Have you ever wondered how your thoughts can give you a stomachache or how a tough day can lead to a headache? That's the mind-body connection doing its dance, and it's something called "psychosomatic." Don't let the fancy term spook you, it just means that our minds and bodies are chatting away, and sometimes, that conversation can cause physical symptoms.
Consider your body as an expressive chatterbox, constantly in conversation with your brain and feelings. It signals you with joy, caution, and sometimes, with urgent alerts that something is wrong. For instance, when we're neck-deep in work, ignoring our body's whispers for rest, the brain ramps up its messaging. Pain, fatigue, or discomfort then become more pronounced, it’s the brain's way of speaking in somatic tongues.
For example, stress, like a maestro, orchestrates our body responses. Ever felt your heart race at the thought of an upcoming challenge? That's your body reacting to the mind's anticipation. But the impact can go beyond a momentary adrenaline rush; chronic stress can lead to lasting physical consequences such as acne, hypertension or weakened immunity.
Now, let's talk about something a lot of us do but don't like to admit—we bottle up our anger. When we shove our anger down, it doesn't just vanish; it's like shaking a soda can. Keep it in, and you might find yourself feeling really down or even getting sick. On the other hand, if you let it out all at once, it's like popping the can open, and whoosh, it can get messy. When we suppress our anger, it often results in one of two outcomes: it turns inward and takes the form of depression, sometimes somaticizing into disease, or it bursts out of us in an exaggerated and inappropriate way.
Moreover, paying attention to our daily thoughts is an essential indicator for our awareness. Let's be mindful of the stories we tell ourselves. Our interpretation of an event, or the 'story' we construct around it, can prime our body's 'fight, flight, or freeze' response. Why do people react differently to the same event? It's because each of us perceives reality in our own way. Sometimes this perception is problem-focused, and other times it's solution-focused. Take conflicts, for instance: rather than seeing them as insurmountable problems and dwelling on their inconvenience, try to view them as obstacles that you are well-equipped to overcome. Shift your thinking and be confident that you CAN overcome any obstacle. Recognize your habits in how you engage with stress, and learn to make choices in thinking or behaving in a more helpful way.
So, in order to increase our quality of life, we should increase the quality of our awareness: Our body is the home of our state of mind, emotions and personality. So, let’s be aware of every corner of this house and bring back a sense of home in it. In other words, in the symphony of well-being, the mind and body harmonize, dissolving the dichotomy between these two. Acknowledging this interplay introduces a new level of awareness into our lives; we become conscious of our physical selves, our mental states, and also our habits, behaviors, and past traumas. It's with this awareness that we can truly accept ourselves and embark on a path of growth and evolution.
By Laetitia Bassil