In this series of articles I have been presenting hypnotic
strategies for dealing with allergies and other immune system
diseases. Today I discuss a primary reason why our western
civilization is so rife with this type of disease. Literally
millions of Americans suffer asthma, pollen allergies, and
autoimmune diseases in which the immune system appears to be
indiscriminately attacking harmless dust, pollens, and even
our own body cells. Why here? Why Us?
The human immune system like that of all mammals is
programmed at birth with the biochemical signatures of those
microorganisms which present a real health hazard and the
particular chemical antibodies needed to combat them. The
newborn is also programmed with what food proteins are safe,
and which pollens, molds, etc. are safe in the infant’s
world. This information helps the emerging immune system of
the newborn adjust to the biochemical environment into which
it is born.
The thymus gland in the infant is very large compared to its
vestigial appearance in the human adult. It is as large as
the infant’s heart, which it sits next to. The task of the
thymus is to build the infant’s biochemical immune system.
After the first few months of life the thymus begins to
shrink, so clearly this process develops most rapidly in
those first few months of life.
The biggest help for this process comes from mother’s milk,
or, more specifically, her colostrum, the sticky clear fluid
that precedes milk production. Scientists have found that
this clear fluid is chock full of antibodies containing the
chemical signatures of all the microorganisms that mother’s
own immune system has learned to fight. I also believe that
this chemical program may reveal what foods, harmless
pollens, etc. can be safely trusted by the child. Thus the
infant’s immune system “learns” what is safe and what is not.
It is therefore logical to conclude that when an infant is
fed formula and not nursed, that infant’s immune system is
compromised very seriously. The immune system doesn’t know
how to tell friend from foe, harmless dust or molds from
dangerous pathogens. Many infants and young children suffer
from the epidemics of allergies and asthma that result from
this confusion. Other infants may appear to be unaffected,
but years later, when stresses build in their adult lives,
the immune system panics and goes on the attack. Doctors have
known for years about this danger, but few have spoken out.
Part of this is perhaps because women today don’t wish their
freedom to choose parenting styles to be compromised by
medical science. Perhaps few physicians are willing to take
on the pharmaceutical industry, which has such a powerful
control over our health care system and for whom infant
formula is highly profitable business. Also, there is nothing
traditional medicine can DO about this problem once we have
missed out on this essential gift of health from mother.
Hypnotherapists suffer no such limitations. When a client
suffers from an allergy, here is what can be done. A client
of mine had moved to a home he loved in a tropical jungle by
the sea. He was soon heartbroken to discover huge allergic
reactions, in both bronchial passages and lungs, to the molds
in his environment. I regressed him to infancy, while
suggesting that he would be born now to a new mother. Not
only would she be less hostile and high strung than his
original mother, she was a native of this tropical jungle. I
instructed him to curl up in a fetal, ie.nursing, position.
Then I instructed him to breathe in the sweet smell of his
mommy, which was the smell of the molds and pollens of his
jungle home. I described in considerable detail how his new
mom held him, so close, so safe. I continued to emphasize the
sweet smell and sweet taste of mommy’s breath, her milk, her
skin, smelling and tasting like these molds. As we progressed
his symptoms rapidly cleared, and in two sessions he became
symptom free. The key here is to use hypnotic language to
build for the infant a vivid bodily experience of being held,
loved, and nursed, with a special emphasis on breathing in
the sweet smell of Mommy, which in this case was the smells
of the jungle. Thus the nose and lungs receive the message at
a subconscious level that this smell is safe. I suspect that
this process can be used to desensitize us to any allergen.
Although we use an ideal image of the perfect mother for this
healing of the immune system, it doesn’t usually require the
client to process angry feelings about their original mother
or to “fire” her for not being a good enough mom. Some
clients need to process feelings about their original mother
in the context of achieving other therapeutic objectives. But
I usually encourage my clients to understand that their
original mother simply didn’t know what was needed for her
child so we are calling in a divine or angelic mother to take
care of this infant. I suggest that this process does not
need to affect in any way the relationship they have with
their mom in the present.
One client objected to my theory by telling me that her son
had numerous allergies that were extremely debilitating, but,
she insisted, he had been nursed. I encouraged her to examine
the circumstances of this nursing. Were you under severe
stress? Were you smoking or using drugs that could have made
your milk toxic? Yes she said, all the above. Nobody should
blame a mother for doing the best she can to care for a child
in our civilization, which appears to care so little for the
infants in our midst. But when the delicate but essential
biochemical cord that connects us to the safety of this
mother earth is cut, it is the task of every healer to
reestablish that bond.
Another factor in the creation of food allergies specifically
is the way a mother introduces her child to solid foods. In
traditional cultures a mother chews the food herself before
offering it to her infant. Thus the mother’s own digestive
enzymes are mixed with the food to give the infant the tools
for digestion. In addition, mother is patient and loving with
her infant and both enjoy the feeding experience as play,
filled with laughter and fun. Thus the infant learns that
this food is good. When infant feedings are done in a
hurried, stressed out way by a mother who is late for work or
on the phone, what message do we expect this child’s
digestive system to receive about this new food? Fortunately,
in hypnosis we can use regression to return to infancy and
experience our new, divine mother teaching us that corn, or
peanuts, is safe. Where it is safe to do so, I encourage my
client to bring to my office a serving of the food they are
allergic to so they can taste it in their mouths as I walk
them through this experience. Hypnotherapists can also use
gustatory hallucination to create the taste.
Article 4 part series available in full online at:
http://alchemyinstitute.com/Allergies-Immune-System/
About Alchemy Institute of Hypnosis: America’s oldest
spiritually oriented hypnotherapy training program has
trained over 2000 hypnotherapists since 1983. The Alchemy
Institute is approved by the state of California Bureau of
Private Postsecondary Education (BPPVE) and American Council
of Hypnotists Examiners. Our website offers an extensive
library on hypnosis. http://alchemyinstitute.com/articles.htm
Alchemy Institute Founder David Quigley now offers home
hypnotherapy in special hypnosis by phone sessions
call the Alchemy office at 1-800-950-4984 to inquire.
|
|