A research project was under way. Several men and women were watching romantic movies to test whether feelings of love could have any effect on their ability to resist infections. It is well known that people who are in love have fewer colds. Something seems to happen to our bodies when we have those warm feelings. What is it?
Before the romantic movies had started and once again at the end, saliva from each audience member was tested. Amazingly, levels of immunoglobulin-A had increased (this is the body's first line of defence against infections), and the effect lasted for up to an hour. Then the subjects were encouraged to recall times when they experienced receiving love. Here again, this gave a measurable boost to their bodies' defences.
This means that you, too, can stimulate your own healing energies, simply by reconnecting with loving feelings. To help you with this, choose a quiet time and comfortable place, relax deeply, close your eyes and evoke the following visualization.

Love's Healing Energy
Call to mind a healing sanctuary, a place where you feel totally at peace and in tune with restorative energies. This might perhaps be a sunny beach by the sea, a cooling spring in the mountains, or a flower-filled meadow - whatever comes into your imagination. See yourself at ease in this place and allow yourself to breathe in the atmosphere.
Now recall a time when someone gave you tender loving care. (Alternatively remind yourself of your feelings when offering love to a person or animal.) What was the situation? Who was there? Experience this again as vividly as possible. Now focus on the quality of the loving energy. What is that like?
Allow an image to form of the loving energy, knowing that it has the power to heal. What colour is it? Does it have a particular shape, sound or perfume? Visualize any sore or hurt part of yourself being tenderly caressed by love's healing energy. Now see this curative power spread throughout your entire body. Absorb this for as long as you wish.
Assure yourself that you can return to your sanctuary and receive love's healing energy whenever you have need of it.

When first I used this visualization, I was surprised by the symbol I received: it was a see-saw, with myself on one end and the loving person on the other! The main qualities were harmony and balance and the loving energy came in the form of musical sounds. I imagined myself surrounded by those restorative vibrations and soon felt so much better.

Author's Bio: 

Rachel is a psychologist and author of several books. A particular interest in the effect that the mind and emotions have on the body have led her to become a specialist in holistic health. The above article is an extract from her acclaimed title 'Your Mind's Eye: self-fulfilment and healing with the visualisations of Psychosynthesis' published by Selfheal Books.