Home » Blog » How the Mind-Body Connection Impacts Holistic Health

How the Mind-Body Connection Impacts Holistic Health



The mind and body are not two separate entities. Our thoughts and emotions impact our physical health, just as our physical health (exercise, diet, sleep patterns) can affect our state of mind. This theory is referred to as the mind-body connection.

Scientists have recognised the link between physical, emotional, and spiritual health for ages, but only in more recent times is it becoming widely understood. Mind-body education considers all of these aspects important in the process of healing naturally. This approach treats the patient’s entire being rather than the symptoms alone.

As the mind-body connection links a person’s thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors with their physical health, holistic health professionals consider how our emotions can cause physiological changes that can lead to both short- and long-term effects throughout the body.

Mind-Body Connection Explained


A negative mindset can lead to poor self-care, bad hygiene, and unhealthy habits. Conversely, having an unhealthy lifestyle can leave us feeling bad about ourselves and our bodies.

A mind over body approach to healthcare acknowledges that physiological responses arise from negative emotions, leading to fatigue, high blood pressure, and other health issues.

With the mind-body connection theory, how the body affects one’s mental health is also considered in preventing and treating illness.

Mind-Body Connection Explained


A negative mindset can lead to poor self-care, bad hygiene, and unhealthy habits. Conversely, having an unhealthy lifestyle can leave us feeling bad about ourselves and our bodies.

A mind over body approach to healthcare acknowledges that physiological responses arise from negative emotions, leading to fatigue, high blood pressure, and other health issues.

With the mind-body connection theory, how the body affects one’s mental health is also considered in preventing and treating illness.

mind body connection

From Mind to Body

Negative thought patterns, including depression and anxiety, manifest in physical ways. Chronic stress puts our sympathetic nervous system under pressure, causing:

  • Hormonal Imbalance: Stress releases the hormones cortisol and adrenaline. Chronic stress throws off our hormone balance, having a snowball effect throughout the body.
  • Depleted Serotonin: Overactive cortisol levels decrease brain function over time, decrease brain function over time, depleting our serotonin (the “happy” chemical) levels.
  • Damaged Immune System: Cortisol also suppresses the immune system, making it more difficult for the body to fight off illness.

Adopting a “healthy mind, healthy body” mindset can do wonders for our overall health.

From Body to Mind

Similarly, our choices concerning our bodies are strongly linked to our emotional well-being.

  • Diet: A balanced, healthy diet consisting of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains makes us feel good and energised. Serotonin is mostly produced in the gut, and so a healthy gastrointestinal tract helps the “happy” hormone work properly.
  • Exercise Regimen: Regular exercise produces feel-good neurotransmitters like serotonin. It’s also a terrific natural anxiety reducer.
  • Posture: Our posture affects how we feel. Standing up straight with the head held high makes us feel confident and self-assured.

The mind-body connection goes both ways! A healthy body is a healthy mind.

Understanding the Feedback Loop

All of this clearly shows how healthy lifestyle choices play an important role in our overall well-being. Just as diet and exercise patterns impact our mental health, our mental health plays a role in how well we care for ourselves.

Making healthy lifestyle choices is harder when we feel drained, sad, or anxious. As a result, we may develop illnesses like obesity, diabetes, or high blood pressure that, in turn, make us feel sad and down. This cycle between the mind and body can help or hurt us, depending on our choices.

The body-mind connection also comes into play regarding substance abuse recovery. The recovery process requires patients to use mental toughness to overcome physical withdrawal symptoms and chemical imbalances in the brain.

Define Body, Mind, and Soul


You may already have an idea of the differences between the mind, body, and soul. Below, we’ll define each clearly so that their meanings are understood properly throughout the remainder of the article.

Body

The body is one’s physical being: organs, bones, brain, hair, etc. Our bodies are the vessel we use to travel the earth and communicate with others. Because the body is the home of the spirit and mind, it’s said that a healthy body is a healthy mind.

Mind

The mind exists within the brain but has its own energy and processes; it contains our thoughts, consciousness, and accumulated information. The body, soul, and mind exist together on this earth, but the mind’s energy can go on with no ending long after the body has died.

Soul

The soul is our essence – the being that experiences life and hears the mind’s thoughts. Think of the soul as our spiritual nature and the mind as our thought center. Souls are an end with no beginning. Understanding one’s soul is what connects a healthy mind and body.

mind body connection

How to Improve Your Mind-Body Connection


Yes, it’s possible to improve your mind-body connection! You can learn how to heal yourself through ways like meditation, cognitive behavioural therapy, yoga, and art. Activities like these promote mindfulness and help us understand how thoughts and behaviours influence our overall health.

Focus directly on how your emotions provoke a physical response throughout your body. When exercising, be mindful of how you feel mentally afterwards. Physical activity produces endorphins in our minds that make us feel content and serene.

Promoting a healthy mind in a healthy body is all about awareness. Healing naturally is a journey that restores not just the body but the mind and soul, too.

Meditation

Meditation strengthens our ability to control our thoughts and feelings. It reduces stress and anxiety, as well as their impacts on the body, by lessening our internal reaction to outside stressors. Aside from being one of the best self-healing techniques, meditation also improves productivity, patience, and impulse control.

By making us more mindful, meditation reinforces the mind-body connection and gives us the willpower to make healthier choices. Some meditation techniques are walking in nature, colouring, mindful breathing, and quiet time.

How to Meditate

The most common meditation technique involves sitting/lying comfortably and maintaining a quiet mind.

Focus on your breathing and think about your body, mind, and soul connection. Meditation takes a lot of practice, so don’t be upset if it’s a struggle at first. Try a meditation app like Calm for guided meditations!

Mindfulness

Mindfulness goes hand in hand with meditation – meditation is to the mind as the gym is to the muscles.

Not sure how to be mindful in everyday life?

  • Take a deep breath and weigh your options before making a big decision.
  • Study your thoughts and consider how you could make them more positive.
  • Ponder upon your emotions and whether they’re healthy or reactionary.

Having more control over our thoughts is a key aspect of establishing a strong mind-body connection.

Mindfulness Activity to Try

Choose any object and focus on it for 1 minute.
How does it feel? How big is it? Can it fit in your palm? What colour is it?

That’s just one example. Mindfulness is one of the easiest self-healing techniques that you can fit into any everyday activity.

Yoga

Yoga is one of the strongest tools for developing a mind-body connection. It’s a beginner-friendly way to learn mindfulness and meditation while also strengthening the body!

During yoga, we practice deep breathing techniques aimed at releasing tension, reducing stress, and connecting the body and soul. Certain yoga poses balance the chakras, including the solar plexus chakra, which is responsible for self-esteem and control.

Yoga has been found to alleviate stress and its related symptoms like high blood pressure and anxiety.

Where to Start with Yoga

You can practice yoga at home by yourself, in the park with friends, or at a yoga centre with a professional instructor. Just like any new skill, it may be difficult at first, but don’t give up! Yoga is a terrific exercise for mind and body healing.

Head to YouTube and follow along with some guided yoga videos.

mind body connection

Guided Imagery

Guided imagery is another form of meditation that’s similar to daydreaming. It involves focusing on an object, sound, experience, or scenario. Guided imagery is calming, decreases stress, and can even alleviate pain.

During a session, deep breathing and relaxation techniques ease tension in the body while simultaneously clearing the mind of stress and negative thoughts. With each breath, we become more and more tranquil. One popular mental image is to picture yourself walking along a path in nature, such as a beach or forest.

Steps

You can guide yourself or use a video that helps you guide your thoughts. Visualise a peaceful scene, maybe a rainforest, and imagine the images and noises that might be there. Breathe deeply and slowly. Relax and fully immerse yourself in the environment.

This self-healing technique will leave you feeling refreshed and energised!

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

Cognitive behavioural therapy, or CBT, works to stop negative thought patterns in their tracks and replace them with more positive ones. It helps us recognise when we’re being unnecessarily down, angry, offended, or self-conscious, and teaches us how to break that habit.

This mind-healing technique became popular in the mid-1970s and has been praised by therapists ever since for helping patients get better without relying on medication. CBT includes many of the techniques we touched on above, with mindfulness being a key component.

CBT Resources

Everyone can benefit from cognitive behavioural therapy. There are great books and online resources available if you want to try it on your own.

These guides provide the mental steps it takes to change your thought process, and even let you take notes to measure your progress. Start improving your mind and body connection today!

Dialectical Behavioural Therapy

Dialectic behavioural therapy (DBT) is a technique used by therapists for controlling overwhelming emotions or problem behaviours. DBT was birthed in the 1970s and is popular today as a treatment for substance abuse, personality disorders, eating disorders, depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

DBT is useful for anger or anxiety issues because it helps people self-soothe in stressful interpersonal situations. It supports the mind-body connection by helping people control unwanted and unhealthy behaviours.

DBT Resources

Though DBT handles more intense behavioural problems, you can still do some work on your own using a workbook or guided worksheet. You can practice this self-healing therapy and get better at applying it in your everyday life. When doing these exercises, take notes to keep track of how you’re feeling.

Creative Therapies

Art provides a creative outlet through which patients can express their emotions freely. The goal of art therapy is to provide healthy coping mechanisms and insight into one’s feelings. Patients can then analyse their art with their therapist and uncover possible underlying intentions.

Transpersonal art therapy has been found to help patients cope with depression, anxiety, and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. It’s yet another way that healing your mind can heal your body, too.

Art Therapy Examples

Art therapy can take many forms:

  • Painting: Paint your emotions.
  • Collaging: Create a collage of how you’re feeling.
  • Line Art: Make a scene using one line – never pick up your pencil.
  • Finger Paint: Feel the art as you express yourself.
  • Draw a Self-Portrait: Draw how you feel inside.

Whichever method you choose, do it mindfully and reflect after you finish.

mind body connection

Spirituality

Many of us find inner peace through religion and spirituality. Finding a spiritual connection to the world around us can relieve some stress and take some responsibility off our shoulders.

It can be comforting knowing we’re living with a purpose together with others. Spirituality also provides us with a guide on how to live our lives and lets us release past self-judgments we may be holding on to. Because of the mind-body connection, this stress release benefits us both physically and mentally.

Types of Spirituality

Spirituality means different things to different people. Types of spirituality include:

  • Buddhism
  • Hinduism
  • Mysticism
  • Christianity
  • Spiritual Naturalism
  • Shamanism

For you, spirituality could even mean finding a higher power in Mother Nature and your place within it. Take some time to discover what area of thought resonates the most with you.

How to Enhance Results from Mind-Body Therapies


All of these methods require more effort than simply going through the motions. To get the most out of your mind-body therapies, you have to practice them with intention and meaning. The mind and body connection is deep within us – meditation and mindfulness only work if we practice them with full commitment.

Below are a few strategies to help you get more out of our mind-body therapies.

Be Optimistic

Attitude is everything – optimism makes us more likely to give these therapies our best effort because we believe they’ll work.

Optimism can actually do more than just boost your mood; it can boost your immunity. Optimistic people were found to get sick less often and recover from illness faster than pessimists.

Have trouble staying hopeful? Train yourself to be more optimistic by:

  • Writing down good things that happened at the end of each day.
  • Start your day with positive affirmations.
  • Smile more.
  • Spend time with other happy people.

By healing the mind, you will notice your physical health improving as well.

Track Results

Seeing ourselves improve is a huge inspiration to keep going. Keeping track of our progress provides a little push to keep getting better and better.

  • Keep a journal of what you’re doing and for how long.
  • Take notes on how you felt during the activity and how you feel afterwards.
  • Keep a daily journal so you can reflect on your general mood and health every day.
  • Rate how you feel on a scale of 1 to 10 for easy progress tracking.

Not seeing results? Switch up your activities. Paint and exercise one day and meditate the next.

You’ll find that putting in the effort to do these activities will do tremendous things for your mind and body.

mind body connection

Celebrate Small Wins

Celebrating even the smallest wins matters because it reminds us that small achievements make a difference. Not every success will be groundbreaking – real life is full of big and small accomplishments.

Track small wins in your journal with a sticky note, so you can see how often they happen! This will motivate you to continue using these techniques. This process will include fails and wins, but more wins will replace the fails over time. That’s how you know it’s working!

Train yourself to stay committed to the process of self-healing using a reward system. For example, every time you beat a personal record, reward yourself with a self-care day or a yummy treat.

Remember, the best way to stay healthy is through healthy habits like staying hydrated, avoiding alcohol and tobacco, exercising, and getting plenty of rest.

Tips to Remember on Your Journey


The journey to mastering your mind-body connection isn’t a short one. It may feel fruitless at times, and frustration is inevitable. Remember, these practices have wide-reaching benefits backed by science and promote overall well-being. These healthy practices will make you feel better and prevent illnesses.

Here are a few tips to help you throughout the process.

Understand the Power of Your Subconscious Mind

The mind is a powerful force. It controls our thought processes which control our emotions, impacting our physical state. The subconscious, the underlying system in the mind that we’re largely unaware of, is the backbone of the mind.

When the mind is plagued by negative thoughts like shame, self-judgment, and hate, these toxicities creep into the subconscious and create a damaging negative thought pattern. This cycle can continue on and on until we take the steps toward mindfulness and self-love.

Each time we reinforce healthy habits, we shield ourselves against the threat that negativity poses to our minds and bodies. Remember – healthy body, healthy mind.

Eliminate Toxic Judgments and Emotions

We hear our internal dialogue all day long. In a sense, we’re stuck with the person in our heads that we “hear” all the time. It only makes sense that we’d want to be friends with that voice, right?

Sometimes, our internal dialogues form bad habits like being overly negative, judgmental, or even egotistical. It’s up to us to identify these toxic judgments and emotions and learn how to eliminate them.

This is no easy task. Using the mindfulness techniques we’ve discussed above, you can analyse these emotions and reason with yourself – is this thought valid or is it part of an unhealthy thought pattern? Part of having a healthy body and mind is taking the time to check yourself.

mind body connection

Learn How to Judge Yourself Effectively

Self-awareness and self-consciousness are two very different things. Simply judging is no use to anyone. It’s damaging to our self-esteem and doesn’t come from a place of love. Self-awareness, on the other hand, means acknowledging how you feel in certain situations and how your actions are perceived by others.

Judging yourself effectively means realising when you’ve done something wrong and correcting that behaviour in the future. For example:

  • Unhealthy judgment: I have anger issues.
  • Healthy judgment: Someone has crossed a boundary of mine, and I feel triggered.
  • Application: I vocalise my boundaries to friends and family, so they know what triggers me.

Healthy self-judgment plays an important role in the mind-body connection because it prevents unnecessary negativity and stress.

Frequently Asked Questions


What is an example of the mind-body connection?

Stress is a clear example of how the mind and body are connected. Chronic stress causes fatigue, muscle tension, digestive issues, and migraines. Over time, prolonged stress leads to high blood pressure and increases the risk of heart attack and stroke. This is because stress puts the body in “fight or flight” mode, using up cortisol and adrenaline at inappropriate times.

What are 3 activities that involve the mind-body connection?

You can get in touch with your mind-body connection with activities like guided imagery, breathwork, meditation, and relaxation exercises. Just as essential is maintaining healthy habits like regular exercise, getting a full night’s sleep, and clean eating. These things promote physical well-being so that you can have a healthy mind in a healthy body.

What is the difference between mind, body, and spirit?

The premise of the mind-body-spirit connection is that all three separate entities make up one being. Our minds are our thoughts and cognition, our spirit is our soul and energy, and our bodies are the vessel that carries them on this earth. Together, they define our identities.

You might also enjoy

What is Naturopathy? 

Everything you need to study to become a naturopath in Australia If you love natural remedies and holistic health and you’re looking to turn your interest in wellness into a career, naturopathy is definitely the way to go! In Australia, naturopaths play a vital role in the alternative medicine space offering holistic treatments and personalised ... Read more
Advanced Diploma of Integrative Complementary Medicine students in a practise session.

Navigating Different Areas of Wellness

The Differences Between Naturopathic and Holistic Medicine  If you’ve been on the path to optimal health and well-being, many people are turning to alternative approaches like naturopathy and holistic medicine. Each offers its own unique perspective on healing and this article is here to help you delve into the differences that set these two practices ... Read more
explore some of the best natural remedies for anxiety

How to Embark on Your Natural Therapy Journey

A Guide to Starting Your Naturopathy Course  If you’re passionate about holistic health and you’re wanting to turn your passion into a career, starting a naturopathy course could be the perfect way to kickstart your future. If you’ve been wondering where to start on your naturopathy journey, we’ve got you covered. In this guide we’ll ... Read more

Learn about an exciting career in Complementary Medicine.

Get an introduction to our teaching methods, and what complementary medicine is all about, in a Free Discovery Session.

All attendees receive $300 Off their tuition!

Format: Online

Duration: 60 Minutes