Make Yourself Your New Years Resolution,  Dean Shrock, PhD

    It's the time of year that people think about some things they'd like to have or change in the new year. Many of these wishes are truly heart-felt and well-intentioned, but there's a strong tendency to not follow through with these desires.

    Because of my background in psychology, I am especially aware of the power of the mind, and how it can be used to accomplish seemingly limitless possibilities. Whether we think of this power in terms of a placebo effect, where we know that one's beliefs or expectations are potentially as powerful as any medical treatment (that's why we do double-blind and control-group studies). Or we consider the hundreds of thousands of studies in the fields of hypnosis, guided imagery, and biofeedback; I find that people truly don't understand the ability they have to improve their lives by using their minds to accomplish their goals.

    I have seen this very consistently in my work as Director of Mind-Body Medicine for a physician management group of 40 cancer centers. In fact, the evidence is now abundant and quite compelling that relaxation-related mental techniques can help to manage any health condition.

    I have become especially interested in the research in quantum physics, which has demonstrated that underlying all of physical reality is an energy matrix of harmony and order. The universe is a vibrating sea of energy, a vast quantum field where all subatomic particles are connected by an invisible web, and exist in all possible states until they are "disturbed" by the act of observing them. Then they appear as something real. Human consciousness is central to the creation of what we call reality. Every minute of every day we are creating our world and all of our life circumstances.

    This has become very evident in the field of psychoneuroimmunology, where we have known for almost 30 years that the immune system can be self-regulated by one's mental and emotional state. Every thought and feeling that you have directly affects your immune system, the system most identified with fighting disease. When you are in a "coherent" state, where there's the least resistance or stress, you are resonating in harmony with the quantum field. At a subatomic level you are now more ordered or organized, which translates into a healthier state.

    What people are looking for most in their lives is peace of mind. I have found that you have the greatest peace of mind when you are doing what brings you the greatest joy and meaning. I call it "going fishing". Your mental and emotional state at this time is optimally coherent. So, here's the good news: The healthiest thing you can possibly do is go fishing! Please consider this in making your New Years resolutions. Take time to identify your real interests, needs, and values. Then live them. Make time daily to do what brings you the greatest joy.

    Additionally, because we know that your every thought and feeling affects your health and works to create your life circumstances, use your thought and imagination to purposefully create what you want in your life. This is what hypnosis and guided imagery do. In fact, from a scientific perspective, this explains the power of prayer. The admonition, "Pray believing you've already received", is a perfect application of hypnosis and guided imagery. Sit down, imagine yourself relaxed in some way (like on vacation at the beach), and then imagine what you want. See and feel yourself happy and healthy, or whatever are your New Years resolutions.

    The new year is an ideal time to reprioritize your life. You can impact your life significantly by doing more of what you love to do. And you can help this along in a major way by remembering the power of your thoughts and feelings. Negative thoughts and feelings are not coherent, and will create resistance to what you want. Be careful what you are thinking and feeling. Are you focused on what you want or on what you don't want? With a little discipline you have the power of your mind to change your life dramatically.