The thoughts in your mind and the state of your emotions play a vital role in both wellness and illness.  While emotions are natural and important aspects of life, if negative, they can be damaging to the body.

The Mind-Body Connection

Stress erodes your health and undermines your quality of life.  It is a psychosomatic response to what is happening around you.  How your mind perceives and deals with stress and worries, results as a physical manifestation in the body.

In past decades, the term ‘psychosomatic’, was primarily used by psychologists to identify pain or illnesses that were assumed to be ‘all in the mind’ and therefore not real.  This outlook is dated and false.  The seed of the physical condition, is in the thoughts and emotions of the person affected by them.   These symptoms are not imaginary, but are felt in the body in very real ways.

The answer to the puzzle of how the mind affects the body and the body affects the mind, may well be found within the mind itself.  When the mind (psycho) and the body (soma), come together in adverse ways manifesting physical pain, inflammation, muscle spasms, rashes….. it is referred to as psychosomatic illness.  This is just a technical way of saying there is a direct connection and relationship between your mind and body.

The mind-body connection is a real two-way street.  Your mind affects your body and your body affects your mind.  How?

When you think your condition is bad and that nothing can be done about it, you release stress hormones that negatively affect your health over time, and your feelings of well-being in the moment.  These then create negative cycles of stress and anxiety that can lead to depression.  These emotions decrease your energy, affect your breathing, decrease your blood flow and lead to your feelings of demotivation and the unwillingness to be active.  This can cause muscle tightness, weight gain, loss of range motion, pain, inflammation and depression.

The Stress Response

What happens when you are under stress, either real or perceived, is that your body moves through a stress response.  Via the physiological mechanism of stress, your muscles tighten, which inhibits circulation and constricts blood vessels, causing stiffness and limited range of motion.  The flow of blood, oxygen and nutrients slows and toxins then remain in the muscle tissue, which lead to swelling, inflammation and pain.

The effects of stress include anxiety, a racing mind, obsessive thoughts, compulsive behaviour, unending worry, muscle tension, eating and digestive disorders, insomnia and possible onset of bad habits such as dependence on, painkillers, food, caffeine. Alcohol and drugs.

The Nasty Cycle

Round and round it goes until stress, anxiety and depression become the dominant mental framework and emotional set point and you feel a sense of hopelessness.   These mental and emotional states have a negative impact on the nervous system, and they take their toll on the body. Without adequate blood flow, the cells in your body become slightly oxygen deprived.  Toxins and waste aren’t cleaned out as efficiently as they should be and can build up in certain parts of the body.

Without fresh blood supplying oxygen and nutrients, it is nearly impossible to heal.  Stress also alters your breathing.  Typically, when you are anxious or upset, your breathing becomes shallow, reducing oxygen flow to the body.  Oxygen and nutrients don’t circulate at optimum levels, again contributing to the buildup of toxins.

Stress also releases an excess of adrenaline, which can trigger chronic tension and inflammation in your muscles, ligaments and tendons.  Stress also causes an increase in the level of cortisol, causing fat to accumulate across your midsection, affecting heart health and increasing your risk of becoming overweight.

The effects of prolonged or recurring stress, are that it keeps the autonomic nervous system from balancing, which can lead to problems with the gastrointestinal tract, the digestive system, the respiratory system and the neuroendocrine system.  Stress can also lead to depression, which runs the risk of locking in an almost permanent negative mental and emotional state that can be hard to overcome.

Many people try and treat their depression with psychotherapy or prescription antidepressant drugs.  Although many experts believe a combination of the two, is effective, there is no scientific evidence to support this.

The correct balance of medication can certainly help to stabilise mood swings, and talking to an experienced therapist can bring some comfort and direction, but natural measures like adequate sleep, exercise, healthy diet, changing one’s perspective and maintaining a positive outlook and natural healing methods like Reiki, should not be dismissed as effective and sustaining methods, to combat depression.

What You Think, Becomes Your Reality

Your perception becomes your reality.  Your thoughts form your belief system.  Your belief system affects how you see the world and how you respond to events and situations.  The mind is inextricably connected to the body.  If you want to be healthy and happy instead of in pain and feeling unwell, you have to adjust your attitude toward health.

Shifting your attitude from “nothing helps” to “I can make better choices”, is often the key step that offers optimal wellness and emotional fulfilment.  Health and happiness represent a frame of mind that influences your choices.  Making better lifestyle choices leads to wellness and a better quality of life.

It is vital that you work towards thinking positively about yourself, your life and your future.  Let your emotions be your guide in self-regulating the stress and its mind-body cycle.  When you feel bad, focus on all the positive aspects in your life – there will always be some.  Having eyesight, hearing, mobility, are all blessings.

Shut down any negative or fearful thinking and replace with any positive thought – your favourite song, meal, person.  Looking for and finding the positive aspects in your life, will attract more positive thoughts and feelings and will decrease your feelings of depression, stress and anxiety.

The happiness of our life is determined by the quality of our thoughts.

Schedule a holistic Reiki healing and learn about the connection between a healthy and balanced life, and your thoughts.  Get an understanding of how very important it is to start changing your perspective and always seeing the glass as half full.  It will change your life immeasurably.