The Mind-Body Connection
It’s essential to look after your body the best you can since we only get one body. Every day we should try to wake up with the idea that we’re going to preserve it, both through exercise and providing it with suitable fuel. We can’t forget about the mind-body connection!
If we follow that advice, we’ll probably realize that our mind feels clearer, more creative, positive, and satisfied.
No further proof is needed to explain that this medical phenomenon, known as the mind-body connection, is one of the key pillars to wellbeing.
Feelings, emotions, stress, and events that happen throughout the day aren’t trivial, and they actually reflect themselves in our health.
History of the mind-body connection
Until the 19th century, medical professionals seriously suspected that our emotions were linked to certain illnesses. As such it was common to see “vacation prescriptions” to coastal areas and other areas of relaxation.
This belief was based on the theory that by controlling our emotions, the body would stay healthy. As modern medicine helped us to make many increasingly advanced scientific discoveries and at a faster rate, this mind-body connection was left to one side, until relatively recently.
During the last two decades, specialists have again revised this theory about the connection between the mind and body through various studies about emotional health and mental health.
Improve the mind-body connection
In order to alleviate stress and chronic illnesses, we should try our hand at, in addition to disciplines such as yoga , Tai Chi or hypnosis; physical exercise, or meditation.
Find an outlet with exercise
We can use exercise as a form of medicine for the body and mind. Some people like to use running as a form of therapy to clear their minds after an exhausting day and relieve stress.
The most important thing is to find an exercise you enjoy that produces these effects in your body. This could be Zumba, weightlifting, running, or martial arts!
Once we’ve found the activity that we like the most, it’s easier to make it part of a routine that has a healthy impact, both on the mind and body; although it may seem difficult to start with.
Why should we meditate?
It’s common for the worries of everyday life to keep us frowning or buried in a state of anxiety. However, this also affects the way that our body produces and synthesizes hormones that affect our happiness.
Conscious attention helps us to concentrate on the reality of the moment that we’re living in; objectively viewing our situation without judging it and resolving the real problems and worries, giving them other names and assigning them other responsible parties.
What are the practices based on? Always on breathing; a fundamental element for the mind-body connection.
The general public’s physical state
It’s evident that today, just as multiple control and illness-prevention centers highlight, approximately 35 percent of the adult population is overweight.
Obesity is the freeway for illnesses such as depression, high blood pressure, diabetes, types of cancer, and other chronic illnesses.
It’s common to turn to medication to combat these illnesses, instead of focussing on improving these mind-body connections.
We’re talking about a lifestyle change that starts, in the first place, with better care of our bodies, through exercise and a correct diet.
The importance of endorphins
Physical exercise gives us benefits, both in the short term and long term. Michael Otto, doctor of psychology at the University of Boston declared that “The relationship between exercise and our mood is quite strong. Generally, within five minutes after moderate exercise we feel an effect that improves our mood“.
When we exercise, our brains release endorphins that considerably improve our mood. These hormones react with the endorphin receptors located in our brains, reducing our perception of pain.
It’s also worth highlighting that endorphins promote a feeling of happiness like the sensation caused by the use of morphine.
As such, when we feel stressed, depressed, or overwhelmed by our daily problems, it’s important to remember that stress has a negative impact on the body and, as a result, our health.
A way of alleviating this is through physical exercise; which will help to not only calm the mind but also aids the body and the restoration of our health.