No doubt you are familiar with your physical immunity, but what about your emotional immunity? A sister of physical immunity, your emotional immunity also acts as a filter between you and the outside world. While your physical immunity is filtering tangible substances, your emotional immunity processes your day-to-day experiences.
Both immune systems have a 24/7 built-in discerning process. It is the job of our physical immune system to determine whether substances will fortify your body and should be integrated OR neutralized and eliminated. The same is true for experiences and your emotional immunity.
Here are two simple examples:
- You give a presentation at work about a project near and dear to your heart, and you walk away feeling strong and confident. Later, a colleague makes a slightly passive-aggressive comment.
Whether that comment is internalized and allowed to take root depends on the health of your emotional immunity at that moment. In this case, because you walked away from your talk feeling strong and confident, the likelihood you can shake it off (neutralize and eliminate) is quite strong. However, had you been feeling emotionally unstable and vulnerable about your talk, that comment might well make it past your filter. - As a child, did you ever get lost? Maybe you were separated from your mother for a few minutes in a store, or for hours during a family hike! Your response to that event would have been determined by your emotional immunity. Perhaps you were feeling resilient and experienced it as an adventure. Or, if the opposite were true, it likely registered as trauma.
Just like physical immunity, there are times our emotional immunity functions at a high level, and there are times it isn’t up to the task (neutralizing and eliminating harmful pathogens). It is during these weakened states that you may enter a toxic relationship or make choices that don’t support your health and well-being.
So, what makes emotional immunity strong, and what weakens it?
Answering that question has become the focus of my recent work. Over the past year, I have been observing what Gemmotherapy can do to build emotional immunity, and the results are intriguing. This is an evolving topic. However, here are some of my observations:
- There is a direct link between emotional and physical immunity. When one is weak, the other is more vulnerable. And when one is strong, it supports the other. Two examples I’ve seen include: A woman plagued with chronic physical exhaustion improves, and then she is able to see and address toxicity in the relationship with her partner. A mother struggling with feelings of overwhelm and anxiety improves, and then she is able to make lifestyle changes to support her physical health.
- When the nervous system is supported in its ability to regulate between the parasympathetic state (rest and digest) and sympathetic (flight or flight) states, emotional and physical immunity improve.
- Micro-doses (1-6 drops) rather than conventional dosing (12-24 drops) of a D1 dilution Gemmotherapy extract seems to be more effective in supporting the nervous system. The smaller doses appear to interact with the body in a way that cannot be achieved with standard amounts.
I am excited to share my current theories about this topic during my talk in Cluj, Romania, later this month. While I have isolated a dozen or so extracts that interact with the central and peripheral nervous system, there are several I have found to be the most gentle-acting. Those include:
- Silver Lime, Tilia tomentosa
- Common Fig, Ficus carica
- White Willow, Salix alba
- Field Maple, Acer campestre
- Hazel, Corylus avellana
- Sea Buckthorn, Hippophae rhamnoides
If you would like further information on Gemmotherapy extracts, you’ll want to read my Beginner’s Guide to Gemmotherapy. Specific information on dosing Gemmotherapy extracts can be found in my books, “An Introduction to Acute Care” and “Building Immunity in Babies and Children.”
For individualized support, I recommend you consult with a practitioner trained in Gemmotherapy to restore immunity, or consider working directly with me. Looking for a deeper understanding? Consider taking my next Foundations of Gemmotherapy series.
The information above is for educational purposes and not meant to replace the care and guidance of your health care practitioner.