#195 Explore the Mind-Body approach


Mind-Body medicine works with the interaction of the brain, mind, body and behavioral patterns, and focuses on the powerful ways in which emotional, mental, social, spiritual, and behavioral factors can directly affect health.


Generally speaking, the field of mind-body medicine is built around the belief that how you think, how you feel and what you do is constantly affecting the condition of your body, so by working with how you think, feel and what you do, you can improve your physical health.

Many kinds of mind-body medicine believe that the body has a natural inclination towards health and will be able to heal many conditions if it is helped, and is often focused at giving the patient tools to help heal herself. Relaxation, hypnosis, visual imagery, meditation, yoga, biofeedback, tai chi, qi gong cognitive-behavioral therapies, group support, autogenic training are often cited as being within the "mind body approach" although there are no definite categories.

Personally, I have found that it feels very empowering to incorporate a mind-body approach in my own healing journey and I have really good effect from it. From communicating with many people with health problems, my tentative conclusion is that people are really different when it comes to mind-body susceptibility. If you are susceptible to one method, chances are many of them will work well for you, and that you have great chances at increasing your own health through the mind-body approach. If you are less susceptible then it may not be for you. Maybe it's not the right time, maybe your brain & body just aren't wired that way.

Do you have experiences that strengthen your perception of your own mind-body connection? Does your physical state follow your mental and emotional state very strongly? Do you have way more pain when you are sad and tired than when you are happy? (this is a natural result of chemical reaction in the brain btw) Those things could be good pointers that a mind-body approach may really help you.

One place to start is by practicing guided imagery for healing. This method has been used all over the world, and one of it's leading experts is Dr. Marty Rossman who leads "The Healing Mind" and has really good books and audioclasses on the subject.

No comments:

Post a Comment