Self-made stress is often the cause of health disorders or diseases. In addition, there are destructive thoughts and negative feelings. To regain balance, people must actively promote their physical and mental health.
Health is learnable
The way of thinking and acting that serves health is called “salutogenesis.” The word could be translated as “recovery process.” Salutogenesis does not necessarily mean no smoking and raw food, but emphasizes the fun of living a healthy life.
The goal of salutogenesis is a change in lifestyle: one learns to consciously make many everyday decisions in favor of health. Instead of handing over one’s health to medicine and remaining passive, people should feel responsible for it themselves. Physicians, in turn, should activate their patients’ personal responsibility.
Those who act live easier
In what ways do some people manage to withstand severe stress and find their physical and mental balance again and again? In research on salutogenesis, it was found that those who understand and can act to influence their world and the processes that affect them have more robust health. The awareness of being responsible for one’s own health and the confidence to be able to do so spurs the body’s self-healing powers.
When looking at people who have experienced supposedly “inexplicable healings,” the same points that contribute to healing crystallize again and again:
- Physical movement
New momentum dissolves the previous rigidity, also on the mental level. Very important are physical tension and relaxation in healthy alternation. This balance ensures the reduction of external and internal tensions and cramps. - Self-determination
From the understanding of the relationship between disease and health grows the ability to decide for himself about his treatment measures. The sick person goes from being a sufferer – nothing else means the word “patient” in German – to a doer. He gains the conviction that he can shape his own life. Previous convictions are examined and possibly abandoned. Life is given a new meaning. - The power of thought
Who makes positive and uplifting thoughts, which promotes its inner self-healing powers. Instead of being burdened with thoughts and feelings of illness and discomfort, we should imagine being freed from suffering or discomfort. Man should see himself in his mind as he would like to be (goal imagination). Pictorial imaginings prove their worth in this context. The fact that inner expectations can work can be seen again and again in the case of placebos. These “pills” do not contain any medical active ingredients. Nevertheless, some patients ease the discomfort when they have taken them – by force of positive expectation. - Joie de vivre and humor
Laughter, dancing and singing improve the oxygen supply to the brain and release happiness hormones and painkilling endogenous substances. Laughter lowers pulse and blood pressure, strengthens the immune system and stimulates digestion. People who like to laugh often have a measurably lower risk of heart attack. The skeletal muscles relax, brain regions responsible for well-being are activated. - Relationships
Adults spend their lives in the same role plays over and over again. If in encrusted relationships with loved ones new is dared and “game roles” are changed, there is a chance for a new attitude to life. In addition, close friendships and a good partnership give security in difficult life situations. - Positive sexuality
Pleasure and life are closely linked. Sexual experience improves the vitality. - Holistic thinking
Body, soul and spirit complement each other. When problems arise in one of the three components, it is necessary to use the healing powers available from the other two areas. For example, a new intellectual challenge can alleviate depression, mental balance in turn sharpen the mind.
