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Dr Gail Ironson, pHD, a leading mind-body medicine researcher and professor of psychology and psychiatry at the University of Miami runs the Positive Survivors Research Centre at the University. In her studies, she found that there were 2 interesting predictors of how fast HIV progressed. The first was their view of God,. Those who saw God as judgemental had a T cell decline more than twice the rate of those who don’t see God as judgemental.

The 2nd major factor Dr Ironson noted was the participant’s personal relationship with God. Her study found that patients who did not believe that God loved them lost helper Tcells three times faster than those who believed God loved them. She also found that those who felt a sense of peace also had lower levels of cortisol-the catabolic stress hormone.

‘’If you believe God loves you, its an enormously protective factor, even more protective than scoring low for depression or high for optimism. A view of a benevolent God is protective but scoring high on the personalized statement ‘God loves me’ is even stronger.’-Dr Ironson ( Ref: “ Genie in your Genes, Dawson Church, Energy Psychology Press, Santa Rosa CA 2008)

In my interview with Harvard Professor, Dr Ellen Langer we discuss the many studies she conducted showing the link between belief systems, mindfulness and physical health. Listen to the interview.