The Mind – Body Connection

I think at this time, most of us have at least heard of the mind-body connection.  It is well documented how our thoughts and emotions affect the physical body.

For instance, we all know that prolonged stress has negative effects on the body.  Stress is of course what causes that fight or flight reaction and pumps the hormone cortisol through our systems.  This hormone shuts down our digestive system to the “bare minimum” in order to give us enough energy to do what needs to be done to save our lives.  Prolonged exposure to cortisol leads to digestive issues, trouble sleeping, and all kinds of hormone imbalances because our natural steroids are going to cortisol production instead of our other steroid-based hormones like estrogen, testosterone, and progesterone.  These are well documented, well known facts.  Prolonged stress messes up your system and negatively affects your health.

But what if we take it a step farther.

What emotion comes to mind when I mention these physical manifestations:

• Your palms get sweaty
• Your breathing gets a little shallow
• You get that fluttery feeling in your stomach we call “butterflies”
• Your eyes dilate a little

You may have instantly thought, “Man, that sounds like when I’m nervous!”

OR

You may have instantly thought, “Man, that sounds like when I’m excited!”

Both are correct.  If you sit down and take stock, the physical manifestations of both excitement and nervousness are the same.

So is it possible to change from one to the other by just a thought?

Let me give you a scenario.

Many people, myself included, can get a bit nervous when faced with the prospect of addressing a crowd of people.  You’re standing at the podium.  You feel your breath start to get a little short.  Your palms are getting a bit damp.  The butterflies are starting to kick into gear.  What if you took just a moment and told yourself, “Man, I am SO EXCITED to address this crowd here today!”  Could you really change your feeling of nervousness into excitement?  

There are some folks that will tell you, “Absolutely!  All you have to do is think it and send those positive vibes out into the universe.”

Experience and psychology might lead you to a different conclusion though.  You see, if you wait until you’re on the podium to tell yourself that you’re excited when you’ve been telling yourself for months that you’re a nervous wreck, your mind will reject the thought that you are excited as a lie.  You won’t believe it.  You’ll just continue to be nervous.

What’s the difference between these two scenarios?  

Belief.  Your honest, heartfelt belief.  Your belief changes things. In the example above, belief changed nervousness into excitement. 

I call it the Belief – Body connection.

You see, your mind is hardwired to confirm your beliefs.  When you believe something, your mind will find evidence to confirm that belief and “prove” to you what you believe is true.  It does this by bringing confirming evidence to your attention while downplaying any evidence to the contrary.  

This is a double-edged sword when it comes to your health.

Why?

Because your body responds to confirm your beliefs.  What you believe about your health and any course of treatment you use will affect your outcomes.

Let’s look at some scenarios. 

First example:

A woman goes to her doctor.  She’s been feeling “off” lately and would like some ideas about what’s going on and how to fix it.  The doctor does some tests and comes back with a diagnosis.  The woman, when she hears the diagnosis, panics.  Her mother got the same diagnosis years ago and died.  She and her mother are just alike, everyone has said so her entire life.  She feels like she just got a death sentence.  The doctor is optimistic.  There are several treatment options.  But the woman, dazed, can’t get past the diagnosis and the thought it provokes, “I’m going to die.” 

How well do you think she is going to respond to those treatments?

Second Example:

A man goes to the doctor for some routine checks at his wife’s insistence.  The doctor comes back with the results and says something looks suspicious.  It’s to early to tell for sure, but there is a possibility of cancer.  The man thinks, “Well, even if it is, it isn’t going to get me.  I’ve always beaten the odds and I’ll beat this thing too.”   Upon arriving home, the man instantly starts researching things he can do to help his body deal with whatever is actually going on.  He starts implementing what he finds.  He’s not waiting around for months for a diagnosis.  

How do you think he’ll respond once he actually gets a diagnosis?

Third Example:

A woman is in a room full of people.  Someone in the room sneezes and then coughs.  The woman thinks, “Oh great!  Now I’m going to get sick again.  I ALWAYS get EVERYTHING!  My body is such a dud!”  Sure enough, in a few days the woman is coughing, sneezing, and generally feeling miserable.  She doesn’t even bother going to the doctor.  She’s been through this enough times, she’s got everything she needs at home.  She waits it out.  

Could this scenario have played out differently? 

Our beliefs cause our bodies to respond accordingly.  That’s one reason why new medications have to be tested so rigorously to make sure that it’s the medication that is actually causing the result and not just the person’s belief.  When the belief is causing the change, it’s called the placebo effect. 

The same idea affects how we respond to any health situation.  If we firmly believe that the medical professional we’re consulting with has all the answers we will follow their instructions unhesitatingly and expect the results they tell us to expect.  Our bodies will respond to any treatments or suggestions accordingly.

If we firmly believe that all medical professionals are whack-jobs and have no idea what they are talking about, we won’t listen to their advice.  Why would we?  Nothing they suggest ever works anyway!  Our bodies just don’t respond to all that stuff.  

It doesn’t really matter what treatment, medication, herb, or course of action is suggested: if someone firmly believes that it WILL NOT work for them, then it won’t.  The body won’t let it work, no matter how beneficial it may actually be.  THAT is the power of our beliefs upon our health.  But many times, we don’t actually know what it is we believe.  

Our thoughts give us an idea of what it is we believe.  When you receive a diagnosis, how do you respond to it?  Is it instantly, “This is MY diagnosis.  I am this diagnosis.” or is it more, “My body is dealing with this diagnosis.  I am fighting this ____ .”?  Each reaction gives you a clue as to your belief.

When you claim a condition/diagnosis as a part of you your body won’t fight it.  You have claimed it as a part of yourself.  It’s supposed to be there.  It then becomes part of your normal.  (See Examples 1 and 3 above.)

When you reject a condition/diagnosis as a part of you your body will fight against it.  It is something other than yourself.  It is not supposed to be there.  Your body will fight to get back to its normal state.  (See Example 2 above.) 

That’s why the words we use to describe our state of health are so very important.  Those words reflect our deepest held beliefs.  Our beliefs affect how our bodies will respond to our health issues. 

 

Stop and take notice of the words you use when it comes to your health.  Are you claiming a state of sickness as part of yourself?  If so, start rejecting that idea.  Change your words.  It will feel awkward for a while.  You won’t believe it at first, especially if you’ve been claiming this state as part of yourself for any length of time.  But keep at it.  Catch yourself when you say “my ______”.  Then quickly reject that notion and replace it with “the _____ that I am currently fighting”.  You may just find that once you truly believe that whatever you’re fighting isn’t YOU, that some progress can be made towards an improved state of health.   

What health issue are you currently struggling with?  And what are the words you are using to describe this health issue?  Have you claimed this issue as a part of yourself, or is it something foreign that you are fighting against?