Your chest tightens when you think of your upcoming final exams.
The afternoon’s interaction with your coworker plays on repeat in your mind, keeping you from falling asleep.
A recent physical diagnosis sends your mind spiraling into a web of despair.
You sense the connection between your mind and body and are curious how they interact to affect your health, stress, and mental focus. Is there anything you can do to calm yourself in these anxious moments?
Keep reading to explore this fascinating and important topic and learn how you can strengthen your mind-body connection.
Can a person’s mind affect the condition of their body?
Each individual’s biological functions may be influenced either positively or negatively by their:
Most of us have experienced a time when our thoughts affected our physical body or experience — either through emotions or physical sensations.
For example, when you’re upset, stressed, or distracted your body may work differently than it does when you’re feeling focused and relaxed.
Conversely, a physical condition can also lead to a change in our perspectives and mental outlook.
To fully understand the mind-body connection, we should first consider that "mind" is not simply synonymous with “brain.”
The brain serves as the physical mechanism that enables us to experience these mental states. Your mental states may be experienced as fully conscious, subconscious, or unconscious. You can even experience an emotional reaction to a situation without being cognizant about why you are reacting.
Each of the mental states we mentioned above can have positive or negative responses associated with it that will be experienced in your physical body. For instance, the mental state of love causes you to produce oxytocin.
To better understand the mind-body connection in practical terms, try a simple, beginner-level exercise.
Visualize taking a lemon and cutting it into slices. Pick up the juiciest-looking slice and squeeze it gently. Then put it in your mouth, bite down, and feel the sour taste.
Most people have a physical response to this — mouth puckering, glands releasing extra saliva, etc.
Your brain doesn’t really care if something is coming from the outside or from your own imagination — it can produce a physiological response.
For many people who are trying to improve their well-being, especially if they’re dealing with chronic health or stress issues, the problem may not be merely physical.
Mental or lifestyle factors may perpetuate stress or physical illness. This is why, for people dealing with chronic pain, insomnia, fatigue, and other issues, physical factors alone may not tell the whole story.
Why you should take a look at your daily mental habits:
Answering these questions and implementing solutions may be helpful if you want to make a significant change in the way you feel.
Various traditions study the mind-body connection and explain it in a systematic way. These traditions have developed practices that are said to be good for the mind and body and may provide insight into how they affect each other.
At Body & Brain Yoga and Tai Chi centers, we incorporate traditional and modern practices like:
The ancient practice of yoga combines meditation, physical postures, and breath control. Through various yoga stretches and poses, you can enhance your calmness and mental clarity while improving your flexibility, balance, and strength.
As you’re practicing each yoga pose and maintaining an awareness of your body and breathing, you can naturally strengthen your mind-body connection.
Tai Chi is a Chinese term referring to the balance of energy in Nature, depicted in the well-known “yin-yang” symbol whose name is Tai Chi. Tai Chi principles of energy balancing are found in traditional healing arts, in martial arts, and in moving meditation practices involving:
Derived from powerful martial arts movements that have been slowed down, Tai Chi exercises may help form connections between the mind and body, reduce stress, improve flexibility and balance, and support cardiovascular health.
Qigong, which means “the study of energy” in Chinese, is a traditional exercise and mindfulness practice based on Tai Chi energy-balancing principles. Qigong exercises involve:
You can find a blend of Tai Chi and Qigong practices at a Body & Brain Yoga and Tai Chi center near you.
Meditation is a mindfulness practice that can harmonize the mind-body connection by helping to develop your awareness of:
Regular practice of meditation techniques may enhance emotional well-being, reduce stress, and lower blood pressure.
Breathwork is said to be the foundation of true progress in the mind-body practice, affecting every aspect of our being.
By managing your breath, you can accumulate energy, support your body's natural ability to restore and recharge, and increase your powers of concentration and awareness.
Body & Brain Yoga and Tai Chi’s unique system of breathwork can add transformative power and depth to your mind-body practice by teaching you to circulate energy, release tension, calm your mind and energize your body.
When you’re feeling stressed, your body secretes the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol. While these hormones are supposed to provide a short-term energy boost so we can get out of dangerous situations quickly, we sometimes feel stressed even when we’re not in danger.
When adrenaline and cortisol are released too frequently, it can produce negative long-term effects on our bodies, such as:
While the connection between excess stress and our health is easy to grasp, the connection between our health and the way we think or feel is often harder to understand.
Negative thinking habits can make it more challenging to deal with health problems. Some of these patterns include things like:
Creating a strong connection between your mind and body may benefit all areas of your life, including:
Body & Brain Yoga and Tai Chi instructors can help you strengthen your mind-body connection to live a healthier, happier life.
We offer the best in holistic fitness through online and in-studio classes that feature a blend of:
Your body and brain are deeply connected. With a unique 5-step energy development practice, Body & Brain Yoga and Tai Chi promotes a deep mind-body connection that activates your brain’s natural abilities and empowers you to achieve your goals.
Practicing with us may help you:
Find a studio near you today.