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HONING YOUR SIXTH SENSE
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Everyone is aware of the five senses: sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch. Some of us take intuition as our sixth sense. Our immune system is part of our sixth sense, and this sixth sense in reality, is our sense of self.
The immune system is complicated, still being researched, and is believed to be the third major system that effects our entire body. Its job is to keep us healthy by protecting us from foreign elements (antigens) such as bacteria, viruses and from inside such as abnormal cells or tumor cells. The immune system knows what is good for our body and what is to be protected and what is bad, which is to be attacked. Hence it reacts accordingly.
This system works like any other sense organ. Just like the eye senses light, feeds the message to the brain, enabling us to see, the immune system senses the self, feeds the information back to the brain and the result is positive health. But there is a difference.
We can shut our five senses like we close our eyes and block the sense of sight, but we cannot deliberately shut down our immune system. It goes on and on, day and night. Our sense of self is necessary for our longevity and survival. Anything that enhances our sense of self is likely to strengthen our immune system and things that demoralise us leaves a depressing effect.
Building a positive sense of self should be given an equal importance, rather a priority right from an early age. By being more self-aware (not self-conscious) and paying a constant and deliberate attention to our actions and attitudes as well as on others in a non judgmental way definitely enhances our immune system.
Indians were always a close knit family and there was a strong hold of social factors and relationships on our day-to-day life and hence on our sense of self. People by and large were relatively healthy and more productive.
Depression, tension and loneliness in our daily life and poor social connections are fast overtaking the nuclear families, leaving a heavy toll on ourselves and our immune system making us prone to crippling illnesses like obesity, hypertension, diabetes, hormonal imbalances the list is end less.
We should not wait for the worst to happen. Instead we must aim at taking a preventive route which is easy and fruitful. Understanding our bodies, becoming more sensitive and responsive to the various body (warning) signals and our sense organs will strengthen our immune system.
Take time out from your busy schedules daily, just for yourself. Look at your body inside out, minutely with all your senses. Observe the day-to-day signs and symptoms. Look at the changes that take place not only in your physical body alone but in your mental faculty too i.e. your thoughts and attitudes.
Modify the observations wherever required; mould them to the best of your ability. Take necessary professional help wherever required.
Never shy away from accepting your wrongs, the sooner the better. Try not leaving minor problems to become majors. Besides the physical and the mental faculty, do not forget the third component of health, our social faculty: our surroundings, at home, at work place or in society.
Nurturing positive relationship healthily will have a great effect on our self. We often hear people share within the loss of an integral part of the self, when they lose a close friend or a relation. It is true and some of us would have experienced it too.
If we really work hard to build and strengthen our immune system from all angles, we would be able to get early warning signals about any illness. Much before the disease actually attacks us. Being intuitive, as it is called otherwise, is the ability to understand and develop our sense of self: the real sixth sense.
—The author is managing director of Personal Point and an acclaimed fitness expert
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September 2006
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