a zebra balancing on a flag pole. The polar bears are gone and there is the zebra. Some folks look at the glass half-full and some look at it half-empty. The half-full folks are healthier and lots of fun to be with. (And the half-empty folks probably just groaned at that over used analogy.)

The BodyTalk System and Psych-K Change Perceptions! All of us get into destructive habits, chewing on our finger nails or gossiping or negative thinking, that are symptoms of a deeper issue. We develop our belief systems before we are 5 years old. These belief systems help us live as safely as possible in our family. You may have tried many times to change the way you think. But the cause of your thinking patterns is on an other than conscious level. Both The BodyTalk System and Psych-K, working with the Innate Wisdom of the body, will go to the root cause of the symptom (the thinking) and balance the energy of a belief system that no longer serves you. The process is so easy that you don’t even notice it. Some people just suddenly realize they are thinking differently and are happier.

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I have found Psych-K (www.psych-k.com) and BodyTalk to be perfect complements for each other. In fact, it is not unusual for Innate Wisdom to have me do both BodyTalk and Psych-K in the same session. Psych-K is all about belief systems. When the belief system changes, our thoughts change. Our body even changes. Sometimes, no matter how hard we try, it doesn’t seem like we can control our thoughts. BodyTalk address the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual components of the bodymind is a more complex manner that does Psych-K. I allow Innate Wisdom to determine which modality is the best one to address each issue for each client. The combination of BodyTalk and Psych-K has produced dramatic changes in those who come to me. In addition, there are times when I combine The BodyTalk System and Psych-K with a very simple prayer process called Soul Healing. Keep reading to discover more. Method 3 If You Don’t Have Something Good to Think, Don’t Think At All! Descartes said: “I think therefore I am.” Eckard Tolle in The Power of Now believes thinking is a bad habit. What and how we think determines the type of “am” we are. Some people complain their mind is racing. They can’t slow down their thoughts. This type of thinking can get us into trouble. Anxiety, anger, fear, sadness can become a constant companion. When we think obsessively, we can’t manage our thoughts. In the first part of his book, Tolle gives a simple exercise. He asks the reader to observe their thoughts. Try it now. Simply wait for your next thought and note it. (Mine was, “I wonder what my thought will be?” There was, however, a few seconds of silence before that thought.) By observing your thoughts, your mind begins to calm. Once you can observe your thoughts, you can keep the one’s that are life enhancing and throw out the others. You will access a power you didn’t know you had. Calmness results. Your immune system strengthens. A Powerful Team: Soul Healing, The BodyTalk System and Psych-K. Most debilitating thoughts revolve around people and events where we were hurt, or we hurt others. Then there is our fear of the future. The BodyTalk System has an area called “Other Modalities.” When your Innate Wisdom takes me there, it almost always wants Soul Healing or Psych-K. Many times Psych-K comes during BodyTalk under the section wanting beliefs to be balanced. 7

Think back at the times you were hurt. Weren’t there occasions you felt as if part of you was being torn out? Almost as if you were left with a hole you couldn’t fill. Soul Healing addresses this feeling. Soul Healing is a simple 5-Step prayer that brings back those parts of yourself you feel are missing. Soul Healing, a powerful yet brief prayer, has brought deep healing to many people. When Innate wants Soul Healing I guide you through the prayer. You will receive a copy to use any time you want. Method 4 Live from Your Heart! HeartMath (www.heartmath.com) is an organization which researches the power of the heart and develops personal growth products based upon their research. Researchers found focusing on the heart immediately decreased heart rate and calmed the brain waves. The chemicals signifying strong immune function elevated. Try it now. Simply bring your attention to your heart. Breathe. Throughout the day simply focus on your heart. Set a mental reminder to bring your attention to your heart. Breathe in and out of your heart. You will find it relaxing, calming. You will find that you can think more clearly, your intuition will open and you will feel more serene. The key is to form a habit of living from your heart. By training yourself now, you will be in your heart more easily during times of stress. Focusing on your heart is very simple. Once you have formed the habit of staying in your heart, choosing your thoughts is easier. Method 5 Your Emotions are Affected by the Food You Put in Your Body Do you know food has a huge effect upon how you think, and feel? Joan Ifland (www.sugarsandflours.com), in her book Sugars and Flours: How They Make Us Crazy, Sick and Fat and What to Do about It, gives an excellent research oriented discussion on how the chemistry of food affects our own body chemistry. A friend of mine had suicidal thoughts for 15 years. They stopped when she quit eating 8

refined foods, especially refined flours and sugars. I have heard more people say the same thing. In addition, they were able to handle the difficulties of life more easily, they quit snapping at people and life flowed. Anxiety decreased, anger abated and depression lessened. When life gets easier then thoughts and emotions elevate and immune function improves. In addition, when you eat in a healthy manner, your body has the nutrients it needs. The body runs easier and at a higher level. Your body’s immune system is strengthened. Soul Healing, The BodyTalk System, Psych-K and Food Issues Issues surrounding food are complex. A few factors: 1. Food allergies can cause cravings of particular foods. You could get allergy testing and shots. You could also receive BodyTalk to bring the body’s attention to the allergy and restore balance. Psych-K can balance beliefs holding the allergies in place. Frequently, allergies will then disappear. 2. Emotional eating is another factor. The BodyTalk System assists your body in identifying issues triggering compulsive eating. The root cause event is released without having to relive the pain. The energy is simply released and your body balanced. Psych-K can also bring balance by finding those belief systems that no longer serve you and balancing for new, healthy beliefs. Soul Healing will then “make you whole” again by asking for healing for the specific events that harmed you. 3. Connective tissue, including fat, stores emotions. Weight loss decreases fat giving less area to store emotions. Feelings come up and, to soothe the feelings, the hand stuffs food into the mouth. Soul Healing and BodyTalk release the emotions so you don’t need the fat! Psych-K will find the beliefs that have you believing it is unsafe to be a normal weight. Method 6 What You See and Hear Affects Your Thoughts and Feelings You’ve heard the phrase “garbage in, garbage out.” So far, everything discussed fits under that phrase. For myself, the more I watch the lawyer, police and other violent dramas, the worse I feel. When I don’t watch or listen to violent or demeaning media, I feel better. If you watch or see something that depresses you, then your immune system will also be depressed. When you watch, see or do something uplifting, your immune system will be strengthened. Our daily lives produce enough stress that we don’t need any “help” from the media to feel stressed. 9

Try this. Watch shows that make you laugh or are uplifting. Stay away from the news. Better yet, turn off the television. Do this just for a week. Then notice how you feel. Is your mood any better? Are you more positive? Are you doing more things with those you love? By the way, this applies to the radio, movies and the WEB, also! Method 7 The Greatest Method of All This is a story of a man dying from AIDS. He knew he probably would not wake up the next morning. While waiting for death, he decided to tie up loose ends. He wrote letters to everyone he could think of that had hurt him. In each one of these letters he expressed his feelings and totally forgave each person. No strings attached. He simply let all his anger and resentment go. He had nothing to lose and didn’t want to carry it with him to the next world. Much to his surprise he woke up the next morning...hungry for the first time in months. He ate. He woke up the next day and was still hungry. He got well. He went to work. He tested negative for HIV. Holding onto our angers and resentments can kill us. Letting them go can heal us. You don’t forgive because the other person deserves to be forgiven. You forgive because you deserve to be free of the pain. Forgiveness will change your life. Try it. Releasing the Pain Forgiveness is difficult when the pain of the event is present. Sometimes you can just let go, but sometimes, as hard as you try, you can’t let go. The BodyTalk System assists healing the wounds that bind the pain. Psych-K addresses the beliefs that make it unsafe to forgive. Soul Healing brings you to wholeness. Forgiveness becomes easier. Some people “forgive” too soon to try to get over the pain. Instead of healing they bury the pain deep within where it festers. The pain can spew out causing greater damage to relationships or eat up your body resulting in physical distress. When something painful happens, or when you are tired of long term pain, make an appointment for a combination of The BodyTalk System, Psych-K and Soul Healing. You can even do it over the phone and at a distance!

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The BodyTalk System brings balance and helps relieve long-standing pain. It happens with ease. Without thinking about it, your attitudes and beliefs change. Life becomes easier. Psych-K is laser like in its ability to identify the beliefs holding you back. You then are able to implant new beliefs. Achieving your goals becomes easier. Soul Healing continues the healing process. You can to do Soul Healing anytime, anyplace-truly a way to self-heal. Using all three modalities can move you towards joy, the natural state you were created to have. Pick Just One All seven methods will help you achieve a superior immune system. Your body will stop being in over-drive. The stress hormones will decrease. Peace will come. The amazing “side effect” of each method is that you will grow emotionally and spiritually. You will begin to heal on all levels. Chose just one method and make a commitment to yourself to do that one method well for one week. Do the following: 1. Write what you will do. “I commit to staying in and breathing through my heart. I will monitor myself each hour. If I am not in my heart I will re-focus.” Sign it. 2. Read your commitment out loud morning, noon and evening. 3.

At the end of each day note your success and any changes in yourself.

Spend a week or more with each of the first six methods. You will soon notice positive changes within yourself. Soon you will be able to move to forgiveness and experience deep peace and harmony. Make an appointment for BodyTalk and Psych-K, and learn Soul Healing! Call me at 713681-2400 or email me at [email protected] These modalities will help you achieve your goal more quickly and more easily than you ever though possible. BodyTalk is a simple 30 minute session that can change your life. Psych-K is about an hour. The two combined are about an hour. Some people like a 90 minute session. When you add Soul Healing on a daily basis, you will be happier and healthier faster and easier than you ever thought possible.

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Your immune system will thank you! Those around you will thank you! You will thank you!

“Spirit is the Life, Mind is the Builder, the Physical is the Result.” Edgar Cayce My blessings to you on your Odyssey to Wholeness! Cathy Chapman, Ph.d., LMSW, C.Ht, CBP 713-681-2400 [email protected] www.OdysseyToWholeness.com 7800 Amelia Rd., STE 10 Houston, TX 77055

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