What is the relationship between the mind and body?
No separation exists between the mind and body. The mind and body are one.
"We are all aware of the bias built into the Western idea that the mind is totally in the head, a function of the brain… Mind does not 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… And when we explore the role that emotions play in the body, as expressed through the neuropeptide molecules, it will become clear how emotions can be seen as a key to the understanding of disease. We know that the immune system, like the central nervous system, has memory and the capacity to learn. Thus, it could be said that intelligence is located not only in the brain but in cells that are distributed throughout the body, and that the traditional separation of mental processes, including emotions, from the body is no longer valid."
-Candace Pert, PhD, Molecules of Emotion
What are mind-body approaches?
"Mind-body approaches to healing are based on the understanding that our thoughts and feelings, and our beliefs and attitudes, can affect and shape every aspect of our biological functioning. Mind-body approaches also recognize that everything we do with our physical body—what we eat and how we stand, the ways we stretch our muscles and the tension that constricts them—can modify mental, psychological, and physical functioning. Finally, mind-body approaches are based on the understanding that the mind and body are, in fact, inseparable, and that the central and peripheral nervous system, the endrocrine and immune systems, all the organs of the body, and all emotional responses we have share a common chemical language and are constantly communicating with one another."
-James S. Gordon, MD, Mind-Body Medicine and Cancer, Integrative Medicine in Oncology, Hematology/Oncology Clinics of North America
What are the potential benefits of mind-body approaches?
A review of scientific research in Integrative Oncology, edited by Donald Abrams, MD, and Andy Weil, MD, states that mind-body approaches address five important aspects in cancer patients.
- Psychological and emotional issues of being diagnosed with cancer
- Coping with and reducing adverse effects of cancer treatments
- Stimulating immunity, blood flow, and other healing responses
- Reducing or relieving cancer-related pain
- Influencing the progression or outcome of the diagnosis
What is the history of mind-body approaches?
Mind-body approaches have been used for thousands of years and around the world.
"Mind-body approaches—chanting, imagery, hypnosis, dance, and relaxed deep breathing—are as old as the first aboriginal healing systems and as widespread as Chinese, Indian, African, and Native American medicine. It is only in the last 30 years, however, that modern Western medicine has begun to give these techniques the kind of importance they had in the first Western system of healing in Hippocratic-era Greece."
-James S. Gordon, MD, Mind-Body Medicine and Cancer, Integrative Medicine in Oncology, Hematology/Oncology Clinics of North America
For More Information
- Comprehensive Cancer Care: Integrating Alternative, Complementary, and Conventional Therapies by James S. Gordon, MD
- Getting Well Again by O. Carl Simonton, MD
- Integrative Oncology edited by Donald Abrams, MD and Andy Weil, MD
- Molecules of Emotion: The Science Behind Mind-Body Medicine by Candace Pert, PhD
- Prepare for Surgery, Heal Faster: A Guide of Mind-Body Techniques by Peggy Huddleston
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