Demystifying the mindbody connection so we can heal trauma and stress.

As a chiropractor, I often hear individuals explaining mindbody medicine with truisms like “well, it’s all connected” and “everything is energy” or “it’s energy work”. Yes, it is all connected, and technically, everything is energy work, including you reading this article.

Our minds and bodies are inseparable. But just as we were limited by a purely physical view of the body, so too do we lose something essential when we ignore the physical by saying “it’s all energy”. Life was, is, and always will be both.

So while I’m glad that the mainstream no longer has its head stuck in the ground, I’m now finding many people in the forward wave with their head in the clouds. They lack a simple, grounded understanding of what’s actually happening. 

We’re going to take a moment now to demystify this connection. By understanding in simple practical terms how this works you can be empowered to make better decisions and create better experiences for yourself in body and mind.

Every moment, your mind is shaping your physical body.

In response to your thoughts, you have feelings. Feelings are physiologically represented in the body as a cocktail of chemicals, neurotransmitters, and hormones. These chemicals shape the action of all of your cells and alter your DNA expression. Altered DNA expression means different genes are switched on or off. Genes code for what proteins are manufactured by the cells, and proteins are the building blocks of your physical body.

Your thoughts, through this cascade, are literally writing the script for how your body builds and regenerates itself.

Different thoughts will produce different feelings. “I’m running late for work” is going to trigger feelings of stress. Your thought “I love my dog so very much” is going to trigger feelings of love.

Different feelings will have drastically different downstream effects. Stress creates a toxic chemical environment of stress which creates a physical body of stress. Love creates a healing chemical environment of love, which creates a physical body of wellness.

As the seed, so the fruit.

Think of your state (angry, happy, jealous, inspired, etc…) as a seed. Every moment, you’re sowing seeds with your thoughts and feelings. If you sow seeds of stress, they will ultimately sprout and bear the bitter fruits of stress in your mind, body and life. If you sow seeds of happiness, you will bear the sweet fruits of happiness.

You don’t get to spend all day planting seeds of stress and reap the fruits of health and happiness.

As the seed, so the fruit. As within, so without.

Getting stuck in a loop - Stress becomes the body

This connection is much deeper than positive thinking. That’s because your conscious brain is only 5% of who you are. The other 95% is the subconscious, which is really the mind in the body.

One thought or a passing feeling won’t reshape you. But when we habitually think and feel in a particular way for weeks, months, years, and even decades then the body (i.e. subconscious) inevitably reflects this.

Trauma, which is any experience we can’t fully experience at the time, can occur as an acute intense event or as many smaller stressors that we don’t process. Again, this starts from the mental level and literally creates our body. When this trauma becomes the body, it then shapes the mind to continue thinking and feeling in that same way.

Our bodies and minds are constantly adapting to what we do (or don’t) do, so with trauma your body and mind are literally practicing, over and over again, how to live in stress. Meditating reshapes you to get better at meditating. Running reshapes you to be better at running. Stress reshapes you to get better at stressing.

When trauma keeps us stuck in stress, things inevitably start to break down.

Just like you can’t be in love and fear at the same time, your body can’t be in stress and repair at the same time.

At some point, this will manifest itself as dis-ease. Whether it manifests as cancer, anxiety, digestive issues, or physical pain, it’s the same process. The mind becomes the body, which becomes the mind, which then creates a loop that determines our level of health and well-being.

It’s up to you

Medicine is (finally) breaking down the cartesian facade separating mind from body. Our mental, emotional, and physical bodies each inform and shape the other. Now you know how. 

Interestingly enough, the Buddha taught this thousands of years ago. Seeing nama (mind) and rupa (materiality) directly is a primary goal of insight meditation. I believe that for us today, too, understanding this connection opens the door to greater freedom and agency in our healing and in our lives.

Mindbody medicine is about unravelling the stress cycle that is bound in our subconscious (AKA the body) so that we can heal and thrive. When you release the stress underneath your condition it’s truly awe-inspiring how the body can change, adapt, and heal itself.

Equipped with this knowledge, you can step into the driver’s seat of your life. Instead of being a victim of the external world you now understand that moment by moment you are creating your experience in mind, body, and life from the inside out. 

Here’s to creating the more vibrant life that you know is possible.

In health,

Dr. Kent

I’m a holistic chiropractor that uses remote kinesiology to help clients release trauma and reclaim energy. Trauma bound in our bodies keeps us perpetually in stress, and when we’re in stress nothing works. Eventually it manifests as physical conditions, repeated stress patterns, and limiting beliefs. If you’re ready to release the root cause behind your pain and heal then check my website and book a free discovery call here.