Have you ever feared of being sick so much, that you eventually got sick? Or have you ever felt a minor symptom and made it worse simply by believing it was worse? These are only a few examples of how our thought processes can affect our physical bodies and, ultimately, our health.

The human brain is mysterious. Scientists are still debating over things like memory storage, personality, consciousness and perception, as these are not fully understood by simply examining this peculiar organ. Phenomena such as the Placebo Effect (experiencing healing after the administration of an inactive substance or treatment) are also quite real, which only baffles scientists even more.

But if the brain has that kind of power — to heal the body with a sugar pill, for instance — then why does it elect to also cause harm and disease? And how is this even physically possible?

Somatisation: How to Mind Manifests Physical Symptoms

The human mind is hardwired to protect you. Fear and alertness are only natural responses to external threats. But did you know that the mind is unable to distinguish a real threat from an imaginary one? This is when emotions like anxiety arise, and when things get trickier.

Anxiety provoked by an intense belief or imaginary threat can result in physical symptoms. It’s why we can feel being injured ourselves when we hear about another person’s injury. Or why we feel intense hunger simply by imagining our favourite food. We can practically manifest physical symptoms of what we imagine intensely, particularly if we are anxious. This is called somatisation.

I recall a somatisation experience of my own when I was a Yoga trainer in India. I was visited by many people per day, sometimes even seconds after having my lunch (Yoga cannot be practised on a full stomach). One woman visited me during these hours, so I had to instruct rather than show her how to do the asanas. But the strangest thing happened…as I was instructing her, I could feel I was actually doing Yoga myself, to the point that I began to feel nauseous! Yet another example of how the mind can affect the physical body.

What happens is very simple: The mind becomes convinced of the thought (the Yoga asana, the injury that happened to a friend, the taste of food) that it produces the same neurohormones it would have excreted during the actual, physical event.

On a positive note, not being able to distinguish what’s real from imaginary can also work towards your benefit. For example, a calming visualisation of sitting in tranquil scenery can make you feel quite pleasant, as hormones like dopamine are released in this case.

Unfortunately, somatisation is more often manifested due to emotional and mental distress because that’s how our physical bodies are hardwired to respond. Let’s look deeper into how that connection between the mind and body occurs.

Mind to Body, Body to Mind

“Mind to body, body to mind” – Hindu proverb

The Rishis of Ancient India were well aware of the connection between the mind and the body. This is a truth still carried into holistic practicestoday, forming the backbone of all mind-body-spirit healing modalities.

There are two ways our thoughts can affect our health and wellbeing through the mind-body connection:

• From the mind to the body

This is when a person anxiously suspects an illnessbased on minor symptoms only to manifest the full-blown illness themselves. For example, let’s assume a middle-aged man urinates often and therefore suspects diabetes. He fixates so much on diabetes, perhaps his wife or friends also have it, so he has become well-versed in the symptoms and signs of the illness. Eventually, he manifests diabetes, not because his frequent urination was a precursor to that (it could have merely been something as simple as a UTI, which is more common at his age) but because his anxious mind obsessed over the illness so much.

Even professionals can obsess over illness to the point of manifesting it physically. A well-respected oncologist in Sydney who specialised in brain tumour surgery, managed to manifest a brain tumour in his own body! This was a man who was deeply obsessed with his subject, a highly analytical mind, and a dedicated professional in his industry. But sometimes over-analysis leads to stimulating those neurohormones that act as if the disease is actually happening, thus eventually manifesting it!

• From the body to the mind

This is when a person dealing with an actual disease that lingers or a disease for which a cure or relief can’t be found and thus develops mental anxiety. For example, a cancer patient who is convinced that he cannot heal from cancer may only end up exacerbating his symptoms even more while also becoming mentally ill.

In the case of our brain doctor friend earlier, we can assume he was also dealing with this kind of somatisation. Perhaps he was concerned not about getting ill, but about not finding a cure for brain tumours, that he became overstressed and anxious. And in turn, this anxiety manifested the tumour himself. So, mind-body and body-mind somatisation both took place here, as he was indirectly affected by both an actual disease that persisted (his patients’) and his own anxious thoughts.

You can now probably understand how the mind can impact the physical body, and vice versa. But what can be done to make sure this impact is a positive rather than a negative one?

Turning Thoughts Around: 3 Ways to Manifest and Magnetise Optimal Health

If the mind can be programmed to think negatively, then it can also be programmed to think positively. And if it can manifest the negative, then it can also attract and manifest the positive. Good health may literally only be a thought away!

Here are three ways you can program your mind to magnetise optimal health, in body, mind and spirit:

1. Try learning Pranayama first. Yogic breathing exercises can help rid the mind of negative, obsessive thoughts and rumination. Add Pranayama, like Ujjayi(Ocean Breath), to your daily practice, starting with as little as three minutes a day. To learn more about Yogic breathing, you can purchase our comprehensive and beginner-friendly YATAN Yoga Therapy book.
   
   
2. Use daily affirmations. An affirmation is an affirmative sentence based on the positive thing you want to attract into your life. In the case of health, you can form a sentence like “I have perfect health” or “I feel healthy and happy every day of my life”. Create a sentence that means something to you and that accurately depicts what you want to attain. Each night, switch off the lights and lie flat on your bed (no pillow) and recite the affirmation eleven rounds. Make sure to be fully relaxed when you do this, moments before dozing off to sleep. When you’re done, reposition your pillow and go to sleep. You can repeat this same process in the morning to activate the affirmation for 24 hours.
   
   
3. Visualize the desired result. You can re-use your affirmation in a visual meditation. You won’t have to worry about counting rounds, as long as you can do this exercise for about a minute and at least once daily. Simply relax in a seated or lying down position (some preliminary Pranayama may be a good idea) and internally voice the affirmation. Attempt to “hold” the sentence within your mind and visually see the result it describes. Sense this with all your being, as if it is already happening to you. This will ultimately function as a suggestion towards your brain, which in turn will start releasing the necessary hormones to manifest the desired outcome.

Conclusion

The mind can affect the body, just as the body can affect the mind. Understanding this connection and how the brain works are key to knowing how to rewire your thoughts and use them to your benefit. Why create negative results when you can create positive manifestations?

At ourYatan Holistic Ayurvedic Centre in Sydneywe can help you get to the bottom of the negative thoughts you are experiencing that may be affecting your health and wellbeing. We can look into any reasons behind these thoughts by using Astrology, Palm Reading, and Tantra while also assisting you on your health journey no matter what symptoms you are suffering from.

Are you suffering from negative, repetitive thoughts that are only wreaking havoc on your health and wellbeing?Contact us today for a phone consultation or book an appointment online.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to substitute medical advice. All information and resources referenced, including medicinal preparations, fitness, dietary and lifestyle recommendations, are based on the opinion of the author. Please consult a medical practitioner if you require advice or are experiencing any worrisome symptoms.