tion. Make these thoughts as powerful as you can; use visualization or visual aids like photographs to evoke feelings of gratitude. You can even use this while doing qigong; as you consciously direct your qi, visualizing healthy organs at the same time, thank your organs for working so hard for you and keeping you alive and healthy. Another very powerful healing practice is laughter. Laughter has been documented to boost the immune system and increase the beneficial and healing hormones that are often suppressed by stress and disease. One study showed that the people who were told they would be able to watch a funny movie experienced improved levels of healthy hormones. What a great example of how your thoughts create your body! Just the anticipation of watching a funny movie caused a favorable, healthy response in their bodies! If you would like to know more about how that worked, please see my blog article “Laughter, It Does A Body Good” at http:// successstressrelief.blogspot.com/2006/08/laughter-it -does-body-good.html Finally, turn your thoughts and behaviors over to compassion and unconditional love. Strive to emulate people whom you admire who show these qualities. It can be someone you know personally, a public figure you admire, or even historical or legendary figures who had these qualities. My personal favorite is Guan Shi Yin, the Bodhisattva of Compassion. It doesn’t matter so much who it is, only that you follow their example. The more your thoughts radiate compassion and unconditional love, the more your body will manifest those thoughts making them your reality, and often restoring your health and vitality. Michelle Wood leads people to rediscover wellness through holistic mind-body health and relaxation techniques such as qigong and meditation. She offers articles and advice on her blogs "Heaven On Earth: Stress Relief for Spiritual Women" http:// success-stressrelief.blogspot.com and "Be Well with Qigong" http://bewellqigong.blogspot.com May-June 2012
Yang-Sheng (Nurturing Life)
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