Healing the Body with Mental Awareness

Many scientists, philosophers, and doctors believe that the mind can promote healing of the body or even stop disease. Researchers in the medical science community have been exploring the interconnections between the mind and body for centuries.

In 1920 Dr. Hans Berger, an Austrian Psychiatrist discovered brain waves with his invention called the Electroencephalograph, or EEG. The scientific community recognized and validated Dr. Berger’s research and was accepted by the modern scientific community. His research revealed there are six brain wave states: Beta, Alpha, Theta, Delta, Gamma, and Lamda. Brain activity varies depending on what activities are performed, the higher the stress and fast paced life style the higher brain activity. Having a faced paced life style keeps the brain in a constant High Beta activity, which is the state is associated with stress and anxiety. Dr. Berger said in his study “The problem with living in Beta brain wave states all the time is that there's not enough time for the body to heal itself.” The body must relax and become calm and peaceful in order for our brain to drop to levels of lower brain activity to promote healing.

Our brain waves are connected to our emotions and our emotions to our body. Feel stress, fear, sadness, pain our brain waves increase to a high beta state and this sends physical sensations to our body. Our hands might shake, body tenses, pulse races, breathing increases. When our emotions remain calm, happy, or positive our brain waves decrease to Alpha making it possible for our bodies to have a healing effect and boosting our immune system.

The Alternative Medicine Foundation uses a discipline called “science of consciousness”. They believe, “Mind/body medicine is based on the recognition of the relationship between mind and body, the body's innate healing potential, and the partnership of patient and healer in restoring the body to health.” The National Institute of Health wrote, “Mind-body practices focus on the interactions among the brain, mind, body, and behavior, with the intent to use the mind to affect physical functioning and promote health.”

The following story may help us understand how we can tap into our mind and allow our mind and body to work together to foster healing on a physical level.

The Polar Bears

A five year old girl had several planter warts on the bottom of her foot. Several over the counter wart removal remedies were tried with no success. She was taken to her pediatrician hoping to be treated with liquid nitrogen therapy. Instead Dr. Steinweg from Olympia Pediatrics recommended “Thought Therapy”. He believed that children are more susceptible to the power of suggestion and their brains were able to heal their own bodies because if we tell them they can, they will believe it.

The girl was told a powerful story about how thousands of polar bears where inside her body and that can heal the sickness in her foot. Each night she must tell the polar bears to swim to her foot and take away the warts. For the next three nights she thought very hard asking the polar bears to swim to her foot and heal the warts. On the fourth day her warts were gone. Yes, gone! Disappeared! After all those attempts with over the counter medications it was the power of the brain that worked.

Keeping a fast paced lifestyle may negatively affect ones health. But if we slow down and reduce stress our mind can help heal our bodies.