I write a lot about authenticity, being unapologetically YOU, and letting your freak flag fly. In my TEDx talk, I spoke about the importance of tapping into your Inner Pilot Light and living in alignment with what’s true for you as a means of both preventative medicine and medical treatment. And in my upcoming book Mind Over Medicine: Scientific Proof You Can Heal Yourself (Hay House, 2013), I make the assertion that caring for your body is the least important part of your health and that expressing your true self in all aspects of your life is the most important part.

But you might not believe me. How can authenticity and disease be linked?

As research for my next book, I’m reading the book Consciousness & Healing. In a chapter co-written by the phenomenal Candace Pert, a study was referenced that blew me away.

Authenticity & Disease Progression

Steve Cole and his colleagues at UCLA investigated HIV-positive gay men to determine whether how “out” vs. “closeted” they were with their homosexuality affected disease progression. Study participants were asked to rate themselves as “definitely in the closet,” “in the closet most the time,” “half in and half out,” “out most of the time,” or “completely out of the closet.”

Researchers then followed the course of their disease.

What did they find?

Hiding Who You Are – Whether From Yourself or Others – Makes You Sick

Bingo. On all counts, HIV infection advanced more quickly in direct proportion to how “out of the closet” the patients were. The more they lived in alignment with their truth, the healthier they were. And the results weren’t subtle. Those that were mostly or all the way in the closet hit critically low CD4 counts 40 percent faster than those who were mostly or all the way out, with a 21 percent reduction in time to death.

Other data suggests that this isn’t just true for AIDS. Concealing your identity – whether you’re hiding your unhappiness in your marriage, your dissatisfaction at work, your frustration with how creatively thwarted you feel while raising three kids, or your sexual frustration in a partnership where you’re not getting any – can compromise your ability to heal.

Repression of your true feelings is bad for your health. Unfettered expression of who you are ramps up your inherent physiological self-healing mechanisms.

Being unapologetically YOU is also the ticket to emotional freedom, more open-hearted relationships, better business success, a deeper connection to Source, and more restful sleep!

It’s your choice.

Are you in the closet in your life?

Are you living in alignment with your truth? Do you even know what your truth is?

If you’re not sure or you need help coming out in all aspects of your life, accept the invitation to align with your truth and take a daily dose of preventative medicine by signing up for free daily messages from your Inner Pilot Light.

What can you do to more closely align with your truth? Let us be your witnesses.

Holding the door wide open,

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Lissa Rankin, MD: Founder of OwningPink.com, Pink Medicine Revolutionary, motivational speaker, and author of What’s Up Down There? Questions You’d Only Ask Your Gynecologist If She Was Your Best Friend and Encaustic Art: The Complete Guide To Creating Fine Art With Wax.

Learn more about Lissa Rankin here.