The Mind-Body Connection
“The greatest wealth is health.”
Mind-body connection. This is a phrase we’ve all heard a lot in years, but how often do we stop and really think about what this means in our life? How often do we think about this in context of our personal health issues? I’d wager that most people think about the mind-body connection simply in terms of stress. We all know that stress is unhealthy for us and can contribute to a wide array of physical symptoms, such as ulcers, high blood pressure, weight gain and more. But beyond stress, how many people today truly grasp the full effects that our emotions, belief systems and thoughts have on our physical body?
But first, a little background. Interestingly, up until the early 1900’s, people had a much better understanding of how mental, emotional and spiritual states affected our physical body. It was with the advent of modern medicine and a focus on bacteria and viruses that tipped the scales away from a holistic view of health. The miracles of antibiotics allowed doctors to cure diseases quickly and effectively, but the downside was the fact that the need to understand any underlying causes of illness was diminished. The rise of the powerful pharmaceutical companies has also shifted the medical model towards one with a focus on chemical remedies and suppression of symptoms.
However, in recent years the pendulum has started swing back towards a holistic view of medicine, as many people are realizing our current approach is incomplete. Chronic illnesses have skyrocketed and it’s clear that our medical system today needs to expand it’s current model to help deal with these diseases in a different way. The awareness of these gaps has led us to realize there is more to health than simply alleviating symptoms. Science has been exploring and now proving the powerful connection between mind and body in an attempt to better understand how our bodies function, and thereby promote healing and wellness. (Check out this great study as one example of scholarly work being done to prove the mind-body connection)
Let’s look closer at how exactly the mind–body connection works. Communication is happening throughout our body every second of every day, and our brains and bodies actually utilize similar chemical pathways for communication, such as the nervous, endocrine and immune systems. These systems rely on hormones and neurotransmitters to convey information. For example, neurological pathways connect the brain to the spinal cord, muscles, cardiovascular system and digestive tract. When we feel anxiety or nervousness, it’s common to feel disruption in the gut, as stress hormones flood the body. When this happens repeatedly, this can result in depressed immune system, setting us up for illness.
Furthermore, when we look at this from an energetic standpoint, we can see how the vibrations of thoughts and emotions impact our bodies on a cellular level. Dr. Jennifer Weinberg, a preventive and lifestyle medicine physician and author explains these concepts. “Thoughts and emotions also carry vibrations that impact your biochemical, cellular, and overall physiological state. At a physical level, the body is made up of atoms and water, which are in a constant state of motion. The type of movement or frequency at which atoms within a cell vibrate creates a form of wave energy that influences their structure and function.” Studies have been done that demonstrate these principles in action. One example is an exciting study that demonstrates how the use of intention and the resulting energy patterns can even impact the structure of DNA. This is another great study that demonstrates how cellular communication can explain why distance healing works.
What does this mean to us and how does this impact our health? We know that the body itself processes emotions like fear, anger, guilt, sadness and anxiety on a physical level. These emotions can manifest within the body and contribute to imbalance and disease. When people don’t routinely have a way to express or release these emotions, they can get bottled up in the body leading to stagnation of our lifeforce energy, and consequently illness and disease. As Dr. Weinberg states, “Over time, chronic psychological stress can change the way the body functions at a hormonal and immunologic level, contributing to the development and progression of cancer and cardiovascular disease. For example, studies show that having imbalances in the way that the nervous system regulates the overall stress response, such as producing too high or too low levels of stress hormones like cortisol and epinephrine/adrenaline, may predict early death in patients with metastatic breast cancer.”
Clearly, dealing with trapped emotions, and processing our thoughts and beliefs on an energetic, vibrational level is key to establish a baseline of health and wellness. Removing blocks allows the body to function optimally, and enhances our own healing ability. This is where Reiki comes into play! During a Reiki session, the practitioner channels the Ki, or universal fife force energy, which removes stagnant energy in the body and helps release trapped or stuck emotions. It’s common during a session for a recipient to feel waves of emotion as these feelings are released. The calm, sense of peace and well-being that follows is a wonderful by-product!
Reiki is a wonderful tool, along with meditation, yoga and mindfulness (just to name a few activities) for bringing balance to our bodies, minds and spirits. It’s my hope that more people will start to understand the ramifications of the mind-body connection in order to take control of their health and life, and find true peace and wellness!
Contact me today to schedule a session!