Free (then Apply) Your Mind

They say the mind is a terrible thing to waste. I know why. It’s a huge part of what makes you, you. Your brain can calculate for you, but imagining new solutions is up to your mind. So is asking questions. Your brain can send and receive signals for you, but interpretation is up to your mind. So is personal expression. A life consumed by calculations and factual communications could hardly have the depth and expanse as a life of envisioning possibilities, curiosities, considerations and…song. Or dance, or art. All of which of course require brains at some point, but it is minds that pursue storytelling and seek new constructs.

And that is why I think a higher mind is perhaps the greatest thing about being human. Minds are the icing on the brain cake. Eww. Let’s try again. Minds are not the map, and not the directions, but the tour guide through the landscape. Our minds connect knowledge with desire, ability with possibility.

I’ve heard this put in a couple of different ways that really resonate: “You might be able to teach a monkey or a parrot to say words or even type words, but they can’t sit down and write you a poem.” (I don’t know who said that but I remember thinking, wow, that’s what’s so cool about being human.) Also, Albert Einstein, one of the greatest brains and minds ever, said it this way: “The human mind has first to construct forms, independently, before we can find them in things.” (Double wow. Ponder that for a moment. A mind has to construct a form, say, for invisible waves that sound (or data!) can travel on, before we can find…radio. Television. Guided missiles. Garage door openers. Wireless internet.)

I’m not a scientist nor a spiritualist so I’ll stop short of defining the brain versus the mind, or a thought versus an inspiration, any further than this. I’m merely a writer who hopes to motivate and inform people who want to grow and evolve in body and mind.

Pick One Thing: Your Mind

So if your mind is a huge part of what makes you you, it stands to reason that it’s not just “in” your brain. Indeed, I read more every year about the mind-body connection, and how intricate the dance is between every cell in your physical existence and your thoughts. Your nervous system is actually the physical system that connects your brain with your body, and your vascular system connects your heart with your body. The mystery about how your mind connects thoughts with your body (and your life) is yet to be fully explained, but we do have plentiful clues from strong minds in research.

Here is a list of pilot studies proposed by Johns Hopkins’ Center for Mind Body Research. With subjects of study such as the effects of depression and hopelessness on heart attack survivors, and the psychophysiologic effects of yoga on chronic arthritis, well… we see there are fine minds at work with constructing forms and finding new information all the time. If you need convincing that your mind is likely to be working for (or against) your body, your health, and your experience, looking at a list like this will help---little drum roll please--change your mind. Johns Hopkins Mind-Body Research

I pulled this next tidbit off a developing website for a gallery of mind-body research studies and investigations associated with Washington College in St. Louis and its School of Medicine. When I read it, I nodded. They are probably on to something here.

BIOLOGICAL BASES OF HEALTH-RELATED BEHAVIORS

We employ theories of behavioral endocrinology and behavior genetics to investigate possible biological underpinnings of health-related behaviors. The hope is to increase understanding of constitutional differences in threat responsiveness and perceived vulnerability that may influence everyday health-related behaviors among individuals as well as between the sexes.

Isn’t going to be great, when thanks to investigations like the above, we’ve increased understanding about how we behave in relation to how vulnerable we feel, or how we respond to threats? This understanding is going to help a lot of people accept what I already sense: thoughts cause life experience.

Sure there’s going to be some hormonal releases and DNA behavior markers in between; that’s the whole point of view when you’re trying to make a case for mind/body: it’s all related.

In some cases we can refer to tens, or hundreds, or thousands of years of anecdotal and cultural evidence. Meditation, mindfulness, positive thinking, the power of attraction, acting only in love, detaching from outcomes, refraining from judgment, and so on. It’s all out there--some of us work with all these practices and tools and they in turn work for us, others of us just go with our gut, or our God, or our good looks.

One thing is for sure, what ever you choose or don’t choose, if you made a decision about it or if you shared it with others; if you’ve discussed it, defended it, rejoiced in it or experienced it as more than a computer would, more than a robot, more than a monkey or a parrot; then you’ve put your mind to it.

And that just goes to show, if you put your mind to it, it comes to be. It's what you do. It makes you, you.

Everything you’ve done or had or learned has been interpreted by your mind right into its state of existence today. Including your body. This is evidenced by a review of 100 years of research on psychological literature on disease, stress, and behavioral medicine conducted by Oakley Ray, PhD, at Vanderbilt University, and published in 2004 in American Psychologist. So many studies for us to appreciate, and to use in our personal lives and our approach to healthcare. “Understanding how the mind, the endocrine system, the nervous system and immune system all interact (better known as 'psychoendoneuroimmunology' (PENI) is crucial in helping people conquer the stress in their lives and stay healthy," said Ray.

Let’s all giggle at PENI now, at least those of us with naughty minds. Okay, back to topic.

I am including this one example of a research finding from the American Psychological Association to cement the importance of this aspect of the care and keeping of you; of honoring the power and beauty of your mind:

“There is also evidence that an individual's belief system can influence the course of a major illness, such as cancer. According to a study of women with breast cancer who had mastectomies, it was their state of mind ("I am going to beat this") that kept them alive not the severity of their illness. At the five-, ten- and 15-year follow-up, the best predictor of death or recurrence of cancer was the psychological response of each woman three months after the initial surgery. The mental attitude after the surgery better predicted the likelihood of dying or having a recurrence than did the size of the tumor, the tumor's histologic grade or patient's age (Greer, 1991).”

Maybe you don’t have cancer, but there’s probably some other problem you’re dealing with. Let’s ask, then—what are you putting your mind on? How are you wrapping your mind around your problem? What do you want to change in your life (your health, your outcomes, your body, your stress level?) and can you change your mind about it to help make that happen? Mindfulness is our next entry. It seems like it changes everything.