In the January 20, 2003 Time magazine article "How Your Mind Can Heal Your Body - Doctors and Scientists are Learning How Emotions are Connected to Our Physical Health," the author asserts that the world of the mind seems very different from the one inhabited by our bodies. Cut into the body, and blood pours forth. But slice into the brain, and thoughts and emotions do not spill out onto the operating table. Love and anger cannot be collected in a test tube to be weighed and measured.

Western philosophy sees this metaphysical divide as mind-body dualism. However, many Eastern traditions, contemplating the same inner space, have come to the opposite conclusion, and teach that the mind and body belong to an indivisible continuum. Psychologists and neurologists now agree that the mind and body are not that different. The thoughts and emotions that seem to color our reality are the result of complex electrochemical interactions within and among nerve cells. The disembodied voices of schizophrenia and the feelings of worthlessness and self-hatred that accompany depression, although they seem to be based on reality, are no more than distortions in brain electrochemistry.

Not only is the mind like the rest of the body, but the well-being of one is intimately intertwined with that of the other. What happens in the pancreas or liver can directly affect brain function. Disorders of the brain, conversely, can send out biochemical shock waves that disturb the rest of the body.

Thus the brain and body, once thought to be separate from each other, have been shown to have an intricate, balanced connection, wherein each continuously affects the other such that, a healthy physical existence depends on a healthy and positive approach to life. The body, nourished and exercised properly, can exist for many years, yet if the mind is not treated in the same way, it can wither and become diseased. So positive thinking and constant striving to do good acts create an aura of positive energy that permeates all the body's cells, resulting in a balanced environment in which a person can flourish both physically and spiritually.

For more details on this fascinating subject please refer to:

http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101030120/

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