Mind-Body Connection
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"One of the greatest discoveries of our time is that humans can alter the state of their life by altering the state of their mind."William James
The mind-body connection is hard for us to grasp, because the evidence that most of us want to have proving to us that it is real is largely invisible to the conscious mind. The fact of the matter is that constant chemical communication is going on between the brain, our muscles, nervous system, and entire physiology. Our gut is communicating with our brain, and our brain makes interpretations about what the gut is experiencing and sends chemical messengers back with a response. If the message from the gut alarms the brain in some way, the heart gets the message and speeds up. Blood pressure may rise. our entire system becomes a little more aroused to the possibility of taking action of some sort.
I have not sucked a lemon drop candy for many years. But as I am writing about and thinking about a lemon drop, the sourness, the remembered roughness that turns smooth, the sourness, the sourness--well, the glands just below my jaw are tightening, and my mouth is producing extra saliva. Even though there is no actual lemon drop in my mouth, my brain is reacting as if there is--just by my thinking about or imagining that lemon drop candy.
For an interesting little experience of this mind-body communication, click on the media button below. The video runs about 7 minutes. (My thanks to BelleRuth Naperstak for this demonstration years ago at the National Institute of Clinical and Behavioral Medicine.)
