Everything starts with the mind. Thoughts, beliefs, emotions and models of reality all influence and affect your biological chemistry. The words that you say to yourself have more of an impact on your health and wellbeing than you realise.
The power of negative thoughts are potent, an accumulation of these thoughts contribute to your mind sensing that you’re in danger. Danger leads to a state of fear that leads to the fight or flight response. The response, which is triggered by your sympathetic nervous system, results in the release of cortisol and adrenaline. In the long term, these neurotransmitters manifest as diseases through inflammation. Reducing the negative stories we tell ourselves will reduce our reaction to stress, therefore reducing illnesses and diseases.
By following the simple steps below, you can start becoming conscious of your mind-body connection and use it to live a healthier life.
- Become aware of your thoughts. What kind of words pass through your mind on a daily basis? Are they positive words that affirm and empower you? Or are they toxic, negative words that bring you down?
- After identifying what kind of thoughts you think, the next time you experience a negative thought, stop and flip it around to become positive. If your thought was “I am bad at my job” change that to “I am amazing at my job, I’m organised, I complete all of my tasks on time and I enjoy what I do”. Changing the way we talk to ourselves has a massive impact on the chemical reactions in our body. Less negative chatter leads to less stress.
- To fully influence the mind-body connection, not only do you need to say the positive words, but you need to feel them. Thoughts need to be in alignment with your emotional state, otherwise, the thought will not get past the brain. A sure way of changing your emotional state is through gratitude. Gratitude acts as a reset button, once you change your emotional state through gratitude, it becomes much easier to feel all of your positive thoughts.
Take a deep breath.
P.S If you’re not sure how to start practising gratitude have a look here.
For more posts like this check out The Evolve Project