Exploring The
MIND
BODY
CONNECTION
Psychologists, sociologists, neurologists, neurobiologists, doctors, therapists and numerous other specialists have spent the past three to four decades increasingly studying the connection of the mind to the body. Since the mid to late 1800's western researchers have been studying the mind and how the brain works. Their focus has typically been on 'healing the brain' in order to give people relief from mental health conditions, traumatic experiences, and physical ailments. Since the 1980's these same specialists have been researching medications and defining mental health conditions in order to prescribe medication to numb or suppress what is happening in the mind, in turn what happens in the body.
Only recently has what the body stores within it been studied in conjunction with mental health and physical conditions, and only since the early 2000's has western medicine even begun to recognize that the body affect the mind more than the mind affects the body. That memory, experience, emotion, trauma and sense of self is held in the body. That more signals are produced from the body to the brain than the brain gives to the body. That there is an entire neural network larger than the brain inside the gut! That our body is more indicative of and able to tell us what is wrong than the mind. As studies continue to grow in this space it has been proven over and over again that the health of the body affects the mind more than the other way around. Only within recent history has the application of body awareness been applied to healing the mind, and therefore the spirit and sense of wholeness within one's self.
Natural medicine practitioners, integrative medicine doctors, health coaches, life coaches, eastern medicines, native medicines, yogis, meditation specialists, body specialists, holistic health practitioners and many others within body-centered healing spaces have emerged within western culture and are bringing body-focused healing practices to the forefront of healing. Any individual can improve their personal connection with self, connection with their significant other/s, connection with friends and family, and connection to a community. Understanding how to heal these connection impacts daily life, overall wellbeing, and heal their mental health when these areas are all considered to be one part of a whole, and are treated in therapy as such. Traditional western medicines and therapy practices, typically, only treat the symptoms of a problem and do not look at the cause. The band-aid is easier to apply because the symptoms are much easier to see than the root cause.
The Mind
You can think of the brain as a computer, taking in signals and releasing commands. It is a processor of sorts. There are three parts to the brain. The primate part that is responsible for regulation, connection, and higher function. The mammal part that is responsible for feelings, emotions, and reward responses. Finally the reptilian part that is focused on survival, regulation, and avoiding harm.
We learn which of these three the brain is stuck in when triggered, and learn to reprogram the brain's responses.
The Body
Fight or flight is what most people think of as bodily responses. But there are actually now six different known responses the body can go into when faced with difficult situations. Fight, flight, freeze, submit, appease, and attach. The body is automatic in these responses and part of healing is learning to recognize each of these states and learn to reprogram the reactions to a cognitive response. We learn what state the body automatically goes into when triggered and learn to calm the body's responses to help reprogram the mind.
The Self
When the person becomes able to be responsive and not reactive there is a sense of returning to self. The presence of knowing who you are and being connected to that returns. A sense of feeling purpose in one's life returns. Relief and calm within the mind and body translates to acceptance of who you are as a person, and the sense of self returns. Then one can begin to reconnect with others and be their authentic self at all times.
The Spirit
If an individual can work on understanding their own mind-body health, creating a path to the self, than the impact moves to the spirit. Even religious practices focus on the health of the mind, body and spirit connection. The connection between the three play an integral part in the overall health of an individual and the trajectory of their life.
Ready to Explore your Mind-Body Connection?
Lets explore how you can become more centered, finding a path back to your self, connecting with your feeling of purpose and growing into your embodied self.
