Mind Body Connection & Biology of Stress

Over the last decade, the amount of research in the scientific journals shows without a doubt that there is such a thing as a mind-body connection. This means our thoughts, beliefs, and emotions cause substantial chemical, physiological, and biological changes all through the body.

In today's high demanding, competitive world, 90 percent of what takes people to the doctor is stress-related diseases. The very result of stress and chemistry of fear is dis-ease and illness. This is because our mind and our body are connected.

Thousands of years ago, our brain was programmed to protect us against dangers in nature. Amygdala, the part of the brain related to fear and anxiety, was detecting the threats to the survival of our body and activating the Fight or Flight mode to protect us. In this mechanism, Cortisol hormone and adrenaline was released by the brain to send energy into the muscles, either to flee from or to fight the predator.

That was necessary and appropriate back at that time because If you are chased by a tiger in the woods, you would like to use hundred percent of your energy to run away from the tiger for sure.

In today’s world, we are not chased by dangerous animals; however, our enemy to the survival of our bodies is sneakier and almost always with us, that is STRESS which activates the Autonomic Nerves System and same Fight or Flight mode as in ancient times.

Now, the threats that activate our "Fight or Flight" system are our spouse, boss, co-workers, unpaid bills, mortgage, and so on instead of tigers and bears in the wood.

By stress, as if we are in a life-threatening situation in ancient days, cortisol and adrenaline are released into the system chronically to activate fight or flight mode. This threatens our health as because that uses the resources from our immune system, toxicity elimination system, and from our higher brain centers.

As a result of this mechanism, our memory is weak, our concentration is low, our brain is foggy, we can't digest food properly, we can’t eliminate toxins thoroughly, and our immune system is compromised chronically.

Physical stresses such as injuries, accidents, falls, environmental factors, AND

Chemical stresses such as bacteria and viruses, foods and hormones and

emotional stresses that are driven from family traumas, losses, job, and money related issues are all usual suspects of dis-eases.

All kind of stresses leave our brain and body out of balance and cause illnesses in time.

For that reason, it is vital to learn to cope with stress. Holistic modalities are not just complementary but are preventive in health care. They help us learn techniques to regulate the nervous system. There is no better time to start healing our traumas and restore the balance of brain and body than now.

As human beings, we are not machines, and our organs are not separately working mechanical parts. It is scientifically proven that our emotional, mental, and spiritual state affects our physical conditions that emerges the necessity of a holistic approach to our health and well-being.