“Love and health go hand in hand,” says Peter Hansen, a therapist consultant who conducts workshops in getting people's affections in shape.

"The mandate to 'love your neighbor' is not just a moral mandate--it's a physiological one," says James Lynch, author of BROKEN HEART.

Researchers from the University of California at Berkeley found several years ago that socially isolated people were more susceptible to illness and had death rates about two to three times higher than people whose social lives were richer.

Perhaps the most intriguing study was done recently by psychologists at Harvard. Measurements were made of a germ-fighting substance in the saliva of people before and after they watched various films: A Nazi war movie, a short film on gardening and a documentary on Mother Teresa, the nun whose charitable works earned her a Nobel Prize. "Without a doubt, the film on Mother Teresa was kindest to the viewer's immune systems. Levels of IG-A (an immune agent especially effective in fighting colds and other viruses) rose sharply in response to the Mother Teresa film, while no changes occurred in response to the other movies.

It seems something deep inside our cells responds positively when we feel love. Love appears capable of sparking healthy biological reactions.

Dr. Robert Taylor, a psychiatrist from California, thinks it may boil down to love's potential for being a great reducer of stress.

When people have close relationships, they feel less threatened, less alone, more confident and more in control.

Knowing you have people you can turn to in times of need can provide some very important feelings of security, optimism and hope--all of which can be great antidotes to stress.

Today, let's exercise our cells and get healthy by merely loving someone else.

Rules for Getting Well and Staying Well

Please pick a few of the suggestions from the list below to do daily for 30 days. You can pick a different list daily or keep the ones you like. They are some of the main secrets to a healthy life:

Be thankful for something today.

Bless the lives of others today.

Serve someone today. Healthy people serve others while the unhealthy are too often consumed with themselves and their own problems.

Learn to forgive and let go, so you can get on with your life. Many studies have now shown that forgiving enhances health and helps prevent chemical changes in the body that may lead to disease. Forgive today.

Live in harmony with those around you today or be a peacemaker today.

Learn to accept whatever decision is made. Do your best to keep your peace of mind today. Peace is a healer.

Learn from your mistakes and allow others to do the same. Rather than standing over people and supervise every move, back off today. Learn to give others the opportunity to grow and grow up.

Stop talking about your misfortunes or illnesses. It actually harms you and/or the other person you tell, and it presents an opportunity for them to do the same to you. Save it for your doctor. They’re paid to listen to your problems.

Avoid gossip today. Gossip that comes through the grapevine is usually sour grapes. Be a person who speaks for the one who can not. (It is also a sign of unhealthy pride to gossip.)

Spend 10 minutes a day meditating on how you can become a better person.

Replace negative thoughts with positive ones. Listen to and follow your conscience today.

Exercise daily:

• Keep your spine and joints limber.
• Develop your abdominal muscles.
• Expand your lungs with specific exercises on a regular schedule.
• Keep flexible and strong.

Walk 5 - 10 minutes barefoot in the dewy grass or sand everyday. You'll sleep better.

Today, Stop smoking or drinking alcohol or caffeine. Both nicotine and alcohol are depressant drugs.Both require energy to detoxify the body, which energy is better used for life and healing processes.

Today avoid anything that is addictive or habit forming.

Go to bed by 9 pm when you can. If you are tired during the day, rest more. Rest allows the body to give its full attention and energy to healing and rebuilding tissues.

Write down your problems at the end of the day and go over them first thing in the morning when you are refreshed, so you can look at them with a fresh mind and body Track your choices for the next 30 days on the chart below.