|
Contagious
Love
by
Dana Ullman, M.P.H.
"Love
cures people -- both the one who gives
it
and the one who receives it."
- Karl Menninger, M.D.
 Love begets love, hate
begets hate, and beget begets beget.
Everything is contagious --
not just germs, but good vibes and bad vibes,
too. Simply witness what happens when a person
begins laughing hysterically, and watch how
this action gets others to laugh or at least
smile. Also witness what happens when someone
is expressing hatred for another, and notice
how those in the vicinity tighten their
bodies, develop a defensive posture, and maybe
clutch another's hand.
Loving and hating are not
just emotional states -- both have direct
physical effects on the body. Just as fear
creates the fight-or-flight reaction, feelings
of hate create an armoring of the body that
tenses the musculature, raises blood pressure,
shortens and speeds respiration, and creates a
clear psychological distance between
people.
Feelings of love, in
contrast, reduce tension, decrease blood
pressure, lengthen and slow breathing, and
blur the distinction between one person and
another. Not only does hate hurt others, it
hurts the person feeling it, while love
benefits both the giver and receiver.
Although most people do not
know how to tell their body to heal itself,
they do know how to love, and this can set the
wheels of healing in motion. As Yale surgeon
Bernie Siegel likes to remind people, "If
I told patients to raise their blood levels of
immune globulins or killer T-cells, no one
would know how. But if I can teach them to
love themselves and others fully, the same
changes happen automatically. The truth is:
Love heals."
Love can heal physical,
emotional, and spiritual pain. Love of self
and love from or for others can soothe
physical pain, enrich emotional life, and help
connect one person with another. Although love
has powerful side effects, they are all
positive side effects. And when love doesn't
heal completely, at least it makes the pain a
lot easier to handle.
Learning to love is,
however, a lot more difficult than it seems,
especially for people who haven't received
much love themselves. It is also problematic
for those who have received what was called
love, but it tended to smother more than
soothe them. Perhaps the best place to start
is by learning to love yourself.
By being loving, a person
makes him or herself more lovable. Through
giving, a person receives. By being joyful, a
person shares JOY with others. It seems so
obvious, yet it is so elusive to too many
people.
"As you sow, so shall
you reap" is an old saying that reminds
us that what is put into something is what is
received from it. The hands that give away
flowers retain the fragrance of the gift.
Bad vibes can be just as
contagious as good ones. The worst thing that
an S.O.B. can do is turn you into an
S.O.B. Anger, fear, and hate are all
contagious, too, although each of us can learn
to be more resistant to these
"infections".
By expressing compassion,
anger is dissipated. By seeking to understand
the unknown, fear disappears. By loving, hate
evaporates.
The price one pays for
hating others is loving oneself less. Even
worse, the body feels this emotion and
expresses it as pain and disease.
Perhaps one day soon, more
doctors will prescribe love for their
patients. It may not cure them all, but it is
a good place to start.
 This article was
excerpted from:
The Steps to Healing - Wisdom from the Sages, the
Rosemarys,
and the Times
by Dana Ullman, MPH
Info/Order
this book.
About The
Author
Dana
Ullman M.P.H., has authored six books on homeopathic and natural
medicine, including The
Consumer's Guide to Homeopathy, Homeopathy
for Children and Infants, and Homeopathy
A-Z. He serves on advisory boards of alternate medicine
institutes at Harvard and Columbia schools of medicine, and has also
co-taught a course in homeopathic medicine at the University of
California at San Francisco School of Medicine. This article was
excerpted with permission from his book "The Steps to
Healing", ©1999, published by Hay House Inc. www.hayhouse.com
| Comments () >> |
 |
 |
