By Dr. Leah Hollon, ND, MPH

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April 23, 2019

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How Our Thoughts And Feelings Create Inflammation In The Body

These days, we frequently hear about inflammation in relation to pain, weight gain, heart health, cancer, and even one’s cognitive function. Some sources have shown that inflammation can stem from exposure to chemicals, poor food choices, and inappropriate activity level. However, the inflammation that I most commonly see is born from our own emotions and internal dialogue. 

Many people are unaware that their thoughts and emotions impact inflammation. Studies have shown that emotions such as shame and embarrassment impact our immune system. When the emotional body registers information as negative, this impacts the body’s vagus nerve. The vagus nerve controls our breathing, digestion, and heart rate, as well as relays messages to the brain where then immune proteins, hormones, and brain chemicals can prompt inflammation.

Asthma symptoms, for example, can become more uncontrolled and less likely to be relieved by medication during times of emotional upset. Likewise, when people with rheumatoid arthritis internalize their emotions, their disease becomes less controlled and they can physically experience more pain. Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy, also called Broken Heart Syndrome, is a condition that can occur after a negative emotional stressor is experienced by the body. The stressor alters the vagus nerve to a point where the heart begins to beat abnormally, and can ultimately be fatal. Broken Heart Syndrome shows us that our emotions play a significant role in our inflammation. And thus I ask, how are our thoughts responsible for our inflammation?

Our words and thoughts matter, even on a cellular level. Dr. Masaru Emoto, the author of Messages from Water, studied the effect of negative words on water. His findings suggested that even speaking negative words to water molecules changed the normal structure and stability of water to become disjointed and unstable, whereas positive words provided more stability. If our words can impact water, what does that mean for the human body, made up mostly of water? How does our internalized dialogue affect our health? In our society, we are surrounded by inflammatory messages. We are a nation of inflammation and we continue to suffer from our illnesses because we are unaware of how we perpetuate inflammation. But with knowledge and practice, we can decrease our suffering. Start your journey of inflammatory healing with these small first steps:

1. Make a daily list of 20 things that you participated in that brought you positivity.
2. Identify three things or people in your life that you recognize are contributing to your inflammation and how you’d like to modify your relationship to them.
3. Using mantras, intentions or prayer, replace two daily negative thoughts that you have about yourself or others with positive ones.
4. Create a Gratitude Bowl: Each day, write three individual things you are grateful for on slips of paper. At the end of the week read over them. Consider inviting close ones to join you in reading these messages of gratitude. You will be surprised by how your gratitude is elevated in their presence.

To address long term inflammation, we must first develop a language and environment of anti-inflammation. Surround yourself with people who exude positivity. When you have a negative thought about yourself or another, replace it with a positive mantra or thought. The goal is not to ignore or dismiss poor behaviors but to decrease the collective inflammation that exists within yourself, and more broadly, our society. The first step is facing your own unresolved inflammation. Each day, ask yourself- will you be a conduit of anti-inflammation or a conduit of inflammation?

Richmond Native and Naturopathic Dr. Leah Hollon is the Co-Owner of Richmond Natural Medicine. She received her B.S. and MPH from Virginia Commonwealth University. She is a graduate of National College of Natural Medicine where she received her Naturopathic Medical Degree. Her areas of focus include Autoimmune, Hormones, MTHFR Gene Mutation and Naturopathic Cancer Support. Please check our Book An Appointment for more information about booking an appointment.