Like a lot of people, I’ve been detoxing my life.  More and more I’m “going green” in my food, cosmetics & cleaning supplies. And, I was just starting to feel proud of myself until I learned there’s one thing that could totally wipe out even the best of my healthy intentions.

In fact, scientists say, this one thing could literally be killing me right now.

My thoughts.

Crazy, I know. But, the people that study these things say the science is all there to back this up.

Our thoughts are killing us!

The facts are:  all those negative, stressful, anxious, angry, wounded, irritated  thoughts – thoughts that until now we’ve seen as -harmlessly human -are actually THE CAUSE of 75-98 percent of all mental, physical and behavioral illness.

According to Dr. Caroline Leaf in her book, Switch On Your Brain, research shows only 2-25 percent of mental and physical illness comes from the environment and genes.

This is alarming to me for two reasons:

1) As a culture, we’ve spent SO MUCH TIME AND MONEY trying to rid ourselves of external toxins when it appears THE MOST DEADLY culprit of them all is internal–right INSIDE OUR OWN MINDS.

2) I, personally, admit to spending far too much of my life walking around lost in negative thought! Forget about those shocking, shattered feelings from the occasional, no- turning- back-crisis.  According to science, even a simple trip to the grocery store, if I’m not paying attention, can dump a whole boat load of toxic waste into my body.

Dr. Leaf. says, yes, we do have a certain fixed set of disease prone genes but these genes lie dormant until they get activated by how we think and process our experiences.

We now know our DNA changes shape according to how we think.  DNA responds to feelings of anger, fear and frustration by tightening up, becoming shorter, even switching off many DNA codes.

When we choose to engage in toxic thinking like bitterness, anger, unforgiveness, irritation, not coping with what is, this becomes like a chemical dump in our brain. In fact,  MRI’s have shown that toxic stress causes brain damage! 

When we think those negative, stressful thoughts, say, about a person or incident in the past or something we are dreading in the future, when we ruminate on what that person might do or say or what has happened or even might happen —that toxic thinking changes our brain’s chemical wiring to a negative direction that poisons our body. 

Dr. Herbert Benson, MD from Harvard Medical School’s Mind-Body Institute adds that negative thinking leads to stress that affects our body’s natural healing capacities.

So, we could be doing all the dextoxing in the world but if we’re still thinking anxious,angry, vengeful or negative thoughts about ourselves or others all that healing we want for our bodies will be seriously compromised or negated.  Yikes!

• Worried about your child’s intake of junk food? More significant may be the quality of thoughts they are feeding their minds.

• Determined to reduce your bad cholesterol number? Looks like the number of angry, sad or anxious thoughts may need to become an even higher priority.

Dr. Leaf says Stage 1 Stress is normal.

That’s our alert state. It keeps us focused and attentive, the same conscious thinking we are in when we are in alignment with God.

Stage 2 & 3 Stress  is our mind and body’s response to toxic thinking. Even a little bit of toxic thinking can have far reaching consequences for mental and physical health.

Other negative, stressful conditions we need to look out for: nervousness, anxiety, fearfulness, apprehensiveness, impatience, tenseness and restlessness. 

So- what can we do about this? 

1) We can protect our brain from damage by becoming more aware of our reactions to people, and situations that trigger our toxic thinking.  We’ve heard this before, but it’s never been more critical:

We may not be able to control our circumstances

but we can learn how to control our response

to everything that happens to us.  

Our brain does not control us. We  control our brain by the ways we think and choose to frame the story of what is happening or has happened or might happen to us.

2) Guard your mind by generating and rehearsing truthful, peace-filled, loving, generous, joyous thoughts.  Your brain really does know the difference.

I love it when science and scripture so perfectly align:

“Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.” 

Philippians 4: 8 & 9

When we learn how to OBSERVE our own thoughts and QUESTION whether they are real, true and life-giving AND we REHEARSE what is actually most TRUE—  we are giving ourselves the very best chance for a long, happy and healthy life.

If you get triggered by negative thoughts and unhealthy emotions, Contact Us @youlivetrue.com.  Let us teach you some of the spiritual practices we use to enjoy more peace, more love, and to generate even more beautiful, healthy, life-sustaining thoughts.

You can reach me at [email protected]