The mind-body connection is something that is rapidly growing in awareness and impact, as more scientific research and studies are completed on exactly what the connection is, and how it works. It’s pretty fascinating stuff!

I’m sure, like me, you’ve had times when you feel your mood take a negative turn. This leads to a shift in your emotions and thoughts, which can impact the actions you take. Often, you’ll also feel these emotions and thoughts show up physically in your body. Perhaps as a tightening of your stomach, change to your breathing, your body temperature might change, or you get the start of a headache.

Thoughts and behaviours really do have the ability to change your stress levels and physical health, resulting in a powerful impact on your overall wellbeing.

This is why it is important to focus on your mindset. On being aware of the way you think because of this fast and noticeable connection to your body. It works the opposite way too; the body impacts how your mind thinks.

A great example of this is where you might not be eating the most nourishing, nutritious foods. You feel the impact on your body, probably with some bloating in your tummy, maybe indigestion or trapped wind, you might also feel sluggish and tired. What is very common alongside these physical effects on your body, is that you experience low mood too. When your bodily systems respond to a poor diet and fight to work the way they should do, your mind is also altered and responds in a similar way.

What is so great about the mind-body connection, is that the way you think really can have profound effects on how physically well you are. There’s been lots of studies performed testing the effects of placebos - a fake drug given to a small group of people, whilst another real drug is given to another small group within the overall test group. The outcome is most often that those taking the placebo drug have positive physical reactions, triggered by the person’s belief that the treatment is going to work for them, resulting in their high expectation of feeling better. Similarly, if the person taking the placebo has negative thoughts about the drug, they can have adverse side effects and present with physical symptoms that are not as a consequence of taking an active drug, but rather because of the power of their mind.

The placebo effect has also been tested in non-drug studies, one being the impact that the mind has on doing exercise. In a study where participants were asked to perform different cycling tasks over one month, those who were in the group shown videos about the positive impacts of cycling and told why cycling was beneficial for them, found the sessions to be much less strenuous than those were shown films that played down the benefits of cycling. The outcome concluded that how you think about the exercise before starting has a profound effect on how difficult you find it and the results you get from completing the session.

I know from my journey with exercise, the huge impact it has had on my mind. I used to exercise purely as a solution to the size and shape I wanted my body to be. I worked out frequently, usually pretty vigorously, from a place of negativity. I wanted to solve the way I looked and used exercise as the answer to my problem. Several years ago, I had a complete pivot in how I exercised, also shifting my attitude and reason for doing it. I started exercising from a place of desire, to feel better in my mind and body. It became about being strong, mentally and physically. It was no longer me punishing myself for what I’d eaten, trying to burn off the excess calories and lose a few pounds. I wanted to exercise because I learned the power of moving my body on my overall wellbeing. This was a game-changer for me.

Moving your body regularly has enormous benefits to how you feel in every way. It’s proven, and I know this firsthand, that regular physical activity results in biological changes, which in turn impact the function of your brain and your mind. The endorphins that are released during movement, work as a natural painkiller, helping you to feel physically better. As well as many other positive effects on the body’s systems - the circulatory, immune, endocrine, digestive and nervous systems - it positively impacts and creates changes in your brain. It lifts your mood, your focus, your thoughts and beliefs. It’s an everlasting circle of connection between your mind and body - as your mind becomes more positive and strong, so does your body, which in turn helps you to feel stronger and more positive mentally. The loop is continuous.

This is why mindset is so important to your overall health and wellbeing. How you think results in how you feel, leading to your behaviours and actions. These all combine to create your habits and lifestyle which merge and contribute massively to your overall happiness. For me, mindset is everything. It’s at the centre of my five pillars of wellness that I focus on in my coaching programmes because it forms the roots and lifeline to building the right habits in every area of your wellbeing.

I like to use the car analogy; without every part of the car fully primed and prepped for your journey, it’s unlikely to get you to your destination safely. The same works for you; to be healthy and happy, you need to have a strong mind and body. If one part of the mind or body isn’t functioning in quite the right way, you’re likely to experience adverse mental or physical symptoms, preventing you from feeling and operating as your best self.

Think about how you can give yourself what you need to build a strong mind and body. Work on making your mind more positive and optimistic, so it becomes a habit. There are so many ways to improve your mindset but starting with this simple understanding of the connection between your mind and body, to bring awareness to the impact of how you think and feel, is a great first step to take on your journey to a healthier you.

Sources:

Exercise research and findings

Biochemistry of the mind-body

THE MIND BODY CONNECTION

IS COACHING WORTH IT?

THE FIRST STEP IS ALWAYS THE HARDEST