Boosting Your Immunity

After recently traveling and being with a lot of people, it was a different experience from my familiar distancing, masking up, and isolating. For me, like many, the Covid experience was a lot of isolating and the social thing was an adjustment. It seems that the reports I was hearing was being around others was life-threatening, but after getting Covid and now having the antibodies has brought me a level of comfort and now it is simply readjusting to being social and often in close proximity with others.

Still, I need to practice good habits and mask up, keep my distance, wash my hands, and above all take the supplements prescribed to me. To be honest I feel better than ever. There are psychological tools you can use to give yourself additional protection – a sort of a psychological immunity boost.

To keep your immunity strong, remaining positive works wonders. Fear literally lowers your immunities. It was proven by Dr. Candice Pert, that when we are happy the brain will secret Neuropeptides that enhance our immune system. At the same time, it slows down the aging process and makes us stronger. Then the question is, will you continue to live in fear or choose to be happy?

We often use “Muscle Testing” in our program to show people how negative thoughts make us weaker and how positive ones make us strong. We have a person hold out their arm, think negatively and as we push down on their arm it is hard for them to resist this force. Then we change it to thinking positively and they become as strong as an Ox!

I coached little league baseball for 12 years and my secret weapon was keeping the team happy. To protect the team from pressure, their parents were allowed to only talk to the coaches during games so we can be a buffer. In addition, the team wasn’t allowed to talk negatively towards another team and often we applauded the efforts of the other team. Why? Because throwing out negatives has a way of rebounding back at you, and on close plays, umpires tended to side with us because we were the nice team. Staying positive gave me the top team year after year.

On my recent trip, I had the privilege of watching my Niece play soccer. She showed so much fear while playing, as did so many others. There seemed to be so much stress shown on all the player’s faces. Where was the fun in High School sports? My hands were tied. I couldn’t make the team do silly cheers, fun little dance moves, and hand slapping like days of old, so I became silly on the sidelines, which of course embarrassed my niece.

Being positive in social interactions helps us bond in happiness, remain strong and have more vitality. Plus, it feels good. When we are positive, it gives permission for others to be positive too. This is an incredible aid in business, trying to obtain a new job, and even in the dating world. Who chooses to be with somebody who is grumpy? If they do, then grumpy is their normal. We may make-believe that they are making us feel grumpy, but we are in control of our moods bottom line, and training ourselves to be happier can not only make you feel good but healthy.

Many people, who grew up in abusive situations, will attract abuse into their lives because on some level it is normal. Bonding with others in love and happiness may seem unobtainable, but it is not impossible. The desire to change for the better is the first step, then it simply takes some work throughout each day. I remember my own need to be right and put down others that weren’t matching my ideal and letting go of that dynamic took some time but now I feel more at ease simply letting people be who they are and not how I want them to be.

Know this: I may feel great arguing with loved ones and trying to be right, but in you winning, that means the other will lose and have resentments. We call these transactional relationships in which you try to “One Up” the other. Would you rather be right and all alone or would you rather be sharing love? It is okay to let others win. In doing so you remain at peace.

This may seem so 1960s and the Free Love Movement, but does it actually feel good when are angry and resentful for days? In feeling negative, it weakens our immune system, where at this time in our evolution it is so important to remain as healthy as we can.

Spiritual Psychology treats an issue in four ways: Physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Each one of these levels needs to be maximized for optimum health.

Physically exercise, get proper rest, take nutritional supplements, eat whole food. Mentally, exchange negatives with positives. For example, think about “What is the best thing that can happen?” Emotionally let your feelings out. There has been a lot of loss recently for all of us. Get things off your chest. Talk to people or write things out that bother you and then rip it up. And Spiritually, enhance your relationship with the God of your understanding. At the recent funeral for my dad, I asked others what they felt about death. This isn’t a subject people often talk about but has such huge importance.

Often people come in for treatment with no beliefs or resentments towards religion. It is understandable if they were forced into religion at a young age and that religion was used as a weapon towards them. Without beliefs about life or death, it can create tremendous anxiety and of course lower immunities. Write or talk out your frustration about God and if you are up to it, write a letter or simply talk with God and see what happens.

Becoming more social then takes on a personal adventure. How to keep ourselves happy while interacting with those we may have had problems with in the past takes intention. If your intention is to feel safe when talking to a certain person, then before interacting with them use this format: “My intention is __________”. For example, “My intention is to be safe.” Or “My intention is to have a great time.” When you focus on what you want, it happens. Likewise, if you focus on what you don’t want you will attract negative things to you. Training yourself to focus on what you want takes practice but it can be mastered.  

I remember watching an interview with J. Kristnamurti who talked about seeing things with “New Eyes” in which he let go of how interactions went in the past with people, gave them a fresh slate, and interacted with them with no judgment. In doing so, he maintained, people saw the truth.

The statement – “What is the worst thing that can happen?” has caused such problems for people. We call this Future Negative Fantasies (FNF). When we create FNF, our emotions kick in and we believe that that bad event is actually happening right now and we can panic, get angry, and do things we regret later. On the same level if we tend to read into the actions of others in a negative way then we can easily upset ourselves and ruin social interactions. If you feel that people are doing negative things to you, ask yourself are you 100% accurate? Do you, without a shadow of a doubt knows for sure this is what they are really thinking or doing to you? When we focus on the actions of others we are missing the mark. No matter what others are doing, it will go through our filter and we decide if it is right or wrong – good or bad. If you continue to think that others are doing bad things to you then change your filter. To be honest, if you think that others are doing bad things to you, you are generally doing bad things to yourself.

There are just a few techniques you can use to keep yourself centered in love and happiness. The intentions are one and the Affirmation is another. An affirmation is simply a statement you create that focuses on how you want to feel. For example, “I am happy, positive, and loving.” Repeat affirmations 100 times a day to change your filter. When talking with another person that tends to upset you, repeat this statement inwardly to remind yourself to remain heart-centered.  

Living a heart-centered life can keep you balanced and healthy. Before any interaction set intentions internally. “My intention is to be in my loving heart.” “My intention is to be authentic”, “My intention is to seek to understand before being understood.”

May you have enhanced health.

Compassionate Care is Always Available

There are many more tools and strategies you can use in your pursuit of happiness. Here is where we come in. Contact us at Basic Steps Mental Health and let us support and educate you on this journey back to your loving heart center. Imagine living a heart-centered life, regardless of what is happening externally. We’d love to be of help.

For 25 years, Dr. Scott Alpert, the clinical director of Basic Steps Mental Health, has treated over 7,000 people with mental health and addiction problems, using a Psychological approach that mixes and matches ten of the top approaches used in the industry.  We are here virtually and in person to help you get through this COVID-19 pandemic and many other difficulties you may be experiencing.

May you have good mental health.