“The brain and peripheral nervous system, the endocrine and immune systems, and indeed, all the organs of our body and all the emotional responses we have, share a common chemical language and are constantly communicating with one another.” – Dr. James Gordon (founder of the Center for Mind-Body Medicine)
Physical health and emotional health are intimately intertwined.
Your chemistry and your biology impact your mood and emotions as well as thoughts and beliefs. Also, your memories, thoughts, feelings and attitudes can positively and negatively affect your biological functioning.
In other words, your state of mind is directly related to the health of your body and the state of your body is directly related to the health of your mind.
What is the mind? The mind consists of mental states such as thoughts, emotions, beliefs, attitudes, and images. The brain is the hardware that allows you to experience these mental states. Each mental state has a physiology associated with it – a positive or negative effect felt in the physical body. For example, the mental state of anxiety causes you to produce stress hormones.
If you want to change how you feel, how you think, how you live your life AND create the life you desire, you can benefit by learning how to resolve emotions that get trapped in the body. How do emotions get stuck in the body? An example is that with a traumatic, overwhelming experience that leaves you feeling helpless, the nervous system can get stuck in survival mode. Stress hormones, such as cortisol, are continually released, leading to an increase in blood sugar and blood pressure which can weaken the immune system.
How you care for your body can positively or negatively impact your mental health and how you care for your mind can impact your physical health.
Examples of physical and mental practices include:
- Meditation
- Prayer
- Creative arts (art, music, dance)
- Yoga
- Tai chi
- Qigong
- Guided Imagery
- Mindfulness
- Breathwork
- Muscle relaxation
