Physical health and mental health. Traditionally treated as two completely separate categories. The body and the mind. But it is increasingly becoming clear that the body and mind are not two separate entities, but in fact, work together, or are even considered the same thing.

So what exactly is the body and mind connection and how does it work?

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Are The Body And Mind Separate Entities?

For a long time, medicine has treated the body and mind as separate entities. But this explanation does not make sense of our experiences. For example, the physical side effects connected to certain emotions, or the emotions that come from certain bodily sensations.

Have you ever been curious as to why your heart beats faster when you are nervous? Or why you tend to catch all the viruses going when you are stressed and burnt out? Even feelings like the tingle of excitement you can feel in your belly when you are looking forward to something?

All of these are examples of the body and mind being connected. After all, emotions are just chemicals and hormones in our bodies, so very physical things. The reality is that the body and mind impact one another all the time.

How Does The Mind-Body Connection Work?

So how does the mind-body connection work? Well, there have been many studies showing the different ways in which the body and mind are connected. For instance, one study was able to demonstrate the specific areas of the body that activate when humans experience different emotions. The more we learn about each specific bodily system the more we can see the mind and body connection at work.

There are two very clear systems in the body that demonstrate the mind and body connection.

The Sympathetic Nervous System 

Your autonomic nervous system (ANS) is the system of nerves in your body responsible for keeping bodily function going and reacting to outside stimuli. This includes things like sweating, heart rate, blood pressure, digestion and a long list of other things. Your ANS plays a central role in keeping your body working and responding to the world.

The ANS is made up of two main parts, one of which is the Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS). This is the part of your body to control your fight and flight response. What this actually means is that your SNS controls your response to stressful situations.

Whether it's because you almost get hit by a car and run out of the way or it's too hot and your body needs to cool down. These are all actions controlled by the release of neurotransmitters by your SNS.

Mentally, during a fight or flight response your emotions are all over the place because your body has chosen to spend less energy on those so that it can focus on survival. This can then become a problem when you are under chronic stress, or your SNS is overreacting to stimulus.

The Sympathetic Nervous System is hugely affected by, and at the same time causes physical and emotional responses to real-life triggers. Understanding this aspect of the mind-body connection can really help you in dealing with things like stress, learning how to relax, and many other things.

Hormones and Health 

Hormones and your bodily condition are something we connect in everyday conversation without always realising the implications of this. “She’s just hormonal and grumpy because of her period” is something we’ve all heard or experienced. And this is an example of the impact that hormones play on both your physical body and your emotions.

But hormones are not just something that women have, and everyone experiences emotions based on the different hormones rushing through their bloodstream. Hormones are some of the core building blocks that allow our body to function, and an imbalance in hormones can stop your body from functioning as it should both mentally and physically.

In fact, it is hormones that cause us to feel emotions at all. We can only feel good if we have enough of, and the correct balance of, the feel-good hormones: dopamine, serotonin, endorphins, and oxytocin. But these same hormones are also used for other more physical bodily functions. Take serotonin for example. This plays a central role in a whole range of different bodily functions including:

• Regulating your mood, 

• Clotting blood, 

• Digestion and bowel control

• Making melatonin for sleep

• Keeping your bones healthy 

• Sexual arousal

So as you can see, hormones are both the mind and the body, meaning that the mind and body cannot be separate entities. 

How Can You Increase Awareness of Your Mind Body Connection? 

One way to stay healthy can be to become more aware of your mind-body connection or increase your body intelligence. This can be done through body-mind integration techniques such as those listed below:

1. Meditation 

Traditional meditation practices rely on observing the body and also focusing on your breathing. This can help to relax the SNS and reduce the stress in your body, allowing the hormones and neurotransmitters to balance themselves. All of which help to stabilise both your mood and physical health.

2. Mindfulness

Mindfulness is about redirecting our attention to what is directly happening, be that inside or outside of the body. This allows us to stop negative thought loops and allow us to create a positive feedback loop which relaxes the body and floods it with helpful hormones and neurotransmitters.

3. Progressive Relaxation Techniques

Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR), a technique where you go through and tense and then relax each muscle in your body, or a more simple body scan allow us to focus on the body and reduce tension and stress being held in the body. Similarly to mindfulness this allows us to interrupt negative cycles and helps to create a positive feedback loop of useful hormones and neurotransmitters.

4. Yoga/T’ai Chi Etc

Slow, deliberate movements that allow you to focus on what is happening in your body at that particular moment help to relax the body and calm the Autonomic Nervous System. Therefore regulating both your emotions and your bodily function.

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