The Science Behind the Law of Attraction Magazine January, 2018 | Page 24
You r Th ou gh t s Can M ak e You Si ck
By Featur ed Colum nist Ellen Wood
This is a fact supported by scientific research. In his
bookEmotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More
Than IQ, Dr. Daniel Goleman writes on the nature
and importance of another kind of intelligence ?
what he calls our emotional quotient, or E.Q. ? and
shares some cutting-edge findings in biology and
brain science.
focus on something, you create emotions. If you find
yourself thinking of a fear or dread, your emotional
response will trigger the amygdala just as if the fear
or dread were really happening.
Can you recall a time when you heard a sound that
frightened you? Maybe you were alone and a sound
made you think someo ne was in the house. A few
You?ve probably, at some time, allowed yourself to
minutes later with the lights on, you discover there?s
intensively worry about something and actually
no one there and no threat. There really never was a
found yourself becoming physically ill. That?s
threat, but your heart is racing and you may feel
because these negative thoughts are perceived by
breathless. All of those physical responses were
the most primitive part of our brain, the amygdala,
caused by what you thought. The key is what Dr.
as a real threat. The amygdala responds by
Goleman terms emotional intelligence ? the ability to
triggering a rush of hormones, especially cortisol, to be aware of your emotional responses and check
deal with a threatening situation. This is also called those knee-jerk survival instincts before they trigger
the stress response and stress is the number one
the physiological reactions.
factor that causes us to grow old and deteriorate.
And the really great news is that neuro-science
The amygdala developed early in our evolution as a studies show the circuitry that manages these
survival mechanism because if we weren?t
emotional intelligence abilities is malleable
constantly alert to danger, we might end up in the
throughout our lifetime. This malleable quality
belly of a mountain lion. Or the guy with the club in (neuro-plasticity) means we can develop greater
the cave next door might get our food. Although the emotional intelligence, conscious response, at any
amygdala?s hormones helped us survive with a flight age.
or fight response, today these hormonal responses
Ellen Wood of Taos, NM is an
can damage our health. The ?threat? created by our
inspirational speaker and
thoughts and feelings isn?t typically an immediate
award-winning author of
threat to our lives, as was the case with our caveman
?Think and Grow Young.? Her
ancestors. It?s not something we can deal with by
new book is ?Joy! Joy! Joy! 7
running away or fighting the danger, the type of
Mind Body Spirit Self-Help
physical action that would use up the cortisol.
Practices to Relieve Stress
Without taking action by fleeing or fighting, cortisol
and Anxiety, Reverse Memory
and other stress-triggered hormones stay in our
Loss and Live Happy.?
system and can harm our health.
Contact her at
And here?s the kicker: you can stimulate this
[email protected].
emotional response with your thoughts! When you
Page 24 Jan ., 2018