for disease to take hold. One way that many mind-body therapies work is by reducing stress. So it is helpful to understand what stress is and the role it plays in health and well-being.
Studies have also revealed that individuals with a positive attitude toward life tend to become sick less often than those with a negative attitude.
Even though these concepts may be new to you, studies in the mind-body connection are showing us that our minds play a major role in influencing our level of wellness. By using the simple techniques I outline in this book to condition your brain, you will be able to harness and direct your own brain power to boost immunity and effect healing.
It is my hope that after reading this book, you’ll be better equipped to take charge of your mind as well as your body and condition yourself to remain healthy throughout life.
The mind-body concept is defined as the interaction that takes place among our thoughts, our body, and our external world. A new science that studies this link is called psychoneuroimmunology (PNI). PNI describes ways in which our emotions and attitude, both positive and negative, can affect our health and also the outcome of medical treatment.
The Brain: Where It All Starts
Psychologists, philosophers, researchers, and others postulate that it is the physical brain that creates, or gives rise to, the ephemeral mind. This is in contrast to the ancients, who thought that the heart was the seat, not only of emotion, but thinking as well. It’s important to note that the mind is not synonymous with the brain. Instead, in our definition, the mind consists of mental states that include thoughts, emotions, beliefs, attitudes, and images. The brain is the hardware that allows us to experience these mental states.
The human brain is an exceedingly complex and marvelous organ comprising a network of neural connections and approximately 100 billion nerve cells known as neurons.
But the human brain is much more than a collection of neurons. If that’s all it were, we wouldn’t be nearly as smart as an octopus, the brain of which can have as many as 150 billion neurons. And if numbers of neurons were the criterion, we certainly would not be as intelligent as dolphins, elephants, or sperm whales, the latter having brains almost five times the size of ours. Weighing in at a mere 2 percent of our total body weight, the human brain is one of the marvels of evolution. Within its many folds is an organic computer that rivals anything we may have on our desktop. It was the human brain, after all, that invented the computer.
Why should we be surprised, then, that when we consciously tap into that brainpower, we can use one of the greatest forces of nature to regulate the life processes that keep us healthy and disease-free? The interplay between the physical brain and the intangible mind is manifest in the interaction of the physical body and the mental aspects of health and disease. The health of the mind affects the body and the health of the body affects the mind.
The brain is the physical organ that gives rise to the mind, which in turn is the thinking and perceiving part of our consciousness. Our brains are like two-pound computers with empty files, ready to input data as fast as possible. Neural (nerve) connections sprout; and the more we’re stimulated and the more data we input during the first few years of our life, the more effectively those connections grow.
During the first ten years of life, the brain’s outer portion or cerebral cortex grows the most rapidly and undergoes the greatest amount of change. Therefore, a large amount of sensory input and education is essential for proper growth, development, learning, and memory. While the expression “use it or lose it,” is true at all ages when it comes to the brain, it’s especially true at this critical time of life. Children who are not held, cuddled, or adequately stimulated during infancy will not fully develop emotionally. At the other end of the age spectrum, older individuals who no longer perform regular mental activities will have increased memory loss and a decreased capacity in certain intellectual skills.
Throughout our lives, we’re constantly using our brain—both consciously and subconsciously—for a variety of functions, even during sleep. The old adage that we only use 10 percent of our brain is not true.
On the other hand, the mind refers to the collection of experiences, memories, feelings, and emotions that, together with our subconscious, make us who we are. The mind-body connection is sometimes called the brain-body connection because our brain is really the control center for every one of our organ systems and the catalyst that triggers the multitude of chemical reactions that control our lives from before birth until we take our last breath (at least).
We don’t fully understand the intricacies of how nerve networks operate, but we do know that the brain has an incredible ability to change connections in response to sensory stimuli. This ability is called neuroplasticity and is responsible for creating feelings and emotions and producing cognitive behaviors such as thinking and memory that change with our life experiences. Until recently, we didn’t realize the extent to which we’re consciously able to trigger the brain—with no external stimuli at all—into actions that can literally alter the thousands of biochemical reactions occurring in our bodies every second.
For example, visualization or imaging is being used along with traditional chemotherapy treatment to help patients destroy malignant cells. Prayer sessions are becoming a part of healthcare at many hospitals owing to the belief (supported by some research) that spirituality plays a vital role in a patient’s healing process. Both imaging and prayer are examples of how the brain, as a result of stimulation by our thoughts, can be mobilized to boost the immune system enough to influence diseases as life-threatening as heart disease and cancer.
Development of the immune system begins during the first few weeks after conception. Neural folds appear and release cells that form what is known as the neural crest. The neural crest then contributes to the proper formation of the thymus gland, which is necessary for the full and effective development of the immune system. Once the central nervous system (CNS)—consisting of the brain and spinal cord—develops, it begins to communicate with the immune system to create immune responses.
Individuals with poor brain development, or with psychiatric and neurological disorders, often have poor immune responsiveness, lowered antibody production, and impaired lymphocyte activity. Some of these individuals, particularly those suffering with psychiatric disorders, can be helped with the techniques described in this book. The sensitivity of the CNS is one reason prenatal care is so important. Unless the CNS develops and grows properly in an environment without toxins such as alcohol, nicotine, drugs, and other agents, the immune system will not develop properly either. Babies are then born who may have underdeveloped spleens, thymuses, and lymph nodes, with a subsequent decrease in white blood cell production. Many children whose mothers may not have known they were pregnant until the second or third month are born much more susceptible to infections and diseases.
The nervous system is the first system to be visible during early embryonic development. Once it begins to form, everything else follows. The endocrine and lymphatic organs, together with the brain and nerves, form the neuro-endocrine-immune system, which controls the healing process and keeps us healthy. Some of the brain’s
