The Lemon
You take a bright, juicy lemon and cut it in half. Cool, aromatic juice squirts onto your cheek, lips, and your tongue. Anxious to taste the sweet lemon, you bring the it closer to your mouth to take a bite. The lemon contacts your tongue and instantaneous citric flavor permeates throughout your entire mouth.
As you read and visualized this scenario, saliva production increased in your mouth. Even though in reality the lemon was not even in your mouth, your body produced a vivid “mouth-watering” response. The brain is not capable of determining what is real, and what is imagined. That is why after a dream, your heart can be racing and you can be sweating when the dream never really occurred.
Pavlov's Dogs
The scientist Pavlov conducted an interesting experiment with dogs. Each time the dogs were fed, Pavlov would ring a bell. A short time later, the dogs associated the sound of the bell with food. Ultimately, the dogs began to salivate at the sound of the bell. This conditioned response was developed by simple association of food with a bell. Later in his experiment, Pavlov discovered that specific pitch or sound of the bell was not important. The dogs would still salivate to the sound of a different bell!
Although we may not salivate at the sound of a bell, many of our emotional reactions are conditioned - even after only one experience! Our brains associate events, sounds, or personal belongings with emotions. These emotions can be positive or negative. Eventually, all individuals have multiple emotional conditioned responses to the world around them.
Emotional Conditioning
Consider a young boy who was severely disciplined by his father multiple times for small and simple mistakes. These moments of chastisement produced high levels of anxiety and in turn the boy developed an upset stomach. As an adult, this man becomes extremely tense and his stomach begins to churn anytime he is criticized by another man. Consciously, this man does not connect the two events with his upset stomach and wonders why his stomach is always bothering him.
This man possesses “emotional baggage”. Emotional baggage has the capacity to trouble one for years with physical discomforts if not treated properly. The body utilizes physical symptoms as a means to communicate to oneself that an unresolved negative emotion is damaging to their overall health.
Emotional Physiology
Historically, emotions were thought to only reside in the brain. Modern research has shown that emotions chemically alter the body on every level! Such an effect is produced by chemicals called neuropeptides located within the nervous system. It only takes milliseconds for neuropeptides to effect the cells of the body. These chemical responses to emotions produce butterflies in the stomach or heaviness in the chest.
Treatment
Resolving these troublesome emotions within one's body is quite simple. A certified practitioner of Neuro Emotional Technique (NET) or Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) can assist one in making the necessary connection and effectively resolving the problem. This process does not include psychotherapy or any form of counseling. The procedures identify the presence of emotional distress as it relates to the presenting physical and emotional problem and provides a means of resolution. NET and EFT practitioners can assist you in identifying and resolving “stuck” events (real or imagined) that are affecting your emotions and ability to experience optimal health and well-being. NET and EFT are mind-body techniques that address physiological dysfunction as they related to thoughts and emotions. Complete health comes from a balance of body, mind, and spirit.
