In the year 2011, for which the data is available, Americans spent 17.9% of its GDP (Gross Domestic Product) on healthcare. That is more than $8,608 per person. By comparison, we spend next to nothing on the wellness of our being. While intimately connected, good physical health is different than serenity of wellbeing. Our education never teaches us how to understand our self, how to think, why we feel what we feel and what impact many of our decisions will have on our wellbeing.
Symptoms of an UNWELL being might include - stressed, grumpy, critical, resentful, defensive, resistant, closed, depressed and frequently unhappy for no apparent reason!
While the signs of a WELL being would probably include - contented, easy, open, warm, accepting, flexible, enthusiastic, and upbeat with a sunny attitude regardless of what is occurring. Some people with ill health may remain well in their being while others with perfect health may almost always remain unwell!
- The Root Cause of Illness and Unwellness: We grow up without being able to recognize our feeling beyond crude measures of pleasure or pain, good or bad, high or low of our physical body devoid of the knowledge of their causes. We never learned to manage mindfulness of our mind, that is, to guide our mind to think and act to cultivate inner peace and wellbeing, and we arrive in adulthood without the ability to recognize how our ‘belief systems’ are causing all our moments of mental and emotional misery. However, just as our body has a built-in immune system to maintain its health, our being, our consciousness, our soul also has a built-in immune system. While the immune system of the body works automatically, the one for soul needs to be consciously and mindfully activated every day.
- It is All About Energy: Imagine a group of you sitting around in harmony and enjoying the company of one another; laughing, excited, joking and suddenly Mr. Grumpy walks in angry, moaning and complaining; on his way to this cheerful get together, he was cut off by the same red hot M3 BMW driver who had cut off Mr. Grumpy last month. The group exuberance instantly converted into the dis – ease with a silent thud!
- Body AND Consciousness: When a deviant energy such as Mr. Grumpy enters our consciousness we suffer from dis – ease, called our ‘belief’ and it deviates or distorts and weakens our consciousness similar to a deviant energy in the form of a disease or virus finding its way into our body and affecting our physical health and making us feel pain. In order to be able to identify the exact belief that causes each dis - ease within our soul there has to be a clear recognition that the energy of our body is different from the energy of our ‘self’. One is a visible and tangible energy and the other is invisible and intangible.
- Three Phases: The immune system of the body has, in essence, three phases in the healing process; the recognition of the symptoms, the diagnosis of the cause and the healing effect of the cure. Similarly, the immune system of the soul has three stages; awareness of the feelings of dis - ease, realization of the cause and cure of the dis - ease and the transformation of the energy back to the consciousness when the cure is implemented.
By activating the immune system of our soul it becomes possible to eliminate our dis - ease and restore our consciousness, our being, to a state of consistent wellness. We know we are well again when we are able to relax at will, be at peace with the world, respond openly and compassionately to others, fully accept the way life is unfolding in the world drama around us, and be able to give selflessly of our self. So how do we activate immune system of our soul? Practice to become mindful of your surrounding and thoughts in your mind at all times. Then guide your mind to get rid of all wasteful thoughts soon after they occur and stay calm under all circumstances even if you are cut off by red hot Me BMW – perhaps, the driver was playing his role by cutting you off. Mindfulness about the drama around you and maintaining calmness is the immune system of your consciousness.
Adapted from Mike George’s article “Is YOUR 'Other' Immune System Working?” © 2013
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