Family & Your Immunity
by Karen Chin.
The immune system is a network of cells, tissues and organs that work together to defend the body against things such as viruses, bacteria and any foreign invaders.
As we know the function of the immune system is to recognise foreign substances and prevent them from doing harm, this is the ability to protect against illness. As the immune systems main job is to identify and destroy foreign substances, the immune cells have to be able to distinguish between what is harmful and what is harmless. This is the ability to discriminate between self and other than self (non self), between what is you and what is not you, and the awareness of the relationship between our internal and external environment.
Our immune system is not only affected by invading viruses, bacteria, colds or flus but it can also be detrimentally affected by our thoughts, emotions and our environment.
The immune system is all about protection, our immune system is both our physical and metaphysical defense system. It helps us fight off invading organisms and energies that seek to negatively affect us. The immune system is also representative of how secure we feel in our world. Whether we feel pressured, threatened or manipulated. Whether we have let our guard down or feel we have been taken advantage of, it is the physical representation of our boundaries.
Our state of mind, our thoughts, our feelings and emotions all have an impact on our immune system. Metaphysically the immune system relates to feeling safe within our environment, feeling protected and having strong boundaries. Feeling insecure, experiencing inner conflict, feeling pressured, feeling threatened or manipulated (verbally or emotionally) and worrying about things all the time, can all contribute to a breakdown in our external boundaries and thus the immune system.
Working in a job or in a relationship where you are always feeling like you are defending your actions, if you feel you are being bullied by a work colleague or boss, these situations will have an impact on our personal boundaries and affect how safe or secure you feel.
Evidence and research is mounting that the immune system and other systems of the body are linked in several ways. One well known connection involves the endocrine system, in response to stress messages, the adrenal glands release stress hormones. When excessive stress or trauma cause an increase in hormones released by the adrenal glands, these in turn inhibit the production of thymus hormones, leaving us more susceptible to infection and illness.
Just as toxins and invading foreign substances can put a strain on the immune system, so too can excessive stress, grief, trauma, loss or loneliness push us beyond our coping or tolerance capacity. Most people are aware that what we eat impacts our immune system in a negative or positive way but there is also no denying that the impact of chemicals and toxins in the air, food and water within our environment also have an enormous impact.
Body products, heavy metals, pesticides are some external influences that can have a major impact on our immune system. Our skin is the biggest organ of the body and is permeable, meaning that it absorbs anything that is placed on the skin. Most daily products of shampoo, deodorants and body lotions (to name a few) have many toxic chemicals and once absorbed in the body the immune system has to decide if the chemical or toxin is a friend or foe.
Our bodies and our immune system try to maintain harmony by tolerating and balancing internal states with external ones. If the external substances become overwhelming, then the immune system can get pushed beyond its tolerance level. To be functioning optimally it is about creating a balance between both internal and external defences. Is your immune system in balance?
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