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May 23, 2015 | ||||||
| Your Mind: Friend or Foe | ||||||
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Early on in my training, I realized that our mind frames our reactions to
our environment and can positively or negatively affect our health. A
quiet and calm mind is one of the most powerful ways of achieving
optimal well-being. When we are happy we feel better. When we are anxious we may be fearful, irritable and angry. Our emotions make us think a certain way and then our perceptions become our reality. Sometimes this is good and sometimes this is bad. We can lose sight that we control our thoughts and our thoughts control our emotions. This is particularly true if we are faced with a crisis: health, financial family or friend issue. Our perception of the problem can get out of control and wreak havoc with our minds which ultimately affects our physical and mental health. When we really get rolling, the dominoes are hard to stop and before you know it, we feel like we are losing it. The excerpt below is from a book I may have previously recommended to you, 10% Happier, by Dan Harris. The Buddhists called this prapańca (pronounced pra-PUN-cha), which roughly translates to “proliferation,” or “the imperialistic tendency of mind.” That captured it beautifully, I thought: something happens, I worry, and that concern instantaneously colonizes my future. Anxiety, fear, anger and sadness are harmful to our health. These emotions cause all sorts of common and uncommon physical complaints. Negative thoughts disrupt our autonomic nervous system (palpitations, sleep abnormalities, chest pain, shortness of breath and hunger). Negative thoughts can squeeze our adrenal glands, causing changes in our cortisol and catecholamines levels. At the cellular level, it makes our T and B immune cells less functional and at the molecular level, throws off the balance of our infection and age-fighting cytokines. Our mind becomes our foe instead of our friend. Negative thoughts beget negative emotions and then we are unable to enjoy the present (a true gift). Our minds can take us to the future with worry, or the past, to beat ourselves up. You have a powerful mind; you probably are pretty good at making yourself feel bad but the same neurophysiology can make you feel good. Take 5 minutes and play the YouTube link below and think of something pleasant. Notice how everything slows down; think of how fortunate and grateful you are for all that you have. And concentrate on your breathing; breathe through your nose, nice and slow. The music and breathing will allow you to take control of your mind. Experiment with your power. Think of a conflict or concern you have and you probably will get some clarity to it. Perhaps you will realize that your worry just does not matter. Maybe, you need to forgive someone, or even yourself, or maybe you need to just clear your mind. You may discover that your fears are just based on false evidence (F.E.A.R.= false evidence appearing real). Whatever it is, just breathe slowly and be in the moment. You may be surprised how you will feel and react. | ||||||
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgaTQ5-XfMM | ||||||
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Your mind may be your staunchest enemy or your strongest friend. A
quiet mind is crucially important to our health. I'm not perfect at
this, but I try to practice this every day; some days, of course, are
better than others. | ||||||
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Wishing you good health...always!
HAO
Harry A.
Oken, M.D.
Clinical
Professor of Medicine | ||||||
