There is much scientific evidence to support what adept yogis realized centuries ago – that the mind/body and body/mind connection is real and that the two are in fact one. Let’s look briefly at some of these findings.
At our cellular level, there are chemicals called messenger molecules which link the mind and body. How do they do this?
By forming major pathways of communication between and within all the regulatory systems of the body: for example, the brain, immune, hormonal and gastrointestinal systems.
You’ve probably heard or read that if you don’t deal with stresses and other emotional issues that are troubling for the mind, these can manifest in the physical body as illness. How comes?
Neuroscientist, the late Candace Pert in ‘Molecules of Emotions’, states:
“The mind as we experience it is immaterial, yet it has a physical substrate, which is both the body and the brain. It may also be said to have a nonmaterial, nonphysical substrate that has to do with the flow of information.”
Her research on protein based chemicals (peptides) in the brain and other systems in the body along with research by immunologists, endocrinologists, epidemiologist and other scientists shows these peptides are the biochemicals of emotion. The emotions are cellular signals that are involved in the process of translating molecular level information into material reality. She comments:
“Mind doesn’t dominate body, it becomes body – body and mind are one. I see the process of communication we have demonstrated, the flow of information throughout the whole organism, as evidence that the body is the actual outward manifestation, in physical space of the mind.”
At the same time, these messenger molecules, which are on the surface of our cells, are the means whereby our personal emotional experiences and behaviours (stresses and trauma, for example) are retained in our memory – not just in the brain, but get encoded in the body at a cellular level - at the level of the neuropeptide receptors.
What are the implications of these findings for our health and well being? I’ll answer this question with a final quote from Candace Pert:
“My research has shown me that when emotions are expressed – which is to say that the biochemicals that are the substrate of emotion are flowing freely – all systems are united and made whole. When emotions are repressed, denied, not allowed to be whatever they may be, our network pathways get blocked, stopping the flow of the vital feel-good, unifying chemicals that run both our biology and our behaviour.
Yoga, meditation and other complementary practices, can help bring long-buried thoughts and feelings to the surface and are ways to get the peptides flowing again and thus help to bring the mind-body and emotions into balance.”
