Thoughts Shape Your Health and Life: We have an Amazing Mind Body Connection
Have you noticed how your body and how different it feels when the different emotions? Stressed, sad, exciting. You have a mind body connection that is unbelievable! Your body reacts differently. Your stomach might tighten before a big meeting.
Your energy may soar when you are feeling happy. These are not coincidences. These are powerful examples of how your mind and body are deeply connected. Science is showing more and more that your thoughts, beliefs, and emotions do not just influence the mood you are in. They literally change your physical health, your energy, and even how long you live.
Lets take a look at what the “mind-body connection” means and what pioneers like Dr. Caroline Leaf and Dr. Ellen Langer are proving – that how you “think” can change how you “live”.
What Is the Mind-Body Connection?
The way our thoughts, attitudes, and feelings affect our physical health and the other way around. In constant communication, your body and brain have a complex network of neurotransmitters, nerve signals, and hormones. When you have or think a thought, it does not just stay in your head. Your body actually “feels” it.
Here are some examples. Do any of these sound familiar?
- Stressful thoughts – release adrenaline and cortisol. This increases heart rate and blood pressure.
- Peaceful, Calm thoughts – release and promote serotonin and endorphins. This boosts immunity and relaxation.
- Positive Expectation – can lead to healing that is measurable. This is sometimes called the “placebo effect” by doctors, but is very real.
The Power of Perception According to Dr. Ellen Langer
One of the top Harvard psychologists, Dr. Ellen Langer, often called the “mother of mindfulness”, has spent decades studying how our mindsets shape our biology. Her groundbreaking studies show that our beliefs matter. What we believe about our abilities, or aging and our health can directly change our physical state.
One of my favorite studies is the famous experiment called the “Counterclockwise Study”. Dr. Langer invited elderly men to go back in time for a week. They lived as if it were 1959. The whole environment – the news, movies, music, conversations – reflected that earlier time. By the end of this study, there were remarkable improvements in their overall health! Amazingly, there were improvements in flexibility, posture, vision, and even joint mobility. This all happened due to just “believing” they were younger.
Dr. Langer’s message is so profound. This is a message we could all benefit from. Her message is this: “Wherever you put the mind, the body will follow”. She teaches that mindfulness,as opposed to living mindless – questioning assumptions and being aware of the present – can keep us much more resilient, healthier and even biologically younger.
I love this concept! Internally, I think I knew this, but Dr. Langer’s amazing research shows that we have a lot of power to be able to change our current and future bodies. (For those who may want additional help through supplementation, check out these cool bio-hacking products.)
Wherever you put the mind, the body will follow.” — Dr. Ellen Langer
Here are some of Dr. Ellen Langer’s books. Her latest book The Mindful Body is incredible!
Use Thought to Rewire Your Brain According to Dr. Caroline Leaf
Communication and Neuroscientist Dr. Caroline Leaf has also spent decades studying her specialty. With over 30 years of study, Dr. Leaf has shown that our thoughts can physically reshape the brain. Specializing in the field of neuroplasticity – the brain has the ability to change itself – her research has shown that our thinking patterns literally build neural pathways. Positive, intentional thinking can strengthen healthy connections. Toxin thinking can cause harm.
After listening to Dr. Leaf’s podcast, her message is “As you think, you change the brain’s structure.” Her work teaches ways to practically detox the mind and replace negative mental habits with empowering ones. Her work is very powerful. Her teaching not only improves your emotional well-being, but can also influence digestion, sleep, immune function, and heart health.
Dr. Caroline Leaf’s “5-Step Mind Management Process” encourages the following:
- Awareness – be aware of the thoughts that dominate your mind
- Reflection – begin to understand where the dominate thought come from
- Write – put these on paper to get them “out”, externalize, and analyze
- Reimagine – reframe the negative patterns/thoughts into truthful, life-giving perspectives
- “Active Reach” – practice new behaviors and thoughts daily until they are automatic.
“Change your mind, change your brain, change your life.” — Dr. Caroline Leaf
To learn more about Dr. Leaf’s studying, you can find her series of books on Amazon Here.
How to Strengthen Your Own Mind-Body Connection
Here are simple ways to put these principles into practice:
- Be Present: Breathe, slow down, and tune in to your thoughts and body sensations
- Daily Journal: Writing helps you make sense of your emotions and release mental clutter
- Visualize: Visualize health and vitality and imagine your energy rising, your body healing, and your mood lifting – your brain does not always distinguish between reality and imagination
- Change Your Self-Talk: replace the thought “I am so stressed” with “I am learning to handle this with calm”
- Intentionally Move: exercise is more than physical. Exercise trains your brain to stay disciplined and focused.
- Practice Gratitude: Studies show that inflammation lowers and boosts overall happiness in showing gratitude.
Here are Some Final Thoughts
The mind-body connection is actual biology, not just philosophy. Every thought you think sends a message through your body. These messages influence your heart rate, your hormones, your immunity and even your gene expression.
The works of Dr. Caroline Leaf and Dr. Ellen Langer reveal that growth, healing, and transformation all start in the mind.
You literally have the power to shift your internal state. And, when you do, your body listens.
It is a good reminder for me, and I hope it is for you too. Next time you catch yourself feeling defeated or overwhelmed, pause and remember: your thoughts are shaping your entire experience of life and are not just “in your head”.
Though I have practice journaling in the past, these tips above have changed the way I “think” about journaling, and what my journaling is on. I am already noticing a difference on the things I am concerning myself with.