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Positivism has the opposite effect. When we consciously place our awareness on love-based beliefs and thoughts, we begin to see the world as a loving, friendly, non-threatening place. Our focus is on the immediate here and now. By zeroing in on the present moment, we are able to let go of the past and all its guilts and resentments, and we realize that whatever the future may bring, we are perfectly capable and confident of being able to handle it.

We also discover that we already have everything we need to enjoy the present moment. Hence, right now, at this moment there is nothing we need or want. As a result, we feel content and we begin to experience inner peace. In the process, we suddenly realize we are no longer judging or condemning others. This, in turn, leads us to forgive everyone whom we once believed had harmed us in some way.

We begin to see everyone as our sister and brother and we begin to love everyone unconditionally. We begin to accept everyone the way they are and we ask no changes of anyone. We begin to experience a wonderful feeling of oneness with every person and living thing. The concept of feeling separate from other people disappears and with it, any feelings of loneliness.

On this higher level of consciousness, often called the inner self, the higher mind or self-realization, we feel calm and content and we experience an almost constant happiness and joy. Herbert Benson, M.D., defined this state as the relaxation response, the opposite of the fight or flight response. When both mind and body are relaxed, immunocompetence is maximized. Risk of catching a cold or flu is minimal and the severity and duration of any infection that might occur is reduced to the minimum. Risk of getting cancer and most other diseases is also at the lowest possible level.

Furthermore, studies have shown that within an hour of switching from fear-based to love-based beliefs and thoughts, the ability of the immune system to manufacture antibodies is dramatically increased. For example, a 1983 study by Dr. David McClelland, a Harvard psychologist, tested the immune reactions of one hundred volunteers after they were first shown a movie about Mother Teresa depicting love, humor and compassion, and then another about Hitler depicting hate and violence. Results clearly showed that positive emotions created by watching Mother Teresa boosted the presence of antibodies in the volunteers’ saliva while negative emotions resulting from the Hitler movie suppressed antibodies.

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According to the World Health Organization, herbal products still provide primary health care for 80 percent of the world’s population. Even in the U.S., some $8 billion is spent every year on plant-derived medications.

Many plants contain chemicals that have been scientifically validated for use in OTC and prescription drugs. Pharmaceutical companies frequently search among herbs for new drug sources.

Herbs, of course, are widely used in homeopathic medicine. Homeopathy is a healing system in which naturally-occurring herbs and other substances arc used to stimulate immunocompetence and other body defense systems. A homeopathic physician uses a patient’s symptoms to make a “symptom profile.” He then matches it with a medicine having a similar profiler-implying that the medicine has produced similar symptoms in a large number of patients.

Most cold or flu symptoms are produced by the body’s defensive reaction to the virus rather than by the virus itself Hence homeopathy treats the host father than the virus. Specifically, a homeopathic physician will treat the host’s underlying basic vulnerability, which translates into enhancing the immune system and other body defenses which may have been weakened.

Only a homeopathic physician has the skill to match a cold sufferer’s “symptom profile” with a medication having similar properties. However, if you have access to a homeopathic physician and your cold or flu is severe enough to warrant homeopathic intervention, you will find a wide range of natural remedies available.

Although many of them may be prescribed only by a homeopathic doctor, many other common herbal remedies can provide soothing relief from colds, flu and other respiratory disorders. A brief rundown of those most highly favored by herbalists follows.

The favored way to take most herbs is in the form of a tea. Simply make a fairly strong brew, equivalent to suffusing one tea bag of black tea in a cup of boiling water. However, some herbs such as cinnamon, garlic, pepper, mustard and radish may also be taken in food. Under no circumstances try to smoke herbs to clear congestion or to relieve any other respiratory symptoms. Regardless of its source, smoke is a harsh irritant that will inhibit cilia action and inflame the mucous membranes.

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Soon after beginning to exercise, for example, the adrenals secrete epinephrine, a hormone that stimulates immunity. Studies in athletic medicine have noted a clearly-defined relationship between vigorous physical exercise and an increase in resistance to infection. Several studies have dearly indicated that physically-active people have a significantly lower rate of cancer than sedentary people. It is speculated that exercise stimulates antibody production and also relaxes the arteries, allowing more blood to reach nasal passageways.

While the link between nutrition and stress is not quite as well defined, it has been shown that under stress, the body consumes key nutrients more rapidly than most diets can replace them. These deficiencies then inhibit replication of white cells and antibodies in the vast numbers required to launch a counterattack against invading infections.

For example, vitamin C increases interferon in the blood stream, and is believed to stimulate interferon production by infected cells. Vitamins A and E, and the entire B-complex, all provide essential nutritional support to a beleaguered immune system as do such key minerals as calcium, magnesium, iron and zinc.

Even though colds and flu are confined to the respiratory tract, they set off an immune response that affects not only the entire body but the Whole Person. The way we respond to events in our lives, and the extent to which we exercise and the way we eat, have more to do with shortening the duration of a cold or flu than any therapy which focuses only on the infected area.

In fact, whatever we do to enhance the fitness and health of either body or mind fortifies the immune system also. The immune system exactly mirrors the health of our body-mind continuum. When we feed and care for our bodies, and when we seek peace and contentment instead of emotional turmoil, our immunocompetence attains its optimal peak.

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STEP THREE: BEGIN TAKING NUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENTS

Both smoking and alcohol seriously impair immunocompetence and increase risk of further viral and bacterial infection. You should also try to cut out coffee and minimize intake of other caffeine-containing beverages such as black or green tea, hot chocolate, cocoa and most cola drinks. However, you may make an exception of an occasional cup of green or black tea with lemon if it makes you feel better.

Many cold sufferers have a deficiency of vitamins A and C and the mineral zinc. Lack of these nutrients hinders production of immune system components needed to destroy invading viruses.

Begin by taking 10,000 IU of vitamin A. If unavailable in supplement form, you could take a tablespoon of cod liver oil followed by consumption of two medium-sized raw carrots. Slice the carrots into sticks and munch them all before bedtime.

Simultaneously, take one gram of vitamin C. Every two and a half hours thereafter, while you are awake, take an additional 500 mg.

Also begin to take one 50 mg. zinc gluconate lozenge every two hours while you are awake. Be careful not to chew or to swallow the lozenge but allow it to dissolve slowly in the mouth, a process which may take ten minutes or so. All of these nutrients are available in health food stores.

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Psychologists have also learned that we can feel any way we want to feel at any time by placing an appropriate thought in our mind. Should a negative thought intrude on our inner video screen, we can easily slide it off. And we can then replace it with a positive visualization, such as a tropical beach scene, before the negative thought has had time to trigger a headache-producing emotion.

In contrast, once a negative emotion has pervaded our consciousness, the strong feelings and upset that it causes can rule us for hours, preventing rational thought and causing us to lash out at people with whom we have close relationships. The result is that we often end up with a tension or migraine headache. Thinking a thought, incidentally, is the same as creating a mental image, or making a mental picture, or visualizing something. Each of us has complete personal control over our thoughts. For example, close your eyes and visualize a red rose; then picture a snow-capped mountain peak; then a dog.

Were you able to see these objects in your mind’s eye? Great! Then this proves that you have the ability to replace thoughts about a rose with alternative thoughts about mountains or dogs. And so it is with negative thoughts that provoke headaches. We can easily slide any negative thought out of our mind and replace it with a more positive thought.

While thoughts can be changed in a split second, it is much more difficult to change a negative feeling.

Think a thought or make a mental picture or visualize an image of a friend or neighbor who has a more exciting spouse, a larger house, a more prestigious job, and a more luxurious car than you do, and you’ve set yourself up for strong feelings of envy and possibly resentment. Within a few minutes, these negative feelings will start low-level stress mechanisms simmering and you will begin to feel tense, uncomfortable and upset.

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