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Before we begin with this article, I would like to ask you a simple question.
Have you ever felt hurt or deceived? Have you ever been so bitter and angry at a person or situation that you couldn’t imagine forgiving them?
You don’t have to answer, because we already know the answer. Yes, we live in a cruel world and all of us have been hurt and deceived at some point.
What happens in the body during negative emotions
The worst is when you repeatedly replay a sequence of unpleasant events in your head.
Scientists warn that with each repetition your feelings intensify and you feel worse and worse.
Be very careful with that. Evidence indicates that harboring such emotions negatively affects your health.
What forgiveness actually means
From a clinical perspective, forgiveness means the process of letting go of feelings of resentment and thoughts of revenge.
Forgiveness also involves developing compassion, generosity and even love toward those who caused you pain.
We all know that forgiveness is not easy. Experts also confirm that if the wounds are deep, recovery will take longer.
Despite everything, forgiveness is possible and even very necessary. Just 15 years ago we had almost no research on how forgiveness affects our health.
Luckily, today there are hundreds of scientific papers on this topic from which we can draw the necessary knowledge.
How forgiveness will improve your life
Before we move on to the effects of forgiveness on our bodies, let’s first say what happens if we remain angry, frustrated or negative about a situation.
The famous Dr. Steven STANDIFORD, chief surgeon for the American Cancer Centers, states that harboring negative emotions creates a chronic state of anxiety.
This then produces a predictable increase in cortisol and adrenaline levels in the blood, which deplete the production of cancer-killing cells. These are the cells that are your protection against cancer
That means that refusing to forgive can not only lead you to illness, but also keep you in it long-term.
A recent randomized, placebo-controlled study of more than 83 oncology patients examined their feelings of forgiveness, pessimism and self-acceptance after they took part in a self-forgiveness course.
In the course they learned techniques such as reflective ability, expressive writing and the like.
And guess what happened?
Patients who attended the course had much higher levels of self-forgiveness, acceptance, personal growth and lower scores of pessimism compared to the control group.
Forgiveness will allow you to perceive yourself better
Yes, you understood that correctly. If you forgive others, you will feel better yourself. It works as follows …
If you perceive an old memory as pain, an insult or mistreatment, thinking about it will make you feel bad. When you think about it, it often has immediate emotional and physiological responses in your body.
These are the following responses:
- your blood pressure increases
- your muscles tense up
- swelling forms in your body
Experts warn that these are all symptoms of stress and anxiety. Current studies have shown that people who practice empathy and forgiveness have lower stress responses.
When examining 1,500 people who were able to forgive offenses, it was found that they are more satisfied with their lives and experience less stress, nervousness and sadness.
You will be surprised if we tell you that forgiveness even helps in cases of severe emotional abuse.
Forgiveness positively affects immunity
Forgiveness also increases and strengthens your immune system.
A recent study evaluated 78 patients with the HIV virus regarding their feelings, thoughts and behavior related to forgiveness.
Those patients who were able to forgive showed higher levels of CD4 cells, which fight cancer cells!
Other reported benefits included improved blood pressure and cardiovascular health.
Researchers were able to demonstrate that forgiveness had protective effects on the heart and blood vessels. On the other hand, anger is toxic to the heart and damages the cardiac muscle.
The effect of forgiveness on sleep
Forgiveness can also improve the quality of your sleep.
A recent study revealed that forgiving interpersonal transgressions is associated with better sleep.
Conversely, grumpiness, anger or hostile feelings lead to poorer sleep quality.
Conclusion
The list of emotional effects on human health does not end here; it continues on and on.
Now that you know these facts, reflect and draw up a forgiveness plan. Start by forgiving yourself and then proceed to forgive others.
It is time to let go of old resentments. It’s time to lighten your feelings. It’s time to rid yourself of a dark past and make room for a brighter future.
And what better time for this than the Christmas season?
We wish you a happy and forgiveness-filled Christmas!
