The Mind-Body ConnectionEssay Preview: The Mind-Body ConnectionReport this essayThe mind has an incredible power. We seeit as we go through our everyday activities,constantly displaying the wonders of logic,thought, memory and creativity. Yet, canthe mind be more powerful than we know?Is it possible to reduce or even eliminatepain, illness and disease by using thenatural powers it possesses? Can the mindheal?Many of our finest researchers andscientists have explored that question, andwhile the exact answer still eludes us, thefacts seem to bear out that the mind doeshave the power to assist in both healing,and conversely, bringing on “disease” aswell. Two such examples of mind and bodyhealing are hypnotherapy and meditation.There are others such as ionization, whichfocuses on thinking positive instead ofnegative. But first, I will describe thereasoning behind the mind-bodyconnection.Psychoneuroimmunology is the name forthe study of the min-body connection, orPNI for short. PNI has been around for thelast 20 years or so and has revolutionizedthe way we look at health and wellness.There was a point in human existence whenthe connection between the mind and thebody was taken for granted. A couple ofcenturies ago, science had grown tounderstand the “mechanical universe”concept. The laws of Sir Newton and thescience of physics had begun to infiltrate thescience of medicine. If the universefollowed mechanical laws, so might thebody. To prove this theory, scientistsneeded to open a body up to observe how itworked. The Church was very adamantabout the body being the temple of the souland could never be desecrated. After muchhaggling and several smoke-filled backroom discussions, an agreement wasreached. The Church would maintain itsjurisdiction over “the mind” for that is werethe personality and soul “truly” resides andscience could have the body, which is just a“machine for the mind” and upon death,would become simply an empty vessel.Furthering the rift, more recent science hasdiscovered that specific diseases can be“cured” through specific medicinal formulasor drugs. This “magic bullet” mentalityspread throughout medicine and science.Truly the body was a mechanical thing thatresponded to specific stimulus and could becounted on to respond the same way everytime. Wonderful news, the body did notrespond as intended. Science has tried tobrush aside or explain away thisphenomenon y saying, “Oh, its just theplacebo effect” or “Its spontaneousremission” as well as other innocuous termsseemingly to lessen its importance. It ishuman nature when something is notunderstood to either dismiss it, diminish itor ignore it all together. This search to seekout answers to this reoccurringphenomenon is the basis for PNI, the waythe mind-body connection is made and howwe can utilize it for greater health andwell-being.Over the past decade, we have come a longway in understanding the psycho-biology ofmind-body communication and themental/emotional processes involved. Tobegin with, most of us have a basicunderstanding of how psycho-biologycommunication occurs through the nervoussystem. Messages are transmitted throughelectrical impulses along a system of nervesthat connect the brain to every system,organ, gland, muscle, etc.. When we wantto lift our arm, the specific signals racealong the nerves to the required muscles,ligaments, etc., in order to accomplish thetask. There is, also, the “autonomic”nervous system that sends the electricalimpulses automatically, without consciousthought,
(“to our immune system). In a system, the body works. This is the connection of the mind andbrain.The brain has an innateemotions,a physical part of the organism that is capable of learning andprocessing information. We can connect the system with the body. This connectome(of the organismis the brain, this part is the body). When in communication, there exists a sensationof the person’s body which can be felt as he/she is being moved through life.A person might experience a sensation of body-body connection by opening up his/her head and sensing it, as he/she would an animal.