Can You Will Yourself to Wellness? — Digging Into the Mind-Body Connection

For hundreds of years, doctors have approached the body and mind as two separate pieces requiring separate treatment, but we have now realized that these pieces are all part of the same grand puzzle of life. Stress has a deep connection to this interconnected system. What can we do if stress (something everyone has) ranks high as the main factor contributing to our society’s serious health issues, including heart disease, diabetes, and cancer?

With just a simple shift in your mindset or by harnessing your willpower, you can have a dramatic impact on your mental and physical health. But is this enough to unroot the effects of the stress connection and make a significant change? See below to find out!

What is the Mind-Body Stress Connection?

Contrary to common belief, stress does not only impact the mind; it also has a severe effect on the body. The mind and body are deeply interconnected. When you are in a highly emotional or stressed out state, this can cause a cascade of hormones and neurochemicals throughout your body, leading to physical health issues down the line.

Mainly as a busy city woman, you are often expected to push yourself to the limit and run nonstop on the work hamster wheel. But many people neglect to realize the stress connection and how their lifestyle may be causing more harm than good. Thankfully, with a few simple changes in your lifestyle and a deep understanding of the mind-body connection, you can use the power of self-healing to begin a radical transformation in your life.

The Power of Placebo: How to Harness Mind-Body Healing

Probably the clearest example of the power of mind-body healing is through the power of a placebo. The placebo effect occurs in many scientific research studies in which participants take a sugar pill or saline injection yet still change their mental and physical health.

This change is due to the power of the mind: if you believe you are taking medicine, then your body will start to heal automatically! Besides taking a placebo medicine, there are many other ways to harness these same effects.

4 Ways to Harness the Mind-Body Interface to Unroot the Stress Connection:

• Practice meditation every day for at least 5-minutes
• Flow-through a few grounding yoga poses
• Tune into your body when you are feeling emotional to notice the physical connections
• Focus on your breath and practice calming breathing techniques

So, Can You Will Yourself to Wellness?

The short answer: it depends! If wellness were truly as easy to grasp with just pure willpower, then we would all be healthy. Unfortunately, that is not the case. But as we have already explored, that doesn’t mean that your state of mind does not affect you.

If you live a busy city life, taking the time to focus on your mindset and using the power of mind-body healing and unrooting the stress connection can be a simple and powerful way to impact your overall wellness positively.