Mind & Body Health

The Mind Body Connection implies that the mind can play a role in positively or negatively influencing a person’s body and health. Proponents believe that your body responses are not merely caused by bodily responses, as there is interplay between the mind and the body. Your thoughts and emotions can bring about physical manifestations. For example, a happy memory or emotion may somehow make you feel lighter or relaxed. On the other hand, a negative thought or upsetting situation may cause you to feel cold, clammy and may make your heart race or palms sweaty.

Situations That Cause Emotional Stress

Situations and events in life can either be good or bad, but sometimes it’s the bad situations that cause problems with the emotion. There are plenty of situations that can lead to feelings of negative emotions. Some of them may be as small or mild as a fight with someone close or losing a favorite object. However, some situations are more extreme, and can cause sadness, anxiety and stress. Here are events in life that can cause severe emotional stress:

* Death of a loved one
* Separation from a loved one
* Getting divorced or separated
* Getting laid off from work
* Suffering from a disease or injury
* Work pressure
* Having a newborn
* Financial problems
* Moving houses

Mind Body Connection

Milder situations may not cause any physical manifestations at all. Some moderate situations may cause mild physicalmanifestations such as feeling cold, clammy or tired. However, extreme or recurring cases of emotional stress can manifest a real Mind Body Connection and may be seen in a number of physical problems. Here are some physical manifestations caused by emotional upset:

* Appetite change, which may be manifested by emotional stress may experience a lack of appetite or may start to eat more than usual.
* Bowel movement problems. This may be manifested through irregular bowel movements, constipation or diarrhea.
* Stomach upset, ulcers, hyper-acidity and gastro-intestinal problems.
* Chest pain, difficulty breathing and heart palpitations.
* Feelings of dryness in the mouth and throat.
* Excessive tiredness and weakness, even after getting adequate sleep.
* Excessive sweating, especially in the palms.
* Stiff neck and unexplainable pains and aches, especially on the back, legs and other muscles.
* Headaches and migraine.
* High blood pressure or low blood pressure.
* Insomnia, nightmares, sleep disturbances or too much sleeping during the day.
* Low libido, decreased interest in sex and erectile dysfunction.
* Nausea and light-headedness.
* Immediate weight loss or weight gain.
* Lowered immune system.

The Mind Body connection is the reason behind these physical effects. Emotional stress can indeed cause physical problems. However, the Mind body connection varies from one person to the other. The degree of physical manifestation can differ from one person to another – and this depends on how one handles each situation he faces. Two people can go through the same situation, but only one may experience physical symptoms like stomach upsets and high blood pressure. The other person may feel sad, but may feel physically well.

How we handle the emotionally stressful events in life also play a role for Mind Body connection. Thus, it is important to learn how to deal with emotional and mental problems and stress in order to strengthen your emotional health.

What Modern Medicine Says

While modern medicine and alternative healing have never really gone hand in hand with each other, plenty of doctors are acknowledging the Mind Body connection. Today, more and more doctors and medical practitioners recommend alternative therapies such as meditation, yoga, relaxation techniques or even anti-depressants for unexplainable physical symptoms.

Mind Body Connection Tips

Here are some things that you can try to help improve and strengthen your emotional and mental health, especially in times of extreme stress.

Become Self Aware. Awareness of emotion is key to managing emotional health. By recognizing your emotions and understanding why you have them, you can help sort out the negative feelings that you have and find their causes.

Learn To Express Your Emotions. A lot of people bottle up their negative feelings, but keeping them inside can worsen the mind body connection. Expressing one’s feelings is very helpful, as long as it is done in appropriate ways. You can talk to your friends and family if someone starts to bother you, especially your problems are concerning them. However, you should also understand that there are times when your family and friends cannot appropriately help you deal with your emotions and problems. For situations like these, you can ask for help from a counselor or family doctor who can give you advise and support.

Unwind and Relax. Relaxation can help balance your emotions. You can follow several relaxation methods such as deep breathing, meditation and light exercise . You can also enroll in yoga or meditation classes that you can also practice at home to help you relax. Some people find massages and spa treatments relaxing – and this can work for you, too!

Balance Your Life. Sometimes work, school or home issues can feed you negative emotions. Looming work deadlines, lack of personal time or time for family or grade problems can be stressors. Because of this, you will need to learn how to balance your time and life. Learn to manage your time, keep track of the things you do and learn to prioritize. Balance is key to keep you happy, so try to have enough time for work or school, family, home and of course, fun!

Learn To Cope. Again, the Mind Body connection is dependent on how well you can cope with stress. Learn how to keep yourself resilient by coping with stress in healthy ways. You can keep yourself resilient by learning how to accept change, looking at yourself in a positive light and finding support from family and friends.

Truly, the power of the mind can influence the body in many ways, but you can help prevent these negative physical manifestations by learning how to deal with negative emotions and thoughts. Follow these Mind Body connection tips and help keep yourself healthy, physically, emotionally and mentally.