Mind-Body Medicine – KlinikOng.com

Mind-Body medicine is a branch of medicine that focuses on the link and interactions between the non-physical mind and the physical body. Historically, modern allopathic medicine has always treated the physical body as a separate and distinct entity from the mind. However, over the past 40 years or so, medical researchers have been seeing an ever growing collection of evidence showing not only a distinct link between mind and body, but that the mind can powerfully influence the body.

Thus, in order for us to be able to achieve optimum holistic health, it is important that we fully understand this important mind-body link. Healing of the body is often mediated through chemicals, neuropeptides and hormones. On the other hand, healing of the mind can be mediated through energy and information, in the form of energy healing and change in thinking habits, beliefs and attitudes.

Here we will be taking a look at:

Mind-Body Link: The Scientific Evidence
1. Mind and Body
2. Mind and Emotions
  1. Candace Pert’s Molecules of Emotion: A Review by the Smithsonian magazine
  2. Bruce Lipton’s Biology of Belief
  3. Positive Emotions: Barbara Frederickson’s Broaden and Build Theory
  4. Is there a link between happiness and health?
The Stress Response and the Relaxation Response
1. The Stress Response (also known as the Fight or Flight Response)
  1. The Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis (Hormonal)
  2. The Neurological (Sympathetic Pathway) and Hormonal (HPA Axis) Pathways
2. The Relaxation Response: [Video] – Easy Ways to Take the Edge Off
3. Physiological Changes in the Stress and Relaxation Responses
4. Physiological Changes in a well regulated Immune System
Effective Methodologies that evoke the Relaxation Response
1. Meditation
  1. What is meditation
    1. Buddhist meditation
      1. Metta meditation
      2. Samatha meditation
      3. Vipassana meditation
    2. Hindu meditation
    3. Other meditations
      1. The Nazarene Way
      2. Sufi Meditation of the Heart
  2. Types of Meditation
    1. Concentration Meditation
      1. Breathing meditation
      2. Loving-Kindness meditation
      3. Transcendental meditation
    2. Mindfulness Meditation
      1. Insight meditation
    3. Others
  3. Meditation and Health
  4. Use of Meditation in Healthcare
    1. Anxiety
    2. Depression
    3. Stress
    4. Insomnia
    5. Pain
    6. Physical or emotional symptoms that may be associated with chronic illnesses (such as heart disease, HIV/AIDS, and cancer) and their treatment
    7. General well-being
  5. If you are using meditation for healing:
    1. Do not use meditation as a replacement for conventional care or as a reason to postpone seeing a doctor about a medical problem.
    2. Get guidance from an experienced meditation instructor
    3. Look for published research studies on meditation for the health condition in which you are interested
    4. Tell all your health care providers about any complementary and alternative practices you use. Give them a full picture of what you do to manage your health
  6. Adverse Effects of Meditation
2. Progressive Muscle Relaxation
3. Biofeedback
4. Hypnosis
5. Yoga
Healthy Mind, Healthy Body
1. How the Mind influences the Body
  1. Today, science knows for a fact that mind indeed influences the body. The question now is not whether the mind affects the body but how much it affects the body. Is the erroneous thinking in our mind the primary cause of diseases in our body? If so, can this process be reversed by correcting those erroneous thoughts or beliefs? How?
  2. We recognize that the creative power of the mind is limitless. The mind can literally kill us as well as heal us. Thus we should make our mind the first line of defense against diseases (physical and mental) and it behooves us to cultivate our mind to the best of our ability. This should be our primary task if we are to achieve a holistic and optimum health that is not only free from diseases and pain but also gives us energy and vitality to appreciate life to the fullest.
2. What is a healthy mind?
3. How to achieve a healthy mind state?
4. Is it possible for the mind to be totally free from stress?
Healing the Mind
1. While a healthy, perfect mind is highly desirable, it is not easy to come by. In my own experience, it is easier to heal the body than to heal the mind. However, since most, if not all, of our bodily diseases have their causes in the mind, it is imperative that we heal the mind.
2. Why is it so difficult to heal the mind? Perhaps it is because most of the pain are so deeply buried in our subconscious mind that we do not even recognize its existence. And even if we do, we may not want or have the courage to face it or acknowledge it. Without this acknowledgement, healing cannot begin.
3. Once acknowledged, however, the opportunity for healing arises. There are many different methods and tools to heal the mind. Some of these are widely accepted and practiced in allopathic medicine while others can be found in the complementary or alternative medicine. Still others are found in the traditional practices of various cultures around the world.
4. In no particular order, here is a small sample of methods used for mental healing:
  1. Meditation
  2. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
  3. Hypnotherapy
  4. Past Life Regressions
  5. Family Constellation
  6. Shamanism
Mind Science and Spirituality

Personalities in Mind-Body Medicine:

Walter Bradford Cannon
- He coined the term Fight or Flight and wrote on the Importance of Homeostasis
George Solomon
- Linked stress (emotion) to rheumatoid arthritis (physical illness) in 1970s
Robert Ader
- Coined the term psychoneuroimmunology
- In an experiment in 1970s, a group of rats was fed with a sweetened drink followed by an injection (cytoxan) that caused stomach pain and also suppressed the immune system. Subsequently, the rat became conditioned and refused to take the drink. However, when they were forced fed with the sweetened drink, they died, even though there was nothing in the drink that could kill him. They concluded that simply by taking the sweetened drink, the rats’ immune system was suppressed, and they died from infections that they could not fight off
Herbert Benson
- The author of The Relaxation Response (1975), Timeless Healing: The Power and Biology of Belief (1996), and many other books on mind-body medicine, beliefs and spirituality
Sheldon Cohen
Richard Davidson
- Did researches on effects of meditation with the Dalai Lama and his monks

Healing Tools:

Articles:

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