The human immune system like that of all mammals is programmed at birth with the biochemical signatures of those microorganisms which present a real health hazard and the particular chemical antibodies needed to combat them. The newborn is also programmed with what food proteins are safe, and which pollens, molds, etc. are safe in the infant's world. This information helps the emerging immune system of the newborn adjust to the biochemical environment into which it is born.

The thymus gland in the infant is very large compared to its vestigial appearance in the human adult. It is as large as the infant's heart, which it sits next to. The task of the thymus is to build the infant's biochemical immune system. After the first few months of life the thymus begins to shrink, so clearly this process develops most rapidly in those first few months of life.

The biggest help for this process comes from mother's milk, or, more specifically, her colostrum, the sticky clear fluid that precedes milk production. Scientists have found that this clear fluid is chock full of antibodies containing the chemical signatures of all the microorganisms that mother's own immune system has learned to fight. I also believe that this chemical program may reveal what foods, harmless pollens, etc. can be safely trusted by the child. Thus the infant's immune system "learns" what is safe and what is not.

It is therefore logical to conclude that when an infant is fed formula and not nursed, that infant's immune system is compromised very seriously. The immune system doesn't know how to tell friend from foe, harmless dust or molds from dangerous pathogens. Many infants and young children suffer from the epidemics of allergies and asthma that result from this confusion. Other infants may appear to be unaffected, but years later, when stresses build in their adult lives, the immune system panics and goes on the attack. Doctors have known for years about this danger, but few have spoken out. Part of this is perhaps because women today don't wish their freedom to choose parenting styles to be compromised by medical science. Perhaps few physicians are willing to take on the pharmaceutical industry, which has such a powerful control over our health care system and for whom infant formula is highly profitable business. Also, there is nothing traditional medicine can DO about this problem once we have missed out on this essential gift of health from mother.

Hypnotherapists suffer no such limitations. When a client suffers from an allergy, here is what can be done. A client of mine had moved to a home he loved in a tropical jungle by the sea. He was soon heartbroken to discover huge allergic reactions, in both bronchial passages and lungs, to the molds in his environment. I regressed him to infancy, while suggesting that he would be born now to a new mother. Not only would she be less hostile and high strung than his original mother, she was a native of this tropical jungle. I instructed him to curl up in a fetal, ie.nursing, position.

Then I instructed him to breathe in the sweet smell of his mommy, which was the smell of the molds and pollens of his jungle home. I described in considerable detail how his new mom held him, so close, so safe. I continued to emphasize the sweet smell and sweet taste of mommy's breath, her milk, her skin, smelling and tasting like these molds. As we progressed his symptoms rapidly cleared, and in two sessions he became symptom free. The key here is to use hypnotic language to build for the infant a vivid bodily experience of being held, loved, and nursed, with a special emphasis on breathing in the sweet smell of Mommy, which in this case was the smells of the jungle. Thus the nose and lungs receive the message at a subconscious level that this smell is safe. I suspect that this process can be used to desensitize us to any allergen.

Although we use an ideal image of the perfect mother for this healing of the immune system, it doesn't usually require the client to process angry feelings about their original mother or to "fire" her for not being a good enough mom. Some clients need to process feelings about their original mother in the context of achieving other therapeutic objectives. But I usually encourage my clients to understand that their original mother simply didn't know what was needed for her child so we are calling in a divine or angelic mother to take care of this infant. I suggest that this process does not need to affect in any way the relationship they have with their mom in the present.

One client objected to my theory by telling me that her son had numerous allergies that were extremely debilitating, but, she insisted, he had been nursed. I encouraged her to examine the circumstances of this nursing. Were you under severe stress? Were you smoking or using drugs that could have made your milk toxic? Yes she said, all the above. Nobody should blame a mother for doing the best she can to care for a child in our civilization, which appears to care so little for the infants in our midst. But when the delicate but essential biochemical cord that connects us to the safety of this mother earth is cut, it is the task of every healer to reestablish that bond.

Another factor in the creation of food allergies specifically is the way a mother introduces her child to solid foods. In traditional cultures a mother chews the food herself before offering it to her infant. Thus the mother's own digestive enzymes are mixed with the food to give the infant the tools for digestion. In addition, mother is patient and loving with her infant and both enjoy the feeding experience as play, filled with laughter and fun. Thus the infant learns that this food is good. When infant feedings are done in a hurried, stressed out way by a mother who is late for work or on the phone, what message do we expect this child's digestive system to receive about this new food? Fortunately, in hypnosis we can use regression to return to infancy and experience our new, divine mother teaching us that corn, or peanuts, is safe. Where it is safe to do so, I encourage my client to bring to my office a serving of the food they are allergic to so they can taste it in their mouths as I walk them through this experience. Hypnotherapists can also use gustatory hallucination to create the taste.

Article 4 part series available in full online at: http://alchemyinstitute.com/Allergies-Immune-System/

About Alchemy Institute of Hypnosis: America's oldest spiritually oriented hypnotherapy training program has trained over 2000 hypnotherapists since 1983. The Alchemy Institute is approved by the state of California Bureau of Private Postsecondary Education (BPPVE) and American Council of Hypnotists Examiners. Our website offers an extensive library on hypnosis. http://alchemyinstitute.com/articles.htm Alchemy Institute Founder David Quigley now offers home hypnotherapy in special hypnosis by phone sessions call the Alchemy office at 1-800-950-4984 to inquire.

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