16th August, 2005

Dr NICK HODGSON

Ever had one of those days when you are actually feeling pretty good? 'Things' are running quite smoothly and then a friend walks past and says, "You look exhausted". About 20 or 30 minutes later you suddenly realise that your energy is dropping and your enthusiasm oozing away. Did the person do something to you to make you tired? Did they cast some kind of weird spell on you?

Well in a sense, they kind of did! But it wasn't what they said that made a physical change to your body, it was what you said to yourself, sometimes repeatedly, after your friend left the scene of the crime: "I look exhausted, I look exhausted". What we have here is a prime example of your thoughts changing and leading your physiology. The words that are running around in the space between your ears can actually change the chemical reactions inside the rest of your body, in this case releasing the wrong kind of chemicals.

PICTURE: Duncan Walker (www.istockphoto.com) "The words that are running around in the space between your ears can actually change the chemical reactions inside the rest of your body, in this case releasing the wrong kind of chemicals."

The flip side of this scenario is the use of words and thoughts to improve the physiology and function of your body. The classic example of this is an elite athlete as they mentally prepare for their performance. Visualisation is where an athlete sees his/her performance in the 'mind's eye'. Then he or she reproduces this in reality. Now here’s an extension of this process: the 'rev-up', the 'psyche-up', the pre-game and half-time coach's address. In your case we are talking about this same process becoming a part of your day-by-day, minute-by-minute internal dialogue.

Many of us cringe at this thought and would draw the line way before walking around the office or the home stating, "I am the greatest executive/housewife (insert your title here) the world has ever seen!"

Maybe we should all take a leaf out of the Little Red Engine's book. You all remember this kid's tale. The little steam train came to the hill and started to struggle to keep his little wheels turning due to the strain of the heavy carriages. And what did he say to himself? "I think I can, I think I can, I know I can, I know I can, I knew I could, I knew I could!"

No wonder scripture tells us to "take captive every thought". If we don't, then the stray thoughts start to run away with themselves and, as the examples above show, if they are negative thoughts, then we get a negative effect. Long-term this is going to be detrimental to our physical and emotional health: stinking thinking leading to stinking health.

This can be a really difficult process to learn and master if it doesn’t come naturally: it's as though we need to develop a mental 'virus scanner'. When our computer is operating the virus scanner examines its data and the hard drives for potentially damaging information. When it locates any it notifies us and asks if we want them destroyed. People who suffer with negative thoughts, worry, anxiety and even depression, have often literally lost the ability to recognise and change these damaging thought processes inside their mind. They are running their mental computer without virus scanner software installed.

So how do you do it? When someone says to me, "You're looking tired", I usually rebuke this concept internally and often verbally by replying (to them and myself), "actually I'm feeling really well thank you". In the past I used to find myself running out of energy and enthusiasm somewhere in the middle of the day. I have since learnt that what was happening to me, was that at some point in that hour, session, or day I had told myself I hadn't done a very good job. As a conscientious health care practitioner I am often confronted with the fact that some clients don't get well as quickly as they expect or would like. And then there are other patients who aren't progressing and responding to my chiropractic work as dramatically as I would like. In both these cases I could take it pretty personally, and my 'self talk' would deteriorate to the starting point of mental and physical meltdown.

Nowadays I try to have a healthier self-esteem, and regularly remind myself that I am doing the best I can, with the gifts and talents that God has given me, within the physical and mental limitations of each of my clients. If you can master this skill, then the pressure is off. It doesn't mean you become cocky, arrogant, or oblivious to your weaknesses, or insensitive to the needs of your customer, just that you can give yourself a well earned 'pat on the back', regularly.

So, here's your challenge for this next week and beyond. Try to examine your own thoughts, especially when you start to develop brain-drain. Try to retrace your mental tracks, and pinpoint the 'stinky thoughts' that have poisoned you. Next step is to learn some replacement thoughts. Christians can use scripture memory verses to help cleanse their thoughts. The Proverbs are full of strengthening statements. Others can try little affirmations of their self worth: when you see good ones in the Readers' Digest or in one of our coffee table books, write them in your diary for regular use.

Make your 'little voices' angelic ones!

The information contained is this article is of a general nature only. For advice on your specific situation, please consult your medical professional.







Dr Nick Hodgson is a chiropractor.
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