Dr. Emmett Miller explains how the mind influences immune function through imagery. The brain sends electrical and chemical signals that trigger physiological responses, while the lymphatic and circulatory systems distribute immune cells throughout the body. Mental rehearsal of healing can stimulate these neural-immune pathways to strengthen disease resistance.
Science has shown that there is a direct link between the mind and the immune system. By using positive imaging techniques, we can take an active role in strengthening our immune system to fight disease and promote good health and well-being. This science is called psychoneuroimmunology. The following information is an overview of the biological processes by which the mind, the nervous system, and the immune system interact. And will provide you with excellent visuals for use in immunohimetry. The body consists of several primary systems, such as the skeletal and the circulatory systems. Our immune system maintains our health, enabling us to fight a cold, ward off infection, or close a cut in our skin. The brain and nervous system is a perfectly coordinated mechanism that efficiently regulates the body's life support systems. The human brain, with infinite complexity, is the most intricate structure known to man. Its potential power and many mysteries are still largely unknown and misunderstood. What uniquely separates humans from all other life is our knowledge of the self, the mind's own ability to be aware of itself. As awareness of the self has evolved, we've begun to understand the power of the mind and its influence over the body's health and and well-being. Our natural environment contains many potentially harmful microorganisms that can enter the body and attack healthy cells. When this happens, we get sick, and the immune system reacts to fight these harmful microbes and restore good health. This communications network between the mind and the body can literally be guided by a process called imagery. By mentally rehearsing or imagining our natural self-healing processes at work, the immune system is stimulated. The task of neurons is to generate, send, and receive signals through electrical and chemical impulses. Our thoughts are the results of these impulses. After the brain translates the impulses received from different sensory neurons, it sends the proper response impulse back to the stimulated area. When the body needs food, for example, neurons send a message to the brain and stomach that translate into hunger. When harmful microbes enter and attack healthy cells, an immune response is triggered. The immune system is a miraculous mechanism of defense, attack, and repair consisting of a network of cells and organs that instantly respond to the presence of any disease-causing intruder. At all times, the immune system surveys the identifying chemical markers of every molecule and cell in the body. Using these marks, the immune system can identify harmful cells and launch a full-scale attack to destroy them. Viruses, parasites, Fungi and bacteria are common substances that trigger such an attack. The immune system is not contained within a single set of organs or vessels. The intricate networks of the lymphatic and the circulatory systems carry the cellular components and chemical messages of the immune system throughout every part of the body. Its army of defenders, white blood cells, can even pass single file through the body's smallest capillaries to reach the battle area area of infection.
