By Brittany Mott
The phone is ringing; coworkers are waiting at her desk with questions and paperwork; her to-do list is a million items long; no matter what she does she feels as though she will never be able to make a dent or any difference at all; she begins feeling as though she is suffocating in the 4×4 cubical; the phone is still ringing. Before she faces just one more thing that could possibly send her over the edge into a panic attack, she closes her eyes and indulges in a long inhalation…1…2…3…4…exhalation…1…2…3…4. A much calmer office worker suddenly feels as though she can take on the world.
What happened in this scenario? What caused this sudden change of attitude and emotion from the brink of a panic attack to the confidence and strength to take on more? The purpose of this paper is to delve into the following topics that will explain a powerful circle: 1) The effect of the mind on the body 2) The effect of the body on the mind and 3) Yoga: a healthy mind and body.
The first perspective we will look at is the effect of the mind on the body. You might say, “This is obvious. The mind makes our muscles move, which makes our bodies do what we want them to do.” But it goes much deeper than that. The mind has so many tools at its command that most people take for granted. How often does a person consider that each breath taken into the lungs carries oxygen to the bloodstream which in turn circulates the precious oxygen to each necessary part of the body including billions of cells and then expels the unwanted carbon dioxide when they exhale? It is time to realize that our minds have the ability to take control of powerful tools, such as breath for example. Our minds have the ability to ease pain in any part of the body by simply thinking about that part of the body. A simple test to prove this is to place a hand on a table and sit very still. Concentrate fully on the thumb and within a few moments, you will begin to feel it throbbing. Imagine the combination of thinking of a pained body part and sending healing breath to it at the same time?
The human mind has the ability to do this. However, this ability can be crippled by the mind itself. Negativity can invade, blocking impulses from being properly transmitted between the central-nervous system and the brain. When this happens, there are a number of consequences as a result. The brain cannot interpret impulses correctly, and this affects the functioning of the brain and body, leaving a person susceptible to disease and emotional distress. On the other hand, positivity can take over and have the opposite effect, enriching life with an increased life span, freedom from depression, greater resistance to the common cold, better psychological and physical well-being, reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease, and better coping skills during hardships and times of stress.
Study after study has proven the effects of negative and positive thinking on the body. A prime example is a person who is in a good mood, feeling perfectly healthy and someone comes up to them and gives them devastating news. The immediate reaction after shock could be a number of things: nausea, lightheadedness, weakness, pain, etc. An example of the other side of the coin is a person who is feeling sick or down and out and someone comes up and tells them something happy or funny. It will make the person laugh and that person will without a doubt feel some relief. One can easily see the effect of the mind on the body. One of the healthiest first steps that a person can take is using the mind to decide that he or she will think positively, opening the doors to health.
Yoga offers the opportunity to allow a person to step away from the hustle and bustle of daily life, to sit quietly, to move thoughtfully through a series of asanas, allowing the mind to use the tools it has been given to cleanse and revitalize the body. In twisting, one can literally wring tension from the center of the body, massaging the internal organs and promoting their healthy function of digestion and elimination. In balancing, one can regain confidence, develop strength, increase stamina and unite the mind and body working together to hold the body in place. In backbends, one can warm the system, rebelling against the constant forward activity that the body undergoes day in and day out for hours at a time, opening the chest to allow for better breathing. In inversions, one can defy the usual gravitational force, increasing the blood supply to organs that do not usually partake in the supply that lower extremities enjoy most of the time.
The second perspective to discuss is the effect of the body on the mind. It takes only a few moments to look around at those around us and see for ourselves. Those who take care of their bodies are healthier. And those that are healthier are happier. Virgil, a Roman Poet said, “The greatest wealth is health.” It does not matter how much money and how many possessions a person may have, if that person is not healthy, that person is not truly happy because they cannot fully enjoy the greatest material gift given to a human: life. Disease causes physical pain and as a result, causes emotional pain. Thoughts of “Why me?” and “I will never be able to do what I once could” and “never” and “quit” bombard the mind. One can easily see how the physical health can affect the mental health. But what steps can be taken to move toward a healthy body?
The first step to a healthy body is to start feeding it healthful foods, foods that do not hinder the bodily functions, but rather fuel them. Have you ever eaten a bag of chips, pure grease and salt, and felt like a zombie afterward? You don’t want to do anything, think anything, and everything just annoys you? The Sivananda Companion to Yoga states that “We are what we eat….Food is of course necessary for our physical well-being. But as well as this it also has a subtle effect on our minds, since the essence of food forms the mind.” How can the mind function properly when the body is drowned with tamasic (impure) food? The purest foods that can feed the body are the sattvic foods such as cereals, wholegrain breads, fresh fruits and vegetables, pure fruit juices, milk, butter and cheese, legumes, nuts, seeds, honey and herb teas (listed from the Sivananda Companion to Yoga). This is the diet of a yogi.
The second step to a healthy body, leading to a healthier mind, is to work the muscles and joints. Every part of the anatomy is intricately connected and if they are not worked now and then, connections fail, nerves are damaged, etc. Think of a broken leg. After 6 weeks of being trapped and useless inside a cast. Upon the removal of the cast, the muscles in the leg are almost comical in their diminished size. But after a few short days, the muscles are restored after light use. And then after much time, the muscles are as good, if not stronger, than they were before.
The same concept can be applied to yoga practice. Starting out as a somewhat broken structure, with consistent attention, care and practice, the body can be brought to a healthiness incomparable with what it was before. Yoga is the perfect solution for working each and every portion of the body by its innumerable combinations of postures and series. And in final relaxation, the yogi can feel a balance and peace of body as well as the mind. There is no other exercise in this age that allows more opportunity in one hour or even in fifteen minutes of sun salutations to work and lubricate every particle of the body.
The final perspective to look at is Yoga: a healthy mind and body. Yogis can hurt themselves with imbalance. Yogis that are trying to prove something to everyone but themselves prove nothing and hurt themselves. They want to see who can twist the most or bend the furthest. Their minds are in the wrong place. This will result only in a dissatisfied feeling after practice. The other extreme is when the yogis are not paying attention and let their minds wander, resulting in zero mastery of the body and possibly injury from pushing too far without realizing, or not pushing their edges enough.
There are many different types of yoga. Some of the types focus primarily on the mind, such as Raja, in which meditation is the bulk or all of the practice. Some types focus primarily on the body, such at Hatha, in which the bulk of the practice is in holding postures in order to build strength. No matter what type of yoga a person may choose, it is important that there be a balance between mental and physical work and mastery. Is that not what yoga is all about? The word yoga means “unity”. All of the yogas intertwine in one way or another. For instance, Hatha yoga requires the mastery of the body. But how do we master the body, but by our minds willing us to hold a posture? And how would Raja yoga be possible if the body were not trained to remain still, which is a work of the body itself, just a different fashion?
Returning to the scenario of the office worker, we now see what happened when the deep breath was taken. It was a connection of the mind and body. The mind telling the body, “You need to calm down.” And the body responding with a deep inhalation of oxygen, shooting energy straight to the brain, empowering the worker to take on more. The more a person practices yoga, the more natural it will become to take the yoga “off the the mat” and into the world to face challenges. If practiced correctly, yoga will naturally increase the yogi’s desire to treat the body more healthfully by feeding it with wholesome foods and moving it with purpose.
In conclusion, Healthy Mind=Healthy Body. Healthy Body=Healthy Mind. One cannot be without the other, so both must have care and attention. The perfect solution to giving special care and attention to both is Yoga: Healthy Mind and Body.
“Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (World Health Organization, 1948).
A nursery rhyme said it well:
The best six doctors anywhere
And no one can deny it
Are sunshine, water, rest, and air
Exercise and diet.
These six will gladly you attend
If only you are willing
Your mind they’ll ease
Your will they’ll mend
And charge you not a shilling.
Wayne Fields, What the River Knows, 1990
Brittany Mott is a certified Yoga teacher. She teaches Yoga classes in the Clinton Township, Michigan area.