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Heal the Body, Heal the Mind

Learning more about the body mind connection can enhance your healing and sense of wellness.

Jun 12, 2006

Massage, West Coast College of Massage Therapy

The mind is a powerful tool for healing our bodies, but what about the body healing the mind?

Heal Your Body Through Your Mind

You have most likely heard the expressions: "mind over matter" or "heal your body through your mind." There is much research and much experiential knowledge that suggests that we can do a lot to overcome illness and pain through using our minds in a different way. This typically is done through therapies such as hypnotherapy, visualizations, or guided imagery.

Body-Mind Medicine

Dr. Bernie Siegel is a physician and pioneer in the field of body-mind medicine. He is actually a surgeon who believed that he could better help his cancer patients heal and recover through taking a holistic approach. Rather than just relying on chemotherapy and radiation treatments for the physical body, he believed that addressing the physical, emotional, spiritual and mental aspects of a human being, was absolutely essential for surviving cancer or any other illness for that matter. He is the author of "Love, Medicine and Miracles" and "Peace, Love and Healing." In his bestsellers, he suggests that long-term survivors of cancer were those that paid attention and expressed their emotions, and those that dealt with the bigger issues of forgiveness and surrendering in the face of illness. These patients also took part in visualizations that were geared at destroying cancer cells.

I can just imagine how a physician like Dr. Siegel was looked at by his colleagues in the 1970s and 80s. He actually spoke about the healing power of love, and about loving his patients and his patients loving themselves. His caring approach was an inspiration for many other healers who followed in his footsteps, and he certainly advanced our understanding of how the mind and body work together.

Can the Body Heal the Mind?

So what about the reverse? If the mind can heal the body, can the body heal the mind? If you spoke to any professional who works with the body, whether they are a massage therapist or bodyworker, alternative medicine practitioner, cranio-sacral therapist, body-centered psychologist, somatic experience therapist, chiropractor or self-regulation therapist, they will also tell you about how the mind and body work together. They might tell you about how stored emotions can cause headaches, and muscle pain and tension. They might tell you about how traumatic events are stored in the body and how this can really affect someone's quality of life if left untreated. They might also tell you how certain parts of the body hold certain emotions. They might even tell you how an angry person can become more peaceful after having a massage.

Healing the Body, Healing the Mind

In essence, the body is the path to healing the mind and the mind is the path to healing the body. They work together. A holistic perspective takes into account this interaction between the body and the mind, and as Dr. Siegel suggested, the healing power of love has just as much effect on our health as the treatment itself.

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Comments

Jun 12, 2006 9:16 PM

Lisa Manfield :

I read your article on Mind/Body Healing with interest. I have recently started reading about natural vision improvement. I actually know some people who were able to shed their glasses using natural eyesight improvement techniques, and the book I am reading speaks to internal visioning as much as it does external. In other words, they say that eyesight has a lot to do with the way we appraoch the world and ourselves, and that there actually is a typical "myope" personality that can be overcome. I would be interested in your thoughts and experiences on this subject.

Thanks!
Lisa

Jun 12, 2006 11:10 PM

Sylvia Carlson :

Hi Lisa,

Thanks so much for your insight and comments. I have been wearing glasses for about 20 years. I have pretty much the same prescription as I did 20 years ago. I tried to improve my eyesight a number of years ago as well. My vision changed for the better in one eye and has stayed that way since. I tried not wearing my glasses indoors so that they wouldn’t get lazy and that really helped. I can’t say that I have spent much time at it lately, but I sure notice a change in my vision when there are changes in my external world. I haven’t done much in the way of research on this subject, but I do think that some changes are possible. The way the mind communicates with the body is of significance. Dr. Bernie Siegel used a special type of guided imagery called the Simonton Method where pac-men type images were used to help patients recover from cancer. These little pac-men were visualized as eating away at the cancer cells. I think what we take from his work is the importance of the image. It has to be personal and it has to be plausible to you in order to send that message from your mind to your body. The real lesson Dr. Bernie Siegel shared with the world is this: "People are healed not by information but by inspiration.”

By the way, are you reading “ Take Off Your Glasses and See!” by Jacob Liberman?

Sylvia
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