Thoughts on Immunity, Belief and Healing
By Tom Kenyon

I have come to see Immunity in a much larger context than just our physical immune response to pathogens. From a biological perspective, our immune systems are a way to determine self from non-self. If something invades our bodies (say a bacteria or a virus) our immune systems quickly ascertain if they are a part of us or not. If they are not recognized as a part of our personal biology, then our immune systems mobilize their resources to destroy the toxic invaders.

Physical immune response is a very complex affaira combination of many factors including genetics, nutrition, environmental factors, personal vitality as well as mental/emotional patterns. This last aspect of immunity is often referred to as psycho-immunology or psychoneuroimmunology. This field of research looks at how our thoughts and especially emotions affect our immune systems. And while such ephemeral things as thought and feeling are only one small part of the immune puzzle, they are an intriguing and important aspect.

On a practical level, if you wish to enhance your immune function, you need to be conscious of and improve the quality of, your air, water and especially nutritionthe food you eat. Regular periods of rest have also been found to be important for good immune function. These periods of health-inducing rest are characterized by increases in alpha and theta brain wave activity.

Certain types of meditation are ideal for generating these kinds of stress reducing brain states. Research has shown that those who meditate twenty minutes, once or twice a day tend to have better immune function and wellness than those who dont. You can read information about an easy form of meditation that works for virtually everyone by going to our website www.tomkenyon.com

But the type of immunity of which I speak is not just confined to the physical response of our immunological systems. This larger context for immunity is an expression of what I call our vibrational signature.

Our vibrational signature (or tonality) is related to our emotional lifespecifically what we are feeling at any given moment, and especially habitual emotions that are an everyday component of our own personal thinking and feeling habits.

Conceptually, I place various feeling states into one of two categoriescoherent emotions or incoherent emotions. Coherent emotions are feelings like love, appreciation, peace of mind, gratitude, etc. Incoherent emotions, on the other hand, are feelings like hate, jealousy, a sense of lack, mental agitation, etc. Most people generally prefer to experience coherent emotions because they have a coherent effect on their bodies and minds. Incoherent emotions make us feel uncomfortable because at a subtle energy level, they are disruptive.

There are some fascinating studies that show how incoherent emotions (like hostility, for one) can negatively affect our physical immune response and even heart rhythms. But the jury is hardly inscientifically speakingwhen it comes to how and to what extent our health is affected by our emotional lives. So I do not wish, at this time, to get into a discussion about the psychological and physiological mechanisms of physical immunity.

The type of Immunity I want to focus on, at this moment, is the larger context I mentioned earlier. From this metaphysical perspective, we are being bombarded every day by all types of toxins and pathogens. But these toxins are not confined merely to the physical realm, where science, by necessity is focused. This type of contamination also includes what I call mental, emotional and even spiritual toxicity.

When we are lied to by someone, by a group, or by a societythis is a type of mental, emotional or spiritual toxin. These forms of misinformation have a long history and tradition including the types of misinformation that exist within family systems, societies, cultural and religious dogma, not to mention misinformation disseminated by governments and corporations. The whole idea is rather mind-boggling so I will do my best to simplify some of the basic concepts.

Lets take families, to start off with. In an ideal family, which by the way does not exist, the relationship between the parents is balanced and their children incorporate this balance within their own psychological makeup through the process of growing up and interacting with these two ideal parental figures. But in real life, there is rarely a balance of power. One usually has the upper hand and wields it over everyone else.

In the fascinating kaleidoscope that is human experience, the domineering parent might be direct or passive in his or her manipulation of power. One might be a raging bull when he or she does not get his or her way, scaring the you-know-what out of everyone in the family. Or he or she might be what some have referred to as a subtle tyrant to get his or her way. Subtle tyrants are passive aggressive and never meet a situation head on with honesty and directness.

Their bids for power are executed in the shadows (meaning the unconsciouseither their own unconsciousness and/or the unconsciousness of those around them) and often with an overlay of helplessness and guilt. Some use illness, for example, or the threat of illness as a means to get what they want.

As children growing up in a family system, we unconsciously metabolize and accept the underlying beliefs (thought forms) about life, relationships and the worldas well as our place or lack of place in it. The emotional patterns we see depicted before us as children also become incorporated as part of our being. Usually we incorporate such emotional and thought patterns as our own, or in some cases we rebel against those patterns and beliefs. Such a person often runs the risk of being perceived by family members as a black sheepthe one who refuses to conform to the familys beliefs and expectations.

If a belief or power manipulation in the family runs counter to the authentic nature of one of its members, this creates immense psychological and even physiological conflict in the one who is out of step or not with the program. In some families, mild rebellion is toleratedup to a point. In some families, however, everyone has to hold to a very rigid standard of mental and emotional life.

For instance, cutting or not cutting ones hair can be a big issue in some families. Dating or even having friends with someone from another religion, cultural group or race can be met with hostility in others. And some children have found themselves disowned because they chose a different career than what was expected of them.

My point in all of this is that our beliefs (thought forms) and emotions become a part of us through a process of mental and emotive metabolization. In other words, our thoughts and emotions become part of our very flesh. The constitution of our bodies is not just formed from the food we eat and what we drinkbut also through what we think and feel.

The coercion to make us think or feel in certain ways is, I believe, one of the greatest detriments to our spiritual, mental and cultural evolution. Whether it shows up in our families, with friends, at work, in our places of worship, in how we contemplate or hold the divine within our minds, or in our political institutions, the mechanism of toxicity is the same.

When we are forced or expected to think and feel in certain waysagainst our nature and our own best interestthis can become a form of mental or emotional toxicity. For some of us such toxicity can be worked out, but for others it festers and creates either physical illness, or in some cases what I call spiritual illness (meaning that the vitality of our spirit has been dampened, suppressed or depleted).

I believe that in the next few decades science will have a lot to say about this process of mental emotive metabolizationor how our thoughts and feelings become physicalbut for now such concepts are on the fringeto be sure. But then, to be frank, so is this entire Immunity recording.

For some, the idea that spirit beings could come through someones voice and sing healing codes that will actually help a person must seem preposterous. For others it just makes sense. It all depends on where you are coming from in terms of your own beliefs about reality and what is possiblenot to mention your own life experience.

I had to continually expand my own perceptual box while working with these spirit healers because, quite frankly, my perception of reality was violated on several occasions. But what I was left with more often than not was a deep sense of gratitude at what they were orchestrating on our (humanitys) behalf. I was also deeply impressed by the vibrational quality of each of them. After listening I was almost always left with deeply coherent emotionsfeelings like love, gratitude and a deep sense of inner peace and healing. On every occasion after recording them, I was touched and moved by the upliftment and the power that was communicated through their voices.

But it also became clear to me that their high spiritual vibrations were having a catalytic effect on me, as well. One of the principles of vibrational healing is that a higher vibration will either drive out or transform a lower vibration. Thus after listening to the recordings of these beings, I would often become aware of my own lower thought forms (meaning thought forms that limit freedom of expression and evolution). Sometimes I would actually recall incidents from my past that were responsible for these thoughts and beliefs, while other times I simply felt them leaving me without any content or memory.

Thus, I have come to think of this recording as a potent form of spiritual purification. And that may actually be the main source of its power. Through their singing to us, these spirit healers have managed to bring spiritual light into audible sound. And these sounds act as a kind of spiritual transformer. They draw out mental, emotional and spiritual negativity (toxicity) and create a space within us for our own innate spiritual light to anchor more deeply and to manifest more clearly. Through this process I believe, our inherent self-healing abilities may also be enhanced.

This is an extract from Tom Kenyon's article titled Immunity: Explorations in Self-healing and Transformation. You can read the full article at www.tomkenyon.com/articles/immunity.html