How would you like to know the truth behind the mind-body connection as it relates to boosting your wellness? All juju aside, t ton of scientific research supports the belief that there is most definitely a mind-body connection as it pertains to fighting disease to maintaining overall good health. RDiscoverhow you too an harness the power of this genuine idea and boost your wellness and maybe even your overall happiness. It’s real, you all.
The mind-body connection defined
Put simply, the mind body connection is how your mind and body work intimately together to help you function in the most optimal way. Our thoughts, beliefs, feelings and attitudes can either a have positive or negative impact on our biological function.
The mind body connection is the impact of your mindset, thoughts, and reactions to your environment and the effect it has on your health.
For example, if you are stuck in traffic and late for an appointment, you may feel rushed, irritated, and angry. Later in the day, you may find that you’re completely exhausted. If this type of experience occurs on a chronic basis your immune system will suffer, you may gain weight, sleep poorly, and feel like you’re on a roller coaster of emotions.
A positive example of the mind-body connection is therapy animals. Petting a dog releases oxytocin into the bloodstream. This is a hormone that makes you feel calm and relaxed. When oxytocin is coursing through your body you’re better able to manage both physical and emotional stress—patients in the hospital who participate in pet therapy experience faster recovery times. Simply petting a dog can boost your mood and improve your health.
There’s nothing new under the sun
For centuries there has been speculation concerning the connection between our thoughts, emotions, and mindset and our health. Philosophers and early scientists assumed that there was a connection. The brain is the control center for all activity in our body. Logically, our emotions, which are also controlled in the brain, would impact our health and wellbeing.
As science progressed, doctors and researchers moved away from this concept. They focused more on the inner workings of the body’s tissues, organs, cells and systems. The mind was all but forgotten.
Modern Day Acceptance
Today, there’s an increasing awareness of how your mind and body work intimately together to help you function in the most optimal way. Many doctors have finally realized that by helping their patients change their thoughts, they can, in fact, also change their health
For example, most doctors are aware of stress’s effects on health. They know that stress is the leading cause of disease and death. Doctors, nurses, and medical researchers also know that lifestyle changes can make a massive difference in the health of their patients and have begun recommending various approaches to their patients to mitigate stress.
Many hospitals and long term care facilities have pet therapy programs which goes to show how far medicine has come in the past few decades. There’s a term for the mind body connection in practice – it’s called Mind Body Medicine and according to the National Institute of Health, “it focuses on treatments that may promote health, including relaxation, hypnosis, visual imagery, meditation, yoga, and biofeedback.”
Your Emotions Affect Your Health
Nothing in your body can function without the interaction of other systems. Your heart cannot beat itself. Your lungs do not breathe on their own. Your body is a complex system of signals, partnerships, and production.
One hormone in your body can trigger the release of other hormones, incite some organs to stop receiving signals and others to begin receiving alerts. It makes excellent sense to realize that emotions can and do have an impact on your body. The effect that emotions have can be positive or negative depending on the feeling and what it triggers.
Take fear, for example.
Fear is a very natural emotion and in some instances it can save your life. If you notice that the roads are slippery, for example, then the fear of crashing your car causes you to drive with caution. If you’re stalked by a mountain lion, then the fear you experience causes a release of adrenaline that focuses your body’s systems on muscle energy so you can fight or run. It’s called the “Fight or Flight” response and it can play an important role in human survival.
This fight or flight type of stress can occur whether you’re actually in danger or not. One great example of this is public speaking. If you’re afraid to talk in public you may experience sweaty palms, a rapid heart rate, an increase in respiration and much more. Your body will react as if you’re running from that mountain lion when your life is not in danger.
Unfortunately, your body doesn’t know the difference between real stress and perceived stress. This is why it’s wise to learn how to control your emotions. When your body is exposed to this type of stress on a regular basis, terrible things can happen to your health.
Let’s imagine you are being chased by a mountain lion. You need to funnel all of your energy to your muscles, right? Whether you decide to run or stick around and fight that cat, your muscles must be the focus. Your body will essentially stop the digestion process. It’ll also cease or slow down other functions so that most of your energy will be directed to your muscles. Your heart will beat faster to get nutrients to your muscles, and your breathing will increase to provide oxygen.
Over time this chain of events can add up. Chronic stress causes your body to store fuel as fat, generally as abdominal fat which is the most dangerous type. It increases blood pressure, causes damage to arteries and your heart. It leads to obesity and heart disease, just to name a few. Fortunately, the converse is true as well. If you can control your emotions and stay positive during times of stress, you can improve your health, lengthen your life, and even strengthen your immune system.
We know that emotions impact your body. If you hug someone that you like, then a release of feel-good hormones begins coursing through your body. What if you hug someone that you don’t like? (Just a little something to think about). These feel-good hormones have a very different effect on your health than stress hormones.
Think Happy Thoughts: The Effect of Positive Emotions
Scientists have identified positive emotions and mindsets contributing to a healthier and happier life. These emotions and attitudes include:
Balance – While stress is part of life, it doesn’t have to consume you. You can learn to control your stress through a variety of tactics. For example, some people practice deep breathing in moments of stress.
Others utilize biofeedback when they’re feeling out of control of their emotions. Meditation, massage, and getting out in nature are other ways to find balance in your life – to find a happy balance between the excitement of our complex, distraction-filled, busy digital world and the inner peace necessary to stay positive and thrive.
Gratitude – Gratitude is a profound and powerful emotion. We often believe that only joy makes us feel grateful and that you need a positive attitude to experience this emotion. However, multiple studies have shown that the opposite is true. Gratitude makes people feel more joyful and positive.
In a study, people were divided into two groups. One group created a daily list of problems or hassles. The other made a gratitude list. Those who expressed their gratitude daily reported feeling happier. They also exercised more, felt better, experienced fewer physical complaints, and slept better than those in the opposing group.
Forgiveness – Forgiveness seems like such an abstract emotion. We don’t think much about it until someone hurts us. Yet studies have shown that the simple act of forgiveness provides more benefits than you might imagine.
Stanford conducted what they called the Forgiveness Project. They trained 260 people on how to forgive. They then tracked these people and discovered that in addition to feeling happier, 27% experienced fewer physical complaints like pain and stomach upset. Forgiveness has also been shown to improve immune function, lower blood pressure, and lead to better heart health.
Resiliency and an Optimistic Outlook – Resilience is the ability to “bounce back” to recover from life’s upsets, both major and minor, and to regain a positive outlook. Some people are naturally more resilient than others. However, it’s also a mindset that can be learned and improved. A sound support system and positive self-esteem are both essential elements of resiliency. The ability to be optimistic and to stay that way during times of struggle is essential.
Optimism has been shown in studies to boost your immune system and prevent disease. In one study, subjects were evaluated based on their emotions and then exposed to a virus. The more positive people didn’t get the virus, and those who scored low were three times more likely to get the virus and become ill. Wow!
3 Types of Stress That Can Harm Your Health
There are three different types of stress, and each type can hurt your health.
Acute Stress: Acute stress is the most common form of stress experienced by most. The stress is a result of the everyday demands of work, family other ordinary pressures of life.
It’s also the result of a new challenge or demand and can trigger the fight or flight syndrome mentioned earlier. This type of stress is usually thought-induced. Symptoms of acute stress (irritability, anger, migraine headache, stomach ache, elevated blood pressure or heart rate, sleep problems, etc. ) tend to dissipate as the negative thoughts wear off or the deadline is met.
Episodic Acute Stress occurs when acute stress becomes routine in your life—people who always seem to have one crisis or another triggered by stress events.
On the one hand, they tend to be short-tempered, irritable, negative, and pessimistic worry warts. They often live in confusion, chaos, and crisis, constantly bombarded with feelings of being rushed or pressured. They tend to habitually “bite off more than they can chew” and lose the battle of organization and structure. These people have a hard time changing their lifestyle, so they resolve to live with this episodic acute stress overload.
The harmful effects of episodic acute stress are many. Here are a few:
- Muscular: tension, headaches, jaw pain, pulled muscles, etc.
- Cognitive: poor memory, mental fatigue, poor mental processing, trouble learning, poor attention span, etc.
- Emotional: short-tempered, tense, angry, irritable, anxious, impatient, depression, etc.
- Deterioration of interpersonal relationships
- Work environment becomes hostile and negative
- Stomach: gut, bowel, heartburn ,IBS
- Compromised immune system: frequent colds and flu symptoms, allergies, asthma, etc.
- Vascular: high blood pressure, rapid heart beat, sweaty palms, insomnia, etc.
Usually the lifestyle and personality trait are so ingrained in the person, it’s very hard for them to see that have a real problem and may require outside help. They are typically resistant to changing their lifestyle and behavior patterns. They tend to “blame” their problems on other people and/or external circumstances, rather getting the help they need to look inward and change.
Chronic Stress: This is the most scariest of them all. It’s the most harmful and if left untreated it studies show that it can actually destroy your life. Overtime it can compromise your physical health and seriously deteriorate your mental health. This form of stress is constant and it doesn’t go away.
Chronic stress can stem from abusive childhood experiences or traumatic experiences as an adult. Other causes include but are not limited to:
- Dysfunctional family
- Long-term unemployment or poverty
- Unhappy marriage
- Any type of repeated abuse
- Substance abuse
As you might suspect, these types of event can cause both acute stress as well as post-traumatic stress, which can have lifelong implications and effects on both mindset and wellbeing. (mind body connection)
Often times, chronic stress is hard to detect because it’s been there for so long, you might not recognize it and therefore you don’t associate your symptoms with it.
The good news is that while stress is a part of life, you can control your mind and how you respond to stress. You can harness the power of the mind body connection to your benefit and improve your physical and mental health, well being, and vitality.
Mind Body Medicine Approaches to Wellness
There are many approaches to finding mental and emotional balance, reducing stress, and changing your reaction to stress. Let’s take a look at a few of the approaches to help you decide which treatments may be right for you.
Biofeedback –Biofeedback is an approach that teaches you how to control some of the bodily functions as they respond to stress. It’s often recommended for people who have been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, are dealing with post-traumatic stress, or who have a highly stressful life and are in poor health.
With biofeedback you learn to recognize and control elements like your pulse and heart rate, your breathing, your blood pressure and other physical stress related symptoms. You can purchase biofeedback devices to help you teach yourself or you can sign up for a program at many physician offices and hospitals. Some insurances even cover biofeedback treatment.
Relaxation/Deep Breathing Exercises – There are many different deep breathing or relaxation exercises. Depending on the exercise you choose, they can be performed during times of stress or as part of a daily routine. For example, you might conduct a progressive relaxation exercise at night before you go to bed. Or you might practice deep breathing when dealing with a difficult customer.
Guided Imagery – This approach has been utilized by everyone from Olympic athletes to survivors of trauma. It’s about using your mind to create positive emotions. Athletes use guided imagery to envision themselves performing their sport successfully. They’ll hear the audience, smell the paint on the new arena floor, feel their legs move and see themselves crossing the finish line.
You embrace your senses to create a visualization that suits your needs. If you want to relax you might close your eyes and envision a quiet beach with the waves lapping on the shore and the scent of salt water in the air. Guided imagery can be used by anyone to create a state of calm and well being.
Meditation – Meditation is the practice of quieting your mind. It can be performed for minutes a day or hours a day. There are different approaches to meditation depending on your goals and purpose for meditating. For example, there’s a practice called “walking meditation,” where the experience of walking is your focus. You can also meditate by paying attention to your breath or by using imagery or guided meditations.
Meditation has been shown to lower stress, improve health and happiness, and to reduce the risk of disease. Studies are beginning to show that people who meditate not only live longer but live a better quality of life than those who don’t.
Bottom Line –You’re Have More Control than You Imagine
While we often feel a victim of life and circumstance, you have control over how you react to the challenges that come your way. Whether you’re dealing with an angry customer or a major life event, how you handle stress impacts your health and well being.
Learning to be grateful, to forgive, to relax, and to embrace a positive outlook isn’t just about improving your mental wellness but also your physical wellness too.
Pick the technique that resonates with you and begin your journey to harnessing the power of the mind body connection!
Be well + prosper,
Elaine xx