In Ancient Greece, Hippocrates developed medical practice by focusing on understanding the patient’s health and the harmony between the individual, social, and natural environment. He also highlighted the importance of a patient’s independence of mind, arguing that the brain could lead to disorders that affected behaviors, mental and physical health. His approach to medicine and patient treatment has since created the Hippocratic Oath, which healthcare workers still follow today.
Hippocrates was one of the first to recognize the role of the mind at the heart of many health complaints. Millennia later, we have still barely scratched the surface. But we know for sure that your thoughts affect your emotional responses, which can, in turn, impact on your health. Can you think yourself healthy? In theory, many of your health issues, both physical and mental, are linked to your mind. While your mind doesn’t create flu symptoms or cause a bone fracture, it is responsible for many significant ailments.
Your mind starts your addiction
Addictive substances are, unfortunately, a common trap that lures many individuals into a false sense of comfort. The reason for this issue lies in their numbing abilities. If you are exposed to high stress levels throughout the day, you might find that alcohol provides some form of solace. It is easier to get drunk than to find more sustainable stress-relief strategies. Therefore, it comes as a surprise to no one that alcohol treatment and rehab centers are full of people who can’t cope with chronic stress. But for individuals who are trying to recover from their addictions, the key is not in training the body to do without. Successful treatments have to include counseling and behavioral therapies to build the path to recovery. If you don’t teach the mind to cope with stress in the first place, you can free yourself from addictive behaviors.
Your mind holds the key to relaxation
Your mind keeps you awake at night. When you find yourself turning from one side to the other in bed without being able to fall asleep, your mind becomes your own enemy. Rather than relying on sleeping pills, you need to introduce an effective wind-down routine to your day. Sitting on the sofa and watching your favorite TV show can only help so much. But your mind needs to learn how to relax to allow the body to rest. Activities such as yoga can be useful, even for beginners, because they include soothing breathing techniques. Indeed, as your breathing dictates the pace, your mind can repeat the slow mechanical process and gradually decrease blood pressure and heartbeat.
Your mind helps you understand your emotions
Negative emotions can hurt you more than a physical blow. Indeed, if you don’t learn how to deal with negative emotions, you will carry them with you wherever you go. It’s easy to assume that others have inflicted the pain you feel. But, in truth, taking responsibility for your emotional reactions can help heal many painful traumas. Understanding your triggers transforms your response. As the mind can think its way through the situation, you can let go of past pains.
There is no healthy body without a healthy mind. Unlocking the powers of your mind can put you back behind the steering wheel. As you learn to understand the cause of some of your health issues, you can also discover how to stop destructive thought processes in their tracks.
