Right now there is a horrible pandemic happening. But it’s not a v!ru$ that will wipe out humanity (they never have, which does not discount the deaths that have taken place, but it’s just not because of a v!ru$). I’m talking about fear. 

Fear changes everything, it affects your entire physiology, it keeps you from being healthy because your stress goes up and that leads to more inflammation and a whole cascade of things we don’t want happening.

You might ask why I’m writing v!ru$ this way, and it’s because natural health practitioners are being censored on all fronts – my account has been shadow banned on Instagram (that keeps people from seeing my posts), we’ve been heavily censored on Facebook for posting about v!ru$e$ (we don’t use that account anymore), and all these big social media platforms have been busy shutting down important accounts that are focused on natural health. Even the platform we use to send these newsletters has already censored natural health practitioners. 

Fear does horrible things to us, it’s even able to shut down life.

Take the nocebo effect – this is where a medical doctor tells a patient he has only 3 months left to live because of some horrible cancer, and the patient does die in 3 months… except, upon the autopsy, they found nothing that could have killed him.

Why did he die? Because he was told with complete certainty that he would. This exact scenario has actually happened, and different versions of it as well. This is the nocebo effect.

So where am I going with this? It’s the week of Thanksgiving in the US, so our focus will be on just that – gratitude. 

Gratitude – it has the incredible power to heal us. To guide us. To make us whole again. It strengthens our relationships, makes us happier, and it just plain makes us feel good.

Remember with the heart brain harmony I talked about last week? The one that strengthens your immune system, downregulates stress, and creates 1300 positive reactions. One of the emotions to use is gratitude. It is so powerful. 

I was hiking in Sedona once, a place full of powerful, beautiful energy and yet, I was still grappling with a breakup that I just didn’t know how to heal from. On this hike, I briefly met a man who, within minutes of talking with me, handed me a sandstone heart.

He told me that everything is unconditional love. Fear, anger, jealousy, those are just illusions. Unconditional love, that’s gratitude, peace, and everything in between.

When my family caught up, he proceeded to give each of them a sandstone heart, too. He told us anytime we feel alone, disconnected, fearful, just hold that heart and remember that unconditional love is everything. It was a very profound experience with a total stranger. It meant a lot to me and happened right when I needed it the most. It gave the world a little more warmth, a little more light, in just one conversation.

That heart is now sitting by my bed, and I hold it daily. When I think about what I’m grateful for, I am grateful for you, and that I get to be a part of your healing journey.

These types of story happen everywhere, we just don’t get to hear about them all the time. I’d love to hear when you’ve had a moment like this.

As a friend told me after sharing that story with him, “thank you for adding a bit of hope and warmth to the world.” 

Here’s How to Have a Healthier Gut