Mind-Body Connection

Put simply: the mind body connection is how our thoughts, feelings, and beliefs effect our biological functioning.   The brain, all day, every day, takes in sensory information. As it takes in our surroundings and daily events, the mind establishes a narrative around it. Essentially, we each tell ourselves a story about our life and this forms or supports the pieces that make up our identity.

While sleeping, those events and narratives  are processed; essentially they are broken down, made sense of, and either stored as longer term memories or short term memory and eventually forgotten. The important pieces of information find a home within our mind, forming memories.

Sometimes,  instead of things getting processed and “flushed out” during our nightly REM stage mental clean up, these moments essentially get stuck and processing is left unfinished. The presence of stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline contribute to the “sticking” of these experiences.  The brain continues to take in new information about each day, but all of these new moments pass by the past references of similar experinces on their way to finding their home as memories. Some new memories can accumulate around the stuck experience, slowing the process of brain function.  We all have moments in our lives that are hard, and it depends on how we are able to process them that determines how they effect us. 

Usually, there comes a point where the brain becomes so overwhelmed that daily experiences cannot be processed appropriately. A person in this state cannot sleep,  might have a change in appetite, experiences difficulty functioning in daily life, could have symptoms of depression or anxiety. Our minds keep returning to the fear and uncertainty we see all over the news and it becomes part of us, perhaps manifesting as anxiety or depression, or both.

Cortisol can build up in your body causing inflammation, increased heart rate, and narrowing of your blood vessels. Those changes in your body cause you to feel pain.

Body symptoms of how your thoughts impact your body can include:

• Stomach ache

• Headaches

• Muscle aches and/or tension

• Heart palpitations

• Rapid breathing (hyperventilation)

• Sweating

• Dry mouth

• Dizziness

• Cold or sweaty hands and feet

• Trembling or shaking

Cognitive symptoms that can impact your bodily symptoms include:

• Fatigue, headaches, and/or stomachaches

• Fear or a constant feeling of dread

• Insomnia

• Negative thoughts

• Difficulty concentrating

• Racing thoughts

• Confusion

  Building a positive mind-body connection

  There are a number of things you can do to put the mind-body connection to work for you. By reducing stress, you can counteract some of its harmful effects on your body. With mind-body exercises like yoga or tai chi, or even just box breathing, you can help better control anxiety and pain. Some mindful activities can help boost your energy and your mood, and even help you find more self-compassion to improve the overall quality of your life.

  Some mind-body practices include:

  • Gentle movement and meditation, such as yoga and tai chi.

  • Biofeedback, a type of therapy that uses sensors attached to your body to measure key body functions. Biofeedback can help you learn more about how your body reacts. This may help you learn how to control your breathing, heart rate, and other functions impacted by stress.

  • Progressive relaxation, a technique where you concentrate on tightening, then relaxing various muscle groups. This can be combined with other meditative and breathing exercises for a deep sense of physical and mental relaxation.

  • Bilateral stimulation- tapping one side of the body and then the other

  • Talking to a therapist who uses somatic integration