Use Your Thoughts to Optimize Your Health - Dr Joe Dispenza

Summary

The video script delves into the three types of stress—physical, chemical, and emotional—and their impact on the body's homeostasis. It emphasizes the body's innate drive to restore balance through the autonomic nervous system. The script highlights that chronic stress, particularly emotional, can lead to disease by disrupting the body's natural equilibrium. It suggests managing thoughts and emotions to promote health, illustrating the profound mind-body connection. The speaker advocates for cultivating positive emotions like gratitude to stimulate the body's healing processes, supporting the idea that our thoughts and feelings significantly influence our physical well-being.

Takeaways

• 🏗️ There are three types of stress that affect the body: physical (e.g., trauma, accidents), chemical (e.g., toxins, pollutants), and emotional (e.g., family tragedies, financial stress).
• 🔄 The body naturally seeks to maintain homeostasis, and the autonomic nervous system plays a crucial role in this regulatory process.
• 🚨 Chronic stress from any source can disrupt homeostasis, leading to a 'new normal' of imbalance that can result in disease.
• 🌟 Emotional stress is particularly impactful, with 75-90% of health issues in Western healthcare facilities linked to psychological or emotional stress.
• 🧠 Stress hormones are connected to a range of emotions, including anger, hatred, frustration, and fear, which can alter the body's chemical balance.
• 🧬 Long-term stress can activate genetic buttons, potentially leading to disease, highlighting the profound Mind-Body Connection.
• 🔄 The power of thought is such that it can trigger stress responses and corresponding hormonal changes, even in the absence of physical threats.
• 🔄 Managing attention and energy is key to altering the body's stress response, as where we focus our attention, we direct our energy.
• 🔄 Breaking the cycle of stress and disease involves changing thought patterns and emotional states, akin to breaking an addiction.
• 🌱 Cultivating positive emotions like gratitude can reprogram the body's chemistry, promoting health and well-being, as evidenced by increased immunoglobulin A levels.
• 🌟 Taking control of one's thoughts and emotions can lead to a sense of empowerment and a shift from being a victim to being a creator of one's life experiences.

Q & A

What are the three types of stress mentioned in the script?

The script mentions three types of stress: physical stress, which includes trauma, accidents, injuries, and falls; chemical stress, which involves toxins, pesticides, pollutants, viruses, bacteria, hangovers, and nutritional deficiencies; and emotional stress, which can stem from family tragedies, car accidents, financial stress, single parenting, and other emotional challenges.

How does stress affect the body's homeostasis?

Stress, whether physical, chemical, or emotional, knocks the body out of homeostasis, which is the body's natural state of balance and regulation. The body's innate capacity is to return to homeostasis, but if stress is continuous, the body may adopt the imbalance as the new normal, potentially leading to disease.

What is the role of the autonomic nervous system in relation to stress?

The autonomic nervous system is responsible for creating balance, regulation, and homeostasis in the body. It operates automatically and is part of the brain that sits under the thinking neocortex, also known as the chemical, emotional, or limbic brain. It works to constantly repair and regenerate the body, moving it back into balance.

Why is emotional stress considered a significant factor in health conditions?

Emotional stress is considered a significant factor in health conditions because it is estimated that 75 to 90% of individuals in Western healthcare facilities present due to psychological or emotional stress. This makes it a primary cause for many health issues.

What are some of the emotions connected to stress hormones?

Emotions connected to stress hormones include anger, hatred, frustration, competition, control, judgment, envy, jealousy, insecurity, fear, anxiety, worry, angst, hopelessness, powerlessness, guilt, and shame.

How do thoughts and emotions influence the body's physical state?

Thoughts and emotions can influence the body's physical state by triggering the secretion of stress hormones that can push the genetic buttons and create disease. The body may not distinguish between real-life experiences and those fabricated by thought alone, leading to a conditioned state of imbalance.

What is the significance of managing one's attention and energy in relation to stress?

Managing one's attention and energy is significant because where attention is placed, energy follows. By managing these, one can inhibit thoughts that condition the body into a state of imbalance and instead focus on thoughts that promote health and well-being.

How can changing one's emotional state impact health?

Changing one's emotional state can impact health by altering the body's chemistry. For example, practicing gratitude can lead to an increase in immunoglobulin A, which is a natural immune booster. This suggests that positive emotions can stimulate the body's natural healing processes.

What is the role of the prefrontal cortex in managing stress and emotions?

The prefrontal cortex is activated when one assigns meaning to a task and has a strong intention for an outcome. It helps in managing stress and emotions by facilitating a change in energy or emotional state, which can lead to a change in one's state of being and potentially improve overall health.

How can the body be reconditioned to a state of balance after being in a state of stress?

The body can be reconditioned to a state of balance by practicing new emotional states, such as gratitude, through intentional focus and breathing exercises. This can help the body to relax and feel safe enough to experience different emotions, eventually leading to a state of homeostasis.

What is the concept of 'self-fulfilling prophecy' in the context of emotional stress?

In the context of emotional stress, a 'self-fulfilling prophecy' refers to the phenomenon where an individual's negative emotions and beliefs about their life and experiences lead them to act in ways that confirm those beliefs, perpetuating a cycle of negative emotions and stress.

Outlines

00:00

🔬 Understanding Stress and Homeostasis

The first paragraph delves into the concept of stress and its impact on the human body. It outlines three types of stress: physical (trauma, accidents), chemical (toxins, pollutants), and emotional (family tragedies, financial stress). These stressors disrupt the body's homeostasis, a state of balance that the body naturally seeks to maintain. The autonomic nervous system is highlighted as the body's automatic mechanism to restore balance, which is essential for health. The paragraph emphasizes that chronic stress can lead to disease as the body's regulatory systems become overwhelmed and unable to maintain order, leading to a 'new normal' of imbalance.

05:01

🧠 Emotional Stress and the Mind-Body Connection

The second paragraph focuses on the profound influence of emotional stress on health, suggesting that 75 to 90% of health issues in Western healthcare facilities stem from psychological or emotional stress. It discusses how emotions like anger, hatred, and fear are linked to stress hormones that can, over time, trigger disease by activating genetic predispositions. The 'Mind-Body Connection' is explored, illustrating how thoughts alone can activate the stress response and potentially cause illness. The concept of managing attention and energy is introduced as a means to regulate the body's response to stress and promote well-being.

10:03

🌟 Shifting Emotions for Health and Balance

The third paragraph continues the discussion on the power of emotions, emphasizing the importance of shifting from negative to positive emotions like gratitude to promote health. It suggests that the body can become addicted to the stress response triggered by negative emotions, making it challenging to change. The paragraph proposes that by consciously practicing positive emotions and managing one's thoughts, an individual can reprogram the autonomic nervous system to support growth and repair. It concludes with the idea that changing one's emotional state can lead to a significant increase in immune function, as demonstrated by a 50% increase in immunoglobulin A levels within four days of practicing gratitude.

Keywords

💡Stress

Stress is a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or demanding circumstances. In the video, stress is categorized into three types: physical, chemical, and emotional. Each type is discussed as a factor that can disrupt the body's homeostasis, or balance, leading to potential health issues. The video emphasizes the importance of managing stress to maintain overall well-being.

💡Homeostasis

Homeostasis refers to the body's ability to maintain a stable internal environment despite changes in external conditions. The video discusses how stressors can push the body out of this balanced state, and the body's innate mechanisms, particularly the autonomic nervous system, work to restore it. Maintaining homeostasis is crucial for health, as chronic imbalance can lead to disease.

💡Autonomic Nervous System

The autonomic nervous system is a part of the peripheral nervous system that regulates involuntary functions such as heartbeat, respiration, and digestion. The video describes it as the system that automatically works to create balance and homeostasis in the body. It is also referred to as the 'chemical brain' or 'emotional brain' and is responsible for the body's stress response.

💡Emotional Stress

Emotional stress is a psychological strain that arises from challenging life events or situations. The video highlights that emotional stress can be a significant contributor to health issues, with 75 to 90% of people visiting healthcare facilities in the Western world doing so due to psychological or emotional stress. Examples given include family tragedies, car accidents, and single parenting.

💡Disease

Disease, in this context, refers to a disorder of structure or function in a human, animal, or plant, that is not caused by physical injury and is typically a response to an infection. The video suggests that chronic stress can lead to a state of imbalance that becomes the 'new normal,' potentially leading to disease as the body's systems are compromised.

💡Mind-Body Connection

The mind-body connection is the idea that our mental states can have a profound impact on our physical health. The video discusses how thoughts can trigger stress responses that affect the body, potentially leading to illness. It also posits that positive thoughts and emotions can promote health and healing, illustrating the powerful link between mental and physical well-being.

💡Hormones

Hormones are chemical messengers in the body that regulate various functions, including growth, metabolism, and sexual development. The video explains that stress hormones, such as those triggered by emotions like anger or fear, can have long-term effects on health by 'pushing the genetic buttons' and potentially causing disease.

💡Addiction

Addiction, in the context of the video, refers to the body's and mind's tendency to become reliant on certain emotional states or thought patterns, even if they are negative. The video suggests that people can become 'addicted' to their stress and negative emotions, making it difficult to change and achieve a healthier state of being.

💡Gratitude

Gratitude is a feeling of thankfulness or appreciation. The video discusses gratitude as a positive emotion that can be cultivated to counteract negative emotions and promote health. It mentions that practicing gratitude can lead to an increase in immunoglobulin A, a natural immune chemical, demonstrating the power of positive emotions on the body.

💡Prefrontal Cortex

The prefrontal cortex is the anterior part of the frontal lobes of the brain, involved in decision-making, planning, and regulating social behavior. The video suggests that engaging the prefrontal cortex can help in assigning meaning to tasks and achieving desired outcomes, which is essential for changing one's emotional state and overall well-being.

💡Synchronicities

Synchronicities are meaningful coincidences that seem to have an underlying order or purpose. The video implies that by changing one's emotional state and being intentional about one's thoughts and actions, one may experience synchronicities as evidence of being the creator of one's life experiences.

Highlights

There are three types of stress: physical, chemical, and emotional, each affecting the body's homeostasis.

Physical stress includes trauma, accidents, and injuries.

Chemical stress stems from toxins, pollutants, viruses, and nutritional deficiencies.

Emotional stress can arise from family tragedies, financial issues, and single parenting.

The body has an innate capacity to return to homeostasis when not overstressed.

The autonomic nervous system is responsible for creating balance and homeostasis.

Stressors can knock the body out of balance, leading to disease if homeostasis is not restored.

75 to 90% of health conditions in Western healthcare facilities are due to emotional stress.

Emotions such as anger, hatred, and fear are connected to stress hormones.

Thoughts can trigger stress responses and potentially lead to disease.

Managing attention and energy is crucial for emotional and physical well-being.

The body does not distinguish between real-life experiences and those fabricated by thought.

People can become addicted to their own thoughts and emotional states.

Changing emotional states requires breaking the cycle of addiction to familiar patterns.

Practicing gratitude can reprogram the body's chemistry towards growth and repair.

Teaching the body to feel gratitude can increase immunoglobulin A, enhancing the immune system.

The emotional signature of gratitude can help accept and believe in positive thoughts.

Intention and emotional state changes can lead to synchronicities and a sense of being life's creator.

Transcripts

[Music] we have three types of stress that we  process in the physical body we have physical  

stress that's like trauma accidents injuries  Falls and then you have chemical stress like  

toxins or pesticides or pollutants or viruses or  bacteria or hangovers or nutritional deficiencies  

and then you have emotional stress right and  emotional stress could be family tragedies  

car accidents second mortgages single parenting  401ks you know whatever that is but each one of  

those things physical chemical or emotional knock  the body out of homeostasis out of Regulation out  

of balance the innate capacity of the body when  it's not overstressed is that it wants to always  

return back and regulate it wants to return back  to homeostasis it wants to return back to order  

and that's inate in us that's an automatic  process that's running through the autonomic  

nervous system so we could say the job of the  autonomic nervous system is to create balance  

and Regulation and homeostasis and it's automatic  and that part of the brain sits under the thinking  

neocortex and it's called the chemical brain  or the emotional brain or the lyic brain or the  

mamelon brain and it has all of those functions  that make blood sugar balanced hormone levels  

digestive enzymes it's it's it's it's doing  what it can to take the body and constantly  

repair it and regenerate it and move it back into  balance all of those stressors knock the brain and  

body out of balance and the innate mechanism the  stress response brings it back to balance well it  

just makes sense if you keep knocking it out of  balance over and over again and you keep moving  

it out of homeostasis that imbalance is going to  become the new balance and now you're headed for  

disease because that autonomic automatic system  can't regulate order in the body so a system then  

is compromised the system breaks down and so if  it's physical trauma you know your body can heal  

if you rest it if it's chemical imbalance you  take your uh Pharmaceuticals or you take your  

nutriceuticals your vitamins your minerals your  herbs you intermittent fast you do anything you  

can to get the body back so that it's using more  energy for growth and repair but the big factor  

is emotional stress 75 to 90% of every person  that walks into a Healthcare facility in the  

Western World walks in because of psychological  or emotional stress pretty much four out of  

five people what's really causing their health  condition is that they're emotionally stressed  

and emotionally out of balance okay so what are  the emotions that are connected to the stress  

hormones it's anger it's hatred it's frustration  it's competition it's control it's judgment it's  

Envy it's jealousy it's insecurity it's fear it's  anxiety it's worry it's angst it's uh hopelessness  

it's powerlessness it's guilt it shame its  unworthiness you know and psychology calls these  

normal human States Of Consciousness these are  Altered States Of Consciousness so our response  

to someone or something in in our environment or  our response to our own thought an image of what  

could happen in the future a memory of the past  could actually cause chemicals to be secreted  

from the brain that causes the body to actually  believe it's living in that same environment of  

fear or danger right so that thought when you're  seeing that thought in your mind or remembering  

that image it's the image and the emotion it's  the thought and the feeling it's the stimulus and  

response that's immediately conditioning the body  into that state of imbalance so it's a scientific  

fact that the long-term effects of the hormones of  stress push the genetic buttons and create disease  

if you can turn on that stress response just by  thought alone your thoughts are literally going  

to make you sick that's the greatest example of  the Mind Body Connection so the next fundamental  

question is okay if our thoughts could make us  sick is it possible that my thoughts could make  

me well well if that's the case then then I'm  going to have to manage my attention and I'm  

going to have to manage my energy because where I  place my attention is where I place my energy and  

I'm going to have to inhibit that thought that has  conditioned the body to subconsciously be the mind  

and the body is so objective that it does not know  the difference between the real life experience  

that's creating that emotion and the emotion that  person is fabricating by thought alone to the body  

it's exactly the same so the body's believing  it's being chased by a predator the body is  

believing it's in an offensive situation where it  has to attack the body's believing it's constantly  

needing to be ready and it's it's constantly out  of homeostasis is constantly out of balance it's  

in emergency it's in fight ORF flight it's a  different system the autonomic nervous system  

where you're stepping on the gas where you're  you're mobilizing enormous amounts of energy  

for some threat some Danger real or imagined  but that thought and that feeling the image the  

emotion the stimulus response is conditioning the  body to automatically be the mind of that emotion  

now the body becomes conditioned and addicted  now this gets to be a problem because people  

get addicted to their own thoughts and they become  addicted to the life they don't even like because  

the response to the coworker to the boss to the  ex is actually giving them Rush of energy A Rush  

of agine and they're they're associating that Rush  of energy with some problem or condition in their  

life and now come time to change and manage  your attention and manage your emotion it's  

no different than Breaking addiction to anything  there's Cravings the body wants to return back to  

how it's been conditioned into the familiar past  into the gnome the body starts saying to the mind  

you can it's too hard you'll never change this  is too uncomfortable I don't like this go back  

to make the same Choice do the same thing create  the same experience feel the same emotion so you  

can return back to the known and that's how people  seamlessly return back to that same identity so we  

only accept believe and surrender to the thoughts  that are equal to our emotional state we'll never  

accept believe and surrender any thoughts that are  not equal to your emotional state so you could say  

I'm abundant I'm Eternal I'll live forever I'm  healthy and wealthy and if you're programmed your  

body into that emotional state it's going to say  you you're not that take a person whose identity  

is resentment and their identity is anger and and  frustration and betrayal and you ask them why are  

you this way and they'll say I'm this way because  of this event that happened to me 15 years ago  

strong are the emotion we feel from some event the  more altered we feel inside of us the more that  

chemical continuity is disrupted from something  that surprises us that alters our state the more  

the brain freezes a frame and takes a snapshot  that's called a memory but the problem is that we  

think about that event over and over again after  it happens we're producing the same chemistry in  

the brain and body as if the event was occurring  and so the body is conditioned literally into  

the past so you say a person's resentful about  everything they're seeing their life through the  

lens of resentment and frustration and anger  and everything's upsetting them well that's a  

self-fulfilling prophecy you say okay now it's an  addiction you got to change that and the person  

goes oh okay that makes sense and now now you got  to get out of the bleachers on the playing field  

say okay these emotions could literally have  something to do with my health just saying if  

I stop feeling these emotions what if I start  feeling these emotions okay what would be the  

emotions that would make me happy these emotions  are making me feel really bad the memories are  

making me feel really bad can I remember a  future how would I feel if my future could  

happen I got to trade those emotions for different  emotions well if I've been practicing feeling  

these emotions and I've conditioned my body be the  mind it's going to take some time for me to start  

making different chemistry with the intention of  making that chemistry getting my body back into  

homeostasis and balance work on my breath when I  breathe I change my state practice breathing work  

with your body so it can start to relax so that  it feels safe enough to feel something other than  

that again and if it takes you 3 weeks it would be  worth it so then person then starts okay I really  

know how to feel gratitude okay well maybe start  going out and giving and give to people I promise  

you start giving you start feeling grateful and  then start practicing feeling gratitude teach  

your body just for 15 minutes a day what it would  like to feel gratitude what would be like and our  

data shows that you take someone to do that  for four days three times a day they make a  

immunoglobulin called immunoglobulin a it's your  body's natural flu shot it's the greatest immune  

chemical we have 50% increase in the subjects we  studied in 4 days immunoglobulin went up 50% in 4  

days where is that chemistry coming from they're  not taking anything it's coming from within them  

right what is the emotional signature of gratitude  when you receive something or you just receive  

something when something wonderful happened to  you or something wonderful is happening to you  

you feel grateful so now if you're in a state  of gratitude it makes total sense then you will  

accept believe and surrender the thoughts that  are equal to that emotional state and you could  

actually program your autonomic nervous system  to make the pharmacy of chemicals that causes  

growth and repair to happen in the body and that's  exactly what we're discovering so then when people  

understand why they're doing it the how gets  easier so you can assign meaning to the task  

and switch on the prefrontal cortex and when you  switch on that prefrontal cortex it wants to get  

an outcome it doesn't want to mess around it wants  the outcome you're doing it for the outcome and  

that's kind of a strong intention and a change in  energy or an emotional state and that's changing  

your state of being and when you change your state  of being like that every day get ready because  

you're going to start having synchronicities and  coincidences and weird things start happening in  

your life to prove to you that you're actually the  creator of your life instead of the victim of your

life

[Music]