Self healing is not right for everyone. Some people need more direction, or have a more severe and serious problem. The severity and seriousness will usually determine the speed at which an intervention by a professional is necessary. It may be best to consult your doctor if you are unsure how your condition is rated.
The tools provided in the lists on this page may greatly help some and not others. Remember that the cause of our symptoms is as unique to us as our fingerprints. Although generalizations can be made about what is causing stress on your body, the specifics that created your symptoms may be different than someone else with the same diagnosis. Additionally, just because one of the exercises does not work the first time does not mean to give up. Most health problems do not begin overnight, and are therefore not corrected overnight. Practice makes perfect progression.
In Good Health,
Dr. Richard Robles
Articles
Immunoglobulin A (IgA), is an important part of the body’s first line of defense of the mucosal surfaces of the gastrointestinal (mouth, throat, stomach & intestines), respiratory (mouth, throat, trachea, & lungs), and genitourinary (urethra, ureter, bladder) tracts (2). These tracts are common sites for potential infections, such as the common cold, the flu, bronchitis, RSV, E. Coli infections, Urinary Tract Infections, and STD’s (just to name a few).
The serum and salivary concentrations of IgA are important to the overall immunologic protection of the mucosal tracts. Decreased levels of IgA have been associated with a variety of diseases including recurrent infections, allergies, and neoplastic and autoimmune diseases (3). Longer periods of decreased IgA levels will typically result in the insidious onset of disease with an increased likelihood of that disease becoming chronic. Historically, diseases that appear slowly and unexpectedly over time without a clear vector of transmission typically have multifaceted causes that stem from lifestyle stresses that may or may not be the choice of the diseased individual. Two such diseases are diabetes and asthma.
Consider that asthma typically develops as the result of a prolonged, increased and inappropriate immune response in the mucosal tissues of the airways. Researchers have yet to name a cause for the inappropriate immune response that triggers asthma symptoms and a permanent cure continues to evade the best scientific minds. The most popular treatments of today do not “fix” the cause, but attempt to prevent life-threatening symptoms from occurring.
Emotional stress can trigger mild to severe asthmatic symptoms. To prove that prolonged emotional distress causes this inappropriate immune response requires too many variables to be properly determined using current scientific methodology. Similarly, it would be difficult to establish a link between a single experience of anger and a subsequent infection or allergic reaction; however, it is worth noting that an opportunistic agent is more likely to take root with the first line of defense significantly decreased during the 2-5 post-episodic hours. Now, consider a child whose immune system is still developing. What effect would his/her experience of the peaks and valleys of fluctuating IgA levels related to consistent emotional distress (anger or other abusive negative emotions) have on the function of that child’s immune system? The answer to that question would no doubt lead to the identification of one of the causes of prolonged, increased and inappropriate immune responses in the mucosal tissues of the airways of children.
Compare that with what we know about diabetes. Diabetes is predisposed by several lifestyle factors that stress our body’s digestive system to the point of inappropriate control of blood sugar. This is largely due to the fluctuation of blood sugar levels as a result of an individual’s diet and physical activity over the course of many years, but can also be the result of autoimmune reactivity in the pancreas. I propose that similar to the multifaceted causes of diabetes, asthma symptoms are the result of multifaceted stressors of the body such as emotional distress. As the child matures physically, they also mature emotionally. This maturity along with the maturation of the immune system and it’s ability to “tolerate” prolonged stress can explain why some children “grow out” of asthma or simply do not have the ability to spike an adequate response to their stressors due to changes in immune activation thresholds.
Can love cure respiratory disease? This remains to be answered, but it is likely that love can help prevent respiratory and other mucosal disease. A healthy immune system prevents infection and disease; therefore, love’s positive affect on the mucosal tracts’ immune system’s first line of defense must help prevent infections and diseases of the mucosal surfaces of the body.
In Good Health,
Dr. Robles
References:
1) Rein G, Atkinson M, & McCraty R, The Physiological and Psychological Effects of Compassion and Anger, Journal of Advancement in Medicine. 1995; 8(2): 87-105.
2) Woof JM, Kerr MA, The function of immunoglobulin A in immunity, The Journal of Pathology, 2006 Jan;208(2):270-82.
3) Pilette C, Durham SR, Vaerman J-P, & Yves Sibille Y, Mucosal Immunity in Asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Role for Immunoglobulin A?, The Proceedings of the American Thoracic Society 1:125-135 (2004).
Is Beauty really only skin deep?
When we are considering “enhancing” our beauty with different products, we must also be mindful of their impact on our health. The average woman is exposed to over 500 toxic chemicals each and every day in their quest to “enhance” their beauty.
The image above highlights some of the common areas that chemicals are applied to the body, common toxic chemicals that are in products that are applied to those areas, and the possible side-effects from exposure to these chemicals.
Please check out the Environmental Working Group’s EWG Skin Deep database to inform your self about your products and verify the toxicity potential of any products you may choose.
In Good Health,
Dr. Robles
Picture and info adapted from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/beauty/article-1229275/Revealed–515-chemicals-women-bodies-day.html
Exercises for Self Healing
The focus of this exercise will be healing the physical body. Go to a room where you can be undisturbed for about 15 minutes alone (or with a partner). If available, use your oxygen concentrator at your recommended setting. Close your eyes. Create an image of the room you are in. Picture the details of the room (partners- it is best if you name and describe noticeable objects so your partner can create the image with greater ease). Take deep breaths and as you are breathing in picture the entire room being sucked into your lungs. As you are breathing out, picture the room expanding back out to how it was. Do this for 3 deep breaths (partners- walk your partner through the visualization of breathing in the room each time). Picture yourself sitting there in the room and focus on the details of your clothing, hair, shoes, socks, etc. so that you have a clear image of yourself.
Picture yourself shrinking down into a miniature version of yourself. Your visualization will now be from the perspective of this smaller version of yourself. See yourself standing on top of your own head. Look down at the top of your head and unscrew the top of it like a cap and push it to the side and look down. You will see a staircase going down into your body. Follow the stairs down a few steps into your body and screw the top of your head back on as you descend the stairs. As you reach the bottom of the stairs look down at your side and you will notice that you have the most pristine, white towel/cloth attached to your hip. Take the towel/cloth and explore your body. Look for areas where you have past traumas, pain, or you see red swollen tissue and use your towel/cloth to “clean” it until it looks normal, or is white or green or blue. Whatever feels most natural to you. Partners- tell your partner you are going to leave the room for a few minutes and that your partner should do their best to clean any areas that need work.
Examples:
Joint pain- Visualize the joint and try to imagine an image of the joint representative of the pain in that area, use your to towel/cloth to clean it.
Internal problems:
High blood pressure- visualize your blood vessel walls being red and inflamed, then clean them.
Liver cirrhosis, fatty liver, cholesterol problems- visualize your liver and see the dark spots on it and clean them.
Partners may leave the room or perform a silent activity. When you come back in 10 or 15 minutes (or whatever you feel comfortable with) make a slight noise to alert your partner of your presence. Many people will fall asleep. When you wake, make sure you close your eyes if you have opened them. Finish up any “cleaning” you are/were doing and move back up toward the top of your head. Unscrew the top and shake out your towel until it is pristine again. As you shake out the towel see the “dirt” fly away as beautiful butterflies, doves, or some other object that can move away from you that has a peaceful representation. Climb out and screw the top of your head back on. Picture yourself growing larger and back into the version of yourself sitting there in the room. Focus on your breathing and take deep breaths in and out. Feel your chest rise and fall as you breathe. Feel the movement in your fingers & toes. In your hands & feet. Then feel the movement in your ankles and wrists, knees and elbows. Feel your shoulders and hips. When you are ready open your eyes. You will feel refreshed and energized.
Think briefly about the significance of the areas of your body that you worked on so that you will be prepared for future meditative sessions. The white towel can be substituted for a number of things or persons. For Christians, they can picture Jesus standing next to them and laying his hands on their painful areas. Catholics can picture the same thing, or have angels that help them. Non religious people can picture loved ones from their past helping them out. Or you can even picture your partner helping you. There is not a “correct” way to use this to help yourself or other people. Any way will help you help yourself.
This exercise can be done with a partner who will walk you through the visualization, or alone after reading the visualization exercise. Most beginners should have a partner assist them until they have become familiar with the exercise. Intermediates and experts at meditation may still prefer to have someone guide their visualization for better focus.
I use this technique to give the patient a tool for self healing and it is a great first step to help someone “learn” to meditate. It can be used for emotional as well as energetic healing, even past traumas.
Go to a room where you can be undisturbed for about 15 minutes alone (or with a partner). If available, use your oxygen concentrator at your recommended setting. Close your eyes. Create an image of the room you are in. Picture the details of the room (partners- it is best if you name and describe noticeable objects so your partner can create the image with greater ease). Take deep breaths and as you are breathing in picture the entire room being sucked into your lungs. As you are breathing out, picture the room expanding back out to how it was. Do this for 3 deep breaths (partners- walk your partner through the visualization of breathing in the room each time). Picture yourself sitting there in the room and focus on the details of your clothing, hair, shoes, socks, etc. so that you have a clear image of yourself.
Picture yourself shrinking down into a miniature version of yourself. Your visualization will now be from the perspective of this smaller version of yourself. See yourself standing on top of your own head. Look down at the top of your head and unscrew the top of it like a cap and push it to the side and look down. You will see a staircase going down into your body. Follow the stairs down a few steps into your body and screw the top of your head back on as you descend the stairs. As you reach the bottom of the stairs look to your right you will notice a door. Open the door and go inside. As you enter you will see a movie projector in the middle of the room pointing at a large screen on the wall and a trash can next to the projector. In this room you can play memories from your past. You can change the pictures in the “memory movie” by cutting out scenes and replacing them with alternate scenes. So that if you felt anger you can make the movie funny in some way. Or if you were abused or physically traumatized you can picture your body being protected. (For example, if you were abused physically you can picture a shield protecting you from the abuse, or if you are religious you can picture God, Jesus, Angels, Allah, or your ancestors protecting you). The goal is to change the negative association with that memory. You should never picture negative things happening to those who were the abusers or on the other end of their anger. That will not help you (sometimes revenge seems therapeutic, we all know it isn’t). Partners- tell your partner you are going to leave the room for a few minutes and that your partner should do their best to focus on
emotional stressors that need remediation
Partners may leave the room or perform a silent activity. When you come back in 10 or 15 minutes (or whatever you feel comfortable with) make a slight noise to alert your partner of your presence. Many people will fall asleep. When you wake, make sure you close your eyes if you have opened them. Finish up any “editing” you are/were doing and bring the trashcan back up toward the top of your head. Unscrew the top and empty out your trashcan. As you empty it out see the “film” fly away as beautiful butterflies, doves, or some other object that can move away from you that has a peaceful representation. Climb out and screw the top of your head back on. Picture yourself growing larger and back into the version of yourself sitting there in the room. Focus on your breathing and take deep breaths in and out. Feel your chest rise and fall as you breathe. Feel the movement in your fingers & toes. In your hands & feet. Then feel the movement in your ankles and wrists, knees and elbows. Feel your shoulders and hips. When you are ready open your eyes. You will feel refreshed and energized.
Think briefly about the significance of the emotional traumas or events that you worked on so that you will be prepared for future meditative sessions. The trashcan can be substituted for a number of things or persons. For Christians, they can picture Jesus standing next to them or in a row of seats behind you. Catholics can picture the same thing, or have angels that help them. Non religious people can picture loved ones from their past helping them out. Or you can even picture your partner helping you. There is not a “correct” way to use this to help yourself or other people. Any way will help you help yourself.