The Healing Power of the Holidays

It is a universally accepted truism of adult life that the holiday season is also the stress season. One of my favorite scenes from the movie When Harry Met Sally sums up this sentiment very well:

Harry: Boy the holidays are rough! Every year I just try to get from the day before Thanksgiving to the day after New Years.

Sally: Lots of suicides.

It’s no coincidence that the holiday season happens to coincide with the dreaded flu season. Stress is one of the main disablers of our immune systems leaving us more vulnerable to infections of all types.

It does not have to be this way. By harnessing the healing power inherent in the holidays we can transcend the petty stresses that bring us down and use these occasions as a time for transformation and growth. Giving Thanks, feeling Love and Togetherness, and Giving to those who are in Need are the staples of good-heartedness during the ‘Season of Giving’. This time offers a wonderful opportunity for healing from within.

Let’s put aside the historical aspects of the holidays for a moment and focus on the bigger picture: the holidays are about gratitude. This one time of the year, from the end of November to the beginning of January is the one time aside specifically for the act of giving thanks, spending cherished time with Loved Ones, and giving to those in need. Gratitude, Love and Giving is powerful medicine. A bit cliché you think? Let’s explore further.

When you actively choose to focus on the blessings in your life you are initiating a profound shift in your state of being. Seeing the world as a safe, secure place of abundance filled with people who love you is transformative to your entire physiology. As you choose to make these positive, comforting thoughts your focus, your nervous system actually interprets this state of mind as an indicator that you are in a safe environment. This brings about a shift away from sympathetic or “fight-or-flight” neurological dominance to a more parasympathetic or “rest-and-recover” state of being. Energy is shifted toward the higher bodily functions of proper digestion, immune cell production, hormone regulation and tissue repair. A positive state of mind triggers the self-healing capacities to swing into action, being relieved from the rigors of mere survival, your homeostatic mechanisms seek to balance out long neglected deficiencies, improve the supply of nourishment to various organs and ready the body for reproductive activities.

Put simply, if it came in a pill, we’d all take. That’s how powerful gratitude and love is. And yet so few of us avail ourselves of this incredible medicine, even during our national holiday season. Why? Basic physics shows that without the influx of energy all things move towards disorder – this is known as entropy. It’s the same with our thinking. It takes work to cultivate an “attitude of gratitude and love”. We need to make a conscious effort to see the world as being full of love and plenty. Aggravation and disappointment are easy; seeing how blessed we truly are takes work.

This year, I implore you don’t let the opportunity of the holidays pass you by. When you see a sign for a Holiday sale or hear a commercial for the plumpest Turkey – anytime you are reminded of the holidays, do something revolutionary – give thanks! Thanks for your life, your health, your family, your friends, your dog or cat, your home and country… In truth, there’s truly so much in the world to be grateful for that thinking about it can be somewhat overwhelming!

Have a happy and healthy Holiday Season!

This article was written by Dr. Steven D. Ehrlich NMD, as a patient education resource for The Center For True Harmony Wellness and Medicine. Edited and revised by Sherry VanGoethem, Dr.Christine Brass-Jones OBGYN, and Dr. Denise Quance Grobe N.D. If you have any questions or comments contact the office at (480) 539-6646 or through email at info@trueharmonywellness.com