Mental well-being is defined as the ability to put together, process, recall, express, or communicate information. The mind is related to cognition, and is involved in perception, thinking, willpower, reasoning, judgment, and the ability to make conscious or unconscious decisions. The brain is the tangible communication center for all parts of the body, allowing it to perform various mental and physical functions. The brain acts like a receptor or antennae for consciousness, kind of like a radio that receives, modifies, and amplifies the external signal into something we recognize as sound. Just like the sound exists outside the radio in the form of an electromagnetic signal, consciousness still exists even if the brain is damaged or no longer functioning. “Consciousness can operate beyond the brain, body, and the present, as hundreds of experiments and millions of testimonials affirm. Consciousness cannot, therefore, be identical with the brain.”
The mind itself, which includes consciousness, is formless and manifests thoughts, memories, feelings and beliefs, ultimately creating one’s reality. Ones perception and how they express emotion is based on their level of conscious awareness. So where as many of us are stressing about the potential outcomes of the future events and victims of their past, some of us are content in the present moment and detached from past experiences.
The more conscious minded one is, the more they can CONTROL their thoughts and emotions as opposed to being controlled BY them!
One can’t refer to the mind without recognizing stress. Stress is a by-product of how an individual’s mind thinks. The stress response to various stimuli begins in the brain and has a direct effect on one’s physical and psychological health in both the short term and the long term. Some stressors are unavoidable, like swerving to avoid a car accident. However, most of the stress you encounter daily is only perceived stress (like needless worrying), and it can be avoided by developing a new perception through self-actualization practices.
With that being said, ill-perceived stress is by far the most debilitating, negatively altering mental processing, recalling, and decision-making abilities, with the potential for creating serious physical ailments. The way you think can have a profound impact on your overall health and well-being!
DID YOU KNOW: Emotional stress suppresses the immune system, increases the risk of heart disease, diabetes, psychiatric disorders, digestive disorders, cancer, and many other debilitating life threatening PREVENTABLE conditions! (1)
MIND & THE GUT
The mind is intertwined with just about every function of the human body. Not as well known, the gastrointestinal (GI) system in particular is intimately connected to the brain. In fact, the GI tract is also referred to as the “gut brain”, or enteric nervous system. It actually contains 100 million neurons, more than that of the central nervous system. The gut actually houses the majority of major neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, as well as good number of benzodiazepines, which have a similar effect to drugs like valium. When in balance, it is these neurotransmitters that allow you to experience all those health-activating positive emotions.
The GI tract is highly sensitive to all your thoughts and emotions. Anger, anxiety, sadness, fear and worry can trigger negative effects in the gut. You must have noticed that “butterfly” feeling in your stomach at some point, right? It becomes fairly obvious the gut and brain work closely together when you experience nausea before giving a presentation, or feel intestinal discomfort during other times of distress. You may also have felt this queasiness before starting a new job, taking a final exam, or going on a first date. This connection happens to work both ways. Being that the brain and the GI system are so tightly connected, not only does the stomach receive signals from the brain, but the intestines also send signals to the brain, resulting in feelings of anxiety, stress, and even depression.
Consequently, it is very common for an individual to develop GI disorders as a direct result of that mind-body connection, often referred to as functional gastrointestinal disorders. (FGIDs) are characterized by the presence of GI symptoms that are not caused by structural or biochemical abnormalities. Approximately 25 million Americans have FGIDs, and that is probably a very low estimate considering the commonality of digestive disorders. Irritable bowel syndrome, functional dyspepsia, functional vomiting, and constipation, are examples of FGIDs. 50-80% of these sufferers do not consult a physician, although they do tend to take toxic over-the-counter medications to address symptoms, often winding up in pain, irritable, sluggish, and often times unable to engage in activities. IBS is actually reported to be the most common cause for missing work or school besides the common cold.
FGIDs are extremely difficult to address without considering the significant role that stress and emotion play in regard to physical health. Stress can affect what is called peristalsis, or the muscle contractions that allow food to be digested and waste to be excreted properly. When peristalsis is disrupted it produces gut inflammation from undigested food, which disrupts microbiome balance and decreases nutrient assimilation, potentially leading to leaky gut, an increased risk of infection, and many other complications.
Interestingly enough, the brains of people with FGIDs may not properly regulate pain signals. They may experience more or less discomfort than people without these disorders, depending on their brain’s ability to turn the signal of pain up or down. Either way the psychological or emotional state of the patient needs to be considered.
A review of 13 studies showed that patients with FGIDs who tried alternative psychologically based approaches had greater improvement controlling their digestive symptoms in comparison to patients who only received conventional medical treatment.
It is not surprising at all that most patients improve with holistic therapies. Alternative methods take the entire body into consideration, not just an individual body part like the intestines. By eliminating or reducing depression, ill-perceived stress, and needless anxiety, the intestines can then receive the proper blood flow and muscle contractions for balance and healing to take place.
Certainly, the mind’s influences are not completely responsible for all gastrointestinal conditions, unless you’re counting decisions on what to eat or when to exercise of course. Not all these conditions are fabricated, or “all in your head”, and they are not just the result of negative emotions. Physical factors like diet and lifestyle play an enormous role in intestinal health, which can be compounded by psychological stressors, adding to and/or initiating the pain, symptoms, and development GI conditions.
As you see, the mind-gut connection is very powerful. Happenings of the mind translate into chemical reactions in the body. Your thoughts are so powerful that they have the ability to generate bodily changes on a cellular level. Essentially, the digestive process starts before food is even ingested! In fact, just smelling or thinking about food releases the stomach’s gastric juices. Another fact to consider is that the majority of the immune system is educated by the bacteria or microbiome of the GI tract. At the same time, the brain can modulate the activity of the immune system either negatively or positively (depending on your perception). Therefore, a healthy happy mind makes for a happy healthy gut and vice versa. A healthy mind/gut is essential in order to experience superior immunity, balanced pH levels, and disease prevention.
MIND & EMOTIONS
The mind is also bound to your emotions. The act of thinking produces emotions. It is seen that negative thoughts produce negative emotions and positive thoughts procure positive emotions. The emotional process begins when an individual assesses any given situation and gives it a personal meaning. This assessment process triggers a cascade of responses which lead to an emotional reaction.
Have you ever had a “gut feeling” about something? It occurs when you have a thought, foreboding, or instinctive feeling about something and you get a nervous feeling in your stomach. This feeling alerts or guides you during the decision process towards a particular thought or action. You may get a strong feeling to vacate a certain place, or avoid a sketchy individual that may bring you harm. Or maybe a voice in your head tells you to get the contact information from someone you met in a coffee shop and they end up steering you towards the career of a lifetime!
Scientific thinkers, like in many Western societies, tend to use their minds only to resolve problems, pool information, and make decisions based on analyzation. They don’t pay much mind to their “gut feelings” and tend to resort to so-called rational thinking. Rational-only thinkers see things at face value and exude little to no faith. They haven’t developed the connective ability to focus on what their heart tells them, denying their access to the intuitive nature all human beings possess. They do not have the ability to think critically, for themselves. Many of them tend to be followers, taking part in what we call the herding instinct, or unconscious living.
For instance, when making major life decisions, like choosing a profession or partner, many focus more on what their parents, spouses, and friends think and expect of them, as they are more concerned with how others will judge their decisions. With a dire need to belong to a group and a constant fear of being alone, their life decisions are made based on those fears. Fear tends to close your mind to other existing alternatives based on insecurities and a false reality or perception on life and self. Most certainly there are opportunities to be found in any situation, but if you let fear cloud your judgment, you may never see them.
There is scientific evidence showing that an alteration in cognition leads to emotional changes.
For instance, cognitive behavioral treatment (CBT) aims to alter dysfunctional emotional responses (depressive, anxious and obsessive states) and behaviors by changing maladaptive thinking.
Researchers, in their empirical review of cognitive-behavioral therapy, summarized treatment outcomes of psychiatric disorders. Their review concluded that CBT was very successful in treating depression, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, social phobia, and post traumatic stress disorder. CBT was also found superior to antidepressants in treating depression. Changes in thinking patterns translate into behavioral changes. (2)
On the same note, mindfulness training aims to give complete attention to present experiences moment by moment without judgment or attachment to those feelings. By increasing your awareness and becoming observant of all that is going on internally, you avoid being caught up or overwhelmed by your thoughts, sensations, beliefs and emotions, allowing you to alter your perception to experience life in a healthy manner. Then, you can do an assessment and change the way you view any situation, consequently experiencing positive emotions and behaving in a constructive manner.
Researchers reviewed clinical interventions that implemented mindfulness training techniques. She found that mindfulness-based interventions can “alleviate mental health problems and improve psychological functioning,” helping depressive, anxious and high-stress states, preventing relapses, as well as reducing symptoms in patients with cancer and psoriasis. (3)
Mindfulness-based programs have been used for diverse conditions.
Researchers implemented mindfulness training on adolescents with Prader-Willi syndrome. Prader-Willi syndrome is a condition characterized by obesity, learning problems, obsessive eating, and hyperphagia, which exhibits a delay in satiety after eating. Patients were split into 3 groups: an exercise group, an exercise plus healthy eating group, and mindfulness-based training combined with exercise and healthy eating group. Mindfulness-based strategies used mindful eating, visualizing and labeling hunger, and attention shifting away from hunger, through meditating. The researchers found that the exercise, and exercise plus healthy eating groups showed decreases in weight, but the most significant and sustained changes were shown when mindfulness training was implemented, along with regular exercise and healthy eating. (4)
Remember, healthy cognitions are needed in order to experience healthy emotions, and subsequently healthy physical bodies. A more holistic conceptualization of life is essential as your mind can steer your emotions to either create damage or heal the body. In order to experience true happiness, you must dig deep into your heart and soul to make a broader and more complete analysis of whatever situation you may encounter to maintain peace with yourself and others, and stay in alignment with your spiritual destined path!
Mind is the forerunner of (all evil) states. Mind is chief; mind-made are they. If one speaks or acts with wicked mind, suffering follows one, even as the wheel follows the hoof of the draught-ox. Mind is the forerunner of (all good) states. Mind is chief; mind-made are they. If one speaks or acts with pure mind, AFFECTION follows one, even as one’s shadow that never leaves. ― Buddha.
http://www.med.unc.edu/ibs/files/educational-gi-handouts/What%20Is%20Functional%20GI.pdf
1- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3341916/
2- Butler, A. C., Chapman, J. E., Forman, E. M., & Beck, A. T. (2006). The empirical status of cognitive-behavioral therapy: a review of meta-analyses. Clinical psychology review, 26(1), 17-31.
3- Baer, R. A. (2003). Mindfulness training as a clinical intervention: A conceptual and empirical review. Clinical psychology: Science and practice, 10(2), 125-143.
4- Singh, N. N., Lancinin, G. E., Singh, A. N., Winton, A. S., Singh, J., MacLeay, K. M., & Adkins, A. D. (2008). A mindfulness-based health wellness program for an adolescent with Prader-Willi syndrome. Behavior Modification, 32(2), 167-181.