D Shapiro, the mind heals the body. ©Debbie Shapiro from the book “The Mind Heals the Body”

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Psychosomatics of neck diseases: We “swallow” reality through the throat

To understand the body-mind connection, we must first understand that the body and mind are one. We usually view our own body as something we carry around with us (often not exactly what we would like).

This “something” is easily damaged, requires training, regular food and water intake, a certain amount of sleep and periodic checks. When something goes wrong, it gets us into trouble, and we take our body to the doctor, believing that he or she can “fix” it faster and better. Something has broken - and we fix this “something” motionless, as if it were an inanimate object, devoid of intelligence. When the body is functioning well, we feel happy, alert and energetic. If not, we become irritable, upset, depressed, filled with self-pity.

The neck is a two-way bridge between the body and mind

At the level of the neck we enter from the abstract into physical conception; therefore, here we bring in breath and food, which support us and ensure physical existence. The neck is a two-way bridge between body and mind, allowing the abstract to become form and form to express itself. Through the neck, thoughts, ideas and concepts can move into action; at the same time, internal feelings, especially those coming from the heart, can be released here. Crossing this “bridge” at the neck level requires involvement and full participation in life; lack of engagement can lead to a severe separation of body and soul.

We “swallow” reality through our throats. Consequently, difficulties in this area may be associated with resistance or unwillingness to accept this reality and include oneself in it. Food is what sustains us and keeps us alive; This is a symbol of nutrition in our world, which is often used to replace the manifestations corresponding to it. Weren’t we often told in childhood: “Swallow your words,” and thus swallow your own feelings? Serge King wrote in his book “Imagineering for Health”:

We tend to associate food with ideas, as manifested in expressions such as “food for the mind,” “do you think this can be digested?”, “served with sauce,” “this is an unappetizing idea,” or “he has been stuffed with false ideas.” Therefore, when reactions to unacceptable ideas are suppressed, swelling and pain may appear in the throat, tonsils and adjacent organs.

A similar reaction can develop in response to the feelings of others or situations that we are offered to “swallow”, while we find them “inedible”.

Since the throat is a “two-way bridge,” problems in this area can equally reflect both resistance to the need to “swallow” unacceptable phenomena of reality and the inability to release emotions, be it love, passion, pain or anger. If we believe that expressing these emotions is somehow unacceptable or we are afraid of the consequences of expressing them, we block them, and this leads to a buildup of energy in the throat. This “swallowing” of one’s own feelings can cause severe tension in the neck and tonsils located here. There is an easy connection between the neck and the fifth chakra as the center of divine communications.

The neck also serves as a means of allowing us to look around, that is, to see all aspects of our world. When the neck becomes stiff and stiff, it limits its mobility, which in turn limits your vision. This indicates that our views become narrow, that our thinking becomes narrow, that we recognize only our own point of view, see only what is right in front of us. It also indicates self-centered stubbornness or rigidity. Such enslavement limits the flow of feelings: and communications between the mind and body. A blockage or tightness in the neck quite obviously separates us from experiencing the reactions and desires of our body, as well as from the influx of experience from the outside world.

Since the neck relates to conception, it also represents the feeling of having a right to be here, a sense of belonging, a sense of home. If this sensation is lost, the integral sense of confidence and presence is destroyed, which may result in a spasm or constriction of the throat.

In such cases, it can be very difficult to swallow something, the energy stops flowing to our physical being. This creates the “hippie syndrome” (“avoidance syndrome”), which is triggered by feelings of rejection and resentment. All this can also affect the functional state of the thyroid gland, since it is associated with the breathing mechanism, and, consequently, with the supply of air, which gives us life.

Debbie Shapiro: Whatever you hold in your mind will be reflected in your body - Mind and Body

There is a natural connection between the mind and body. Whatever you hold in your mind will be reflected in your physical body. Any hostile feelings or cruelty towards another, strong passion, persistent envy, painful anxiety, outbursts of ardor - all this really destroys the cells of the body and causes the development of diseases of the heart, liver, kidneys, spleen, stomach, etc. Anxiety and stress have led to new deadly diseases, high blood pressure, damage to the heart and nervous system, and cancer. Pains that torment the physical body are secondary diseases.

Appetite - Our appetite depends entirely on our attitude towards ourselves and our essence, from feelings of emotional hunger or satiety. Insufficient saturation leads to deep inner hunger, a lack of not only food, but also love, emotional excitement, in other words, to inner emptiness.

A voracious appetite indicates a reluctance to look within for answers to difficult questions, as if unbridled consumption of food could bring some kind of satisfaction and liberation. When we are emotionally satisfied (we gain self-love and the ability to love others), then our appetite becomes normal.

Bulimia - This condition is mainly due to the same internal reasons as anorexia and obesity, but is manifested by eating huge amounts of food followed by forced vomiting. In this case, the self-antipathy is so great that vomiting is prioritized over health, further reinforcing the self-loathing.

Eating and then getting rid of food does not bring any pleasure. All this points to obvious depression and despair. It is important to show unselfish love and acceptance, because behind the desire to get rid of food lies the need to get rid of despair.

Hypoglycemia - Low sugar levels are a sign that we are giving too much to others without leaving any for ourselves. It shows that you need to start loving yourself, giving yourself credit, and only then loving others. Hypoglycemia can also develop during increased workload or excessive stress, when blood sugar reserves are depleted faster than we can restore them.

Depression - Depression involves deep inner sadness and a desire for a different life, a contradiction between the ideal and the real, between who we would like to be and who we really are. Of course, this condition is determined by a chemical or hormonal imbalance, but the cause can be found in underlying attitudes and emotional problems. What difficulties did we experience as children?

Have we ever experienced wars in which life is worthless? Perhaps we have lost the purpose and meaning of life by losing a loved one? Depression demonstrates quite frankly the relationship between the mind and the body: when the mind is depressed, the body loses its vitality and healthy functions. In this situation, it is important to achieve deep relaxation and reconnect with reality."

Stomach - The process of digestion begins here, and this applies equally to both the digestion of food and the digestion of reality, events and emotions. If reality is “indigestible” or “nauseating,” then it may indeed cause indigestion or nausea. The stomach is emotionally connected to food, love and mother. A "sucking" emptiness in the stomach often signifies a need for love and emotional support, as well as a need for food. Stomach problems arise when life does not live up to our expectations, and we react negatively to this by creating acid in the stomach.

Indigestion - What or who do we “not digest”? The stomach is the place where we take in food, reality, thoughts, feelings and events from the outside in order to digest, assimilate and integrate them into our systems. If something disrupts digestion, it means that somehow the reality that we are dealing with and which we have accepted into ourselves is causing disorder and disharmony.

Nervousness - It is manifested by an aggravated reaction to other people, indicating a lack of contact with one’s own inner essence. This is a very egocentric state in which we perceive all things only subjectively, that is, in accordance with how they relate to us. At the same time, we live in constant fear of attacks or insults; we are not able to relax and free ourselves from our egoistic attitudes. There is no trust. Relaxation is of great importance.

Obesity - This condition is often regarded as a price for success: now we are doing so well that we can afford to eat whatever we want. Food is a wonderful means of relaxation and emotional satisfaction because our minds associate it with love and motherhood.

However, if it is used to replace emotional emptiness or as compensation for emotional isolation, then obesity develops. At the same time, we place a layer of fat between our inner self and the outer world, assigning it the role of a defensive moat that should protect us from attack, from our own vulnerability and possible offense. But with the same success it interferes with our free expression. Obesity often develops after severe emotional shock or loss, as the feeling of emptiness becomes unbearable.

We lose purpose and meaning in life, and our attempt to fill this emptiness actually makes it worse. Excess flesh indicates that we are holding on to rigid mental attitudes and stereotypes, although in reality they have long caused embarrassment. Obesity in children may reflect their difficulties in coping with reality or expressing themselves and often manifests itself after a parent's divorce or the death of one of them.

Edema - Edema can be a swelling, as occurs with a bruise or inflammation. It means emotional resistance or holding back emotions. Edema is the accumulation of fluid, the accumulation of emotions that we hold back, considering their expression unacceptable. This is also a way of self-defense, and we can ask ourselves, what is it that we feel that we need to protect ourselves from? In more serious cases, generalized edema may develop.

Pathological addictions - These are attempts to find satisfaction in something outside oneself, since the ability to satisfy needs from within has been lost. Pathological addictions to food, cigarettes, drugs, alcohol, sex, and so on may develop. Whatever they are, they fill the void, dull the feeling of hopelessness, the meaninglessness of life, which, like a whirlpool, draws us in and requires sacrifice.

This is an unresolved issue of our relationship with ourselves, resentment and anger at a world that does not fulfill our desires; inability to truly love yourself and perceive your loneliness without fear. We all maintain our own ego in one way or another. Some demonstrate it and the fears and neuroses associated with it outwardly, through an addiction to something material, while others hide it inside, becoming afraid of the dark or attacks. To get rid of these addictions, you need strength and personal courage, you need to strive towards the unknown, gain confidence that everything will be okay, and most importantly, cultivate self-love.

Stress can be either positive, playing a stimulating and creative role, or negative, threatening life. The stressor itself is much less important than our reaction to it: how we react to situations, events, feelings and difficulties determines stress-related changes in the body. Instead of blaming external circumstances for your troubles, you need to look within yourself and examine your own reactions, motives and attitudes. Deep relaxation is of great importance.
From the book "THE MIND HEALS THE BODY" by D. Shapiro

Human health is the result of a complex, integrated interaction between the spiritual and physical “parts” of the body. The book explains in detail and clearly how their interaction occurs at different levels, what can and should be done in order to support or correct it, and therefore, ensure a happy longevity without illness or decrepitude.

***

Chapter 1
THE CONTAINER OF GREAT WISDOM

Any persistent thought resonates in the human body.
Walt Whitman

In almost all excellent writings on medicine and healing, one basic concept is often omitted, apparently as irrelevant. It is a relationship between mind and body that may have a direct impact on our health and our ability to heal.

The fact that these relationships do exist and are very important is only now beginning to be recognized; We still have to learn and accept their deeper true meaning for humans.

Only when we explore the extraordinary relationships between all aspects of our personality (our needs, unconscious reactions, repressed emotions, desires and fears) and the functioning of the body's physiological systems, their ability to self-regulate, only then will we begin to clearly understand how great the wisdom of our body is.

With extremely complex systems and functions, the human body exhibits limitless intelligence and compassion, constantly giving us the means to further self-knowledge, confront unexpected situations and move beyond our subjectivity.

The unconscious energies that underlie our every action manifest themselves in the same way as our conscious thoughts and feelings.

To understand this body-mind connection, we must first understand that the body and mind are one. We usually view our own body as something we carry around with us (often not exactly what we would like). This “something” is easily damaged, requires training, regular food and water intake, a certain amount of sleep and periodic checks.

When something goes wrong, it gets us into trouble, and we take our body to the doctor, believing that he or she can “fix” it faster and better. Something has broken - and we fix this “something” motionless, as if it were an inanimate object, devoid of intelligence.

When the body is functioning well, we feel happy, alert and energetic. If not, we become irritable, upset, depressed, filled with self-pity.

This view of the body seems frustratingly limited. He denies the complexity of the energies that determine the integrity of our body - energies that continuously communicate and flow into each other, depending on our thoughts, feelings and physiological functions of various parts of our being.

There is no difference between what happens in our minds and what happens in our bodies. Therefore, we cannot exist separately from the body in which our life is contained.

Please note: in English, to indicate someone significant, the word “somebody” is used, which means both “someone” and “important person”, while an insignificant person is defined by the word “nobody”, that is, “no one” or "nonentity".

Our bodies are us. Our state of being is the direct result of the interaction of multiple aspects of existence. The expression “My hand hurts” is equivalent to the expression “The pain inside me manifests itself in my hand.”

Expressing arm pain is no different than verbally expressing dysphoria or embarrassment. To say that there is a difference is to ignore an integral part of the whole human being.

Treating only the hand means ignoring the source of the pain that manifests itself in the hand. To deny the body-mind connection is to deny the opportunity that the body gives us to see, acknowledge and eliminate inner pain.

The effect of body-mind interaction is easy to demonstrate. It is known that feelings of anxiety or worry for any reason can lead to indigestion, constipation or headaches, and accidents.

It has been proven that stress can lead to stomach ulcers or heart attacks; that depression and sadness make our bodies heavy and sluggish - we have little energy, we lose our appetite or eat too much, we feel back pain or tension in our shoulders.

Conversely, a feeling of joy and happiness increases our vitality and energy: we need less sleep and feel alert, less susceptible to colds and other infectious diseases, since our bodies become healthy and therefore better able to resist them.

You can gain a deeper understanding of the "mind of the body" if you try to see all aspects of physical and psychological life.

We must learn to understand that everything that happens to our physical body must be controlled by us, that we are not just victims and should not suffer at all until the pain passes. Everything we experience within the body is an integral part of our total existence.

The concept of "mind body" is based on the belief in the unity and integrity of every human being. Although the integrity of the individual is determined by many different aspects, they cannot be isolated from each other.

They are in constant interaction with each other, knowing everything about each other at any moment. The "mind of the body" formula reflects psychological and somatic harmony: the body is simply a gross manifestation of the subtlety of the mind.

“The skin is inseparable from the emotions, the emotions are inseparable from the back, the back is inseparable from the kidneys, the kidneys are inseparable from the will and desires, the will and desires are inseparable from the spleen, and the spleen is inseparable from sexual intercourse,” wrote Diana Conelli in the book Traditional Acupuncture: The Law of Five elements"

(Dianne Connelly “Traditional Acupuncture: The Law of the Five Elements”).

The complete unity of body and mind is reflected in states of health and illness. Each of them is a means by which the “mind of the body” tells us what is happening under the corporeal shell.

For example, an illness or accident often coincides with significant changes in life: moving to a new apartment, new marriage or change of job. Internal conflicts during this period easily throw us off balance, resulting in a feeling of uncertainty and fear.

We become open and defenseless to any bacteria or viruses.

At the same time, illness gives us a respite, the time needed to rebuild and adapt to changed circumstances. Illness tells us that we must stop doing something: it gives us space in which we can reconnect with those parts of ourselves with which we have ceased to be in touch.

It also puts into perspective the meaning of our relationships and communication. This is how the wisdom of the mind of the body manifests itself in action, the mind and body constantly influencing each other and working together.

The transmission of signals from the mind to the body occurs through a complex system involving the bloodstream, nerves, and a variety of hormones produced by the endocrine glands.

This extremely complex process is regulated by the pituitary gland and hypothalamus. The hypothalamus is a small region of the brain that controls many body functions, including thermoregulation and heart rate, as well as the activity of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.

Numerous nerve fibers from throughout the brain converge in the hypothalamus, connecting psychological and emotional activity with bodily functions.

For example, the vagal nerve from the hypothalamus goes straight to the stomach - hence stomach problems caused by stress or anxiety. Other nerves extend to the thymus and spleen, the organs that produce immune cells and regulate their function.

The immune system has a huge potential for protection, rejecting everything that could be harmful to us, but it is also subordinate to the brain through the nervous system. Therefore, she directly suffers from mental stress.

When we are exposed to severe stress of any kind, the adrenal cortex releases hormones that disrupt the brain-immune communication system, suppressing the immune system and leaving us defenseless against disease.

Stress is not the only factor that can trigger this reaction. Negative emotions - suppressed or prolonged anger, hatred, bitterness or depression, as well as loneliness or bereavement - can also suppress the immune system, stimulating the hypersecretion of these hormones.

The brain contains the limbic system, which is represented by a set of structures, which includes the hypothalamus.

It performs two main functions: it regulates autonomic activity, for example, maintaining the body’s water balance, gastrointestinal activity and hormone secretion, and in addition, it unites human emotions: sometimes it is even called the “nest of emotions.”

Limbic activity connects our emotional state with the endocrine system, thus playing a leading role in the relationship between body and mind. Limbic activity and the functioning of the hypothalamus are directly regulated by the cerebral cortex, which is responsible for all forms of intellectual activity, including thinking, memory, perception and understanding.

Since all this warns of danger and prepares to meet it, it is not surprising that the body has no time to rest. All this leads to muscle tension, nervous confusion, spasms of blood vessels, and disruption of the functioning of organs and cells.

In order not to fall into a state of anxiety when reading these lines, you should remember that such a reaction is not caused by the event itself, but by our attitude towards it.

As Shakespeare said: “Things in themselves are neither good nor bad, but they are so in our imagination.” Stress is our psychological reaction to an event, but not the event itself. The anxiety system is not triggered by a quick and easily disappearing wave of anger or despair, but by the accumulating effect of constant or long-suppressed negative emotions.

The longer an unreacted mental state persists, the more harm it can cause, depleting the resistance of the “mind of the body” and continuously spreading streams of negative information.

However, it is always possible to change this state, because we can always work on ourselves and move from simple reactivity to conscious responsibility, from subjectivity to objectivity.

For example, if we are constantly exposed to noise at home or at work, we may respond with increased irritability, headaches and increased blood pressure; at the same time, we can, by objectively assessing the situation, try to find a positive solution.

The message we convey to our body - irritation or acceptance - is the signal to which it will respond. Repeating negative thought patterns and attitudes, such as worry, guilt, jealousy, anger, constant criticism, fear, etc., can cause us much more harm than any external situation.

Our nervous system is entirely under the control of the “central regulatory factor,” a control center that in humans is called personality.

In other words, all situations in our lives are neither negative nor positive - they exist on their own.And only our personal attitude determines their belonging to one category or another.

Our bodies reflect everything that has happened and experienced by us, all movements, satisfaction of needs and actions; we contain within ourselves everything that has happened to us. The body actually captures everything previously experienced: events, emotions, stress and pain are locked inside the body shell.

A good therapist who understands the mind of the body can read the entire history of a person's life by looking at his physique and posture, observing his free or constrained movements, noting areas of tension, and at the same time the characteristics of injuries and illnesses suffered.

Our bodies become a “walking autobiography”, our body features reflecting our experiences, traumas, worries, anxieties and relationships. The characteristic pose - when one stands, bent low, the other stands straight, ready to defend - is formed in early youth and is “built into” our primordial structure.

To consider that the body is an isolated mechanical system is to miss the point. This means denying yourself the source of great wisdom that is available at any time.

Just as the body reflects everything that happens in a person’s consciousness, so the consciousness experiences pain and discomfort when the body suffers. The universal law of karma about cause and effect cannot be avoided.

Every phenomenon in human life must have its own reason. Each manifestation of human physicality must be preceded by a certain way of thinking or emotional status. Paramahansa Yogananda says:

Anxiety and stress have led to new deadly diseases, high blood pressure, damage to the heart and nervous system, and cancer. Pains that torment the physical body are secondary diseases.

****

Neck

At the level of the neck we enter from the abstract into physical conception; therefore, here we bring in breath and food, which support us and ensure physical existence.

The neck is a two-way bridge between body and mind, allowing the abstract to become form and form to express itself.

Through the neck, thoughts, ideas and concepts can move into action; at the same time, internal feelings, especially those coming from the heart, can be released here. Crossing this “bridge” at the neck level requires involvement and full participation in life; lack of engagement can lead to a severe separation of body and soul.

We “swallow” reality through our throats. Consequently, difficulties in this area may be associated with resistance or unwillingness to accept this reality and include oneself in it.

Food is what sustains us and keeps us alive; This is a symbol of nutrition in our world, which is often used to replace the manifestations corresponding to it. Weren’t we often told in childhood: “Swallow your words,” and thus swallow your own feelings? Serge King wrote in his book “Imagineering for Health”:

We tend to associate food with ideas, as manifested in expressions such as “food for the mind,” “do you think this can be digested?”, “served with sauce,” “this is an unappetizing idea,” or “he has been stuffed with false ideas.”

Therefore, when reactions to unacceptable ideas are suppressed, swelling and pain may appear in the throat, tonsils and adjacent organs.

A similar reaction can develop in response to the feelings of others or situations that we are offered to “swallow”, while we find them “inedible”.

Since the throat is a “two-way bridge,” problems in this area can equally reflect both resistance to the need to “swallow” unacceptable phenomena of reality and the inability to release emotions, be it love, passion, pain or anger.

If we believe that expressing these emotions is somehow unacceptable or we are afraid of the consequences of expressing them, we block them, and this leads to a buildup of energy in the throat. This “swallowing” of one’s own feelings can cause severe tension in the neck and tonsils located here.

There is an easy connection between the neck and the fifth chakra as the center of divine communications.

The neck also serves as a means of allowing us to look around, that is, to see all aspects of our world. When the neck becomes stiff and stiff, it limits its mobility, which in turn limits your vision.

This indicates that our views become narrow, that our thinking becomes narrow, that we recognize only our own point of view, see only what is right in front of us.

It also indicates self-centered stubbornness or rigidity. Such enslavement limits the flow of feelings: and communications between the mind and body. A blockage or tightness in the neck quite obviously separates us from experiencing the reactions and desires of our body, as well as from the influx of experience from the outside world.

Since the neck relates to conception, it also represents the feeling of having a right to be here, a sense of belonging, a sense of home. If this sensation is lost, the integral sense of confidence and presence is destroyed, which may result in a spasm or constriction of the throat.

In such cases, it can be very difficult to swallow something, the energy stops flowing to our physical being. This creates the “hippie syndrome” (“avoidance syndrome”), which is triggered by feelings of rejection and resentment.

Mikhail Efimovich Litvak, If you want to be happy...

Liz Burbo, Five traumas that prevent you from being yourself

Encyclopedia of symbols
(any edition)
Genre – reference, educational literature, dictionary

Since ancient times, people have used symbolic language to talk about the secret or beautiful. Chroniclers and artists, famous poets and anonymous creators of cult texts - they all imbued their works with metaphors and images.

Psychologists have adopted this tradition. Freud, being a thoughtful researcher of the psyche, believed that the unconscious also uses allegory. Of course, the founder of psychoanalysis reduced all the symbolism of the unconscious to erotic images. But this fact does not negate the idea itself; it just designates the sphere of Freud’s professional interests and speaks of his limits as a scientist.

Having been practicing for many years, I am sure that the messages of the soul are encoded in images and symbols. It's not just about dreams. Metaphors of the Universe are everywhere - in bodily impulses, works of art, and the surrounding nature. And it is sometimes impossible to decipher them without special knowledge.

Even clients who consider themselves rationalists and pragmatists confirm this.

...Evgenia, one man said, I've been haunted by butterflies all week. It started when two of them flew into the office windows and got entangled in the blinds. The employees rushed to save them, while I watched with the usual irony. But I was relieved when they got out alive... Then, at a picnic, one brave one sat on my arm. Look, I was even able to take a photo... And yesterday, don’t laugh, when I was cleaning their colored remains from the windshield, I almost shed a tear... Damn it, what’s going on, I want to know!

That's why the list is an encyclopedia of symbols. Psychological thinking or vision is itself symbolic. By getting acquainted with the interpretation of images accepted in world culture, the psychologist not only expands his horizons, but also develops as a professional. Let me remind you that entire directions and methods of practical psychology are based on symbolic thinking (art therapy, symboldrama, psychodrama, body-oriented therapy).

“Reading” together with the client the drawings and texts created during the work, step by step we comprehend the secret code of the Soul, gradually learning to see the shades and specifics of our own images.
Our the butterfly flutters differently...

My personal affinity for metaphorical language was expressed in the creation parables You can read some of them on this site. A Wave Gymnastics allows me to comprehend the hidden messages of the body.

Everything is a sign. And only we can unravel the whisper of the Creator or ignore it.

Let the encyclopedia of symbols become your friend and assistant in professional excellence.

Collection of parables
(any edition)

Parables also serve the same purpose - the development of figurative, metaphorical thinking. Short stories that have passed through centuries, they contain answers to many questions in a condensed form. It is no coincidence that some psychologists consider parables to be a special type of “folk self-therapy.”

Parables are easy to use when working with a client. It is enough to remember a suitable story and offer it for discussion. And then analyze options for ideas that came up as you read. Amazing insights happen to people when they realize that a situation can be viewed in different ways. Discussing a parable can be a gentle way to approach a difficult topic. Or give feedback to the client.

Read parables, young colleagues, look for images and themes in them that are close to you personally. This will add to your skill set.

Ray Bradbury
Dandelion wine
Genre – fiction

Bradbury's work gives me a special awe. Ray - Teacher. Yes Yes. He influenced my development as a writer, from him I learned to see beauty in details, to love life in all its manifestations... Humanism - treating people as the highest value - is another lesson learned.

For me, the best manifesto that embodied these and other values was the novel “Dandelion Wine.” A fairy-tale story, summer itself - warm, sparkling, multifaceted. I know that “Wine...” is loved by many, and every reading adds more fans to Ray’s work.

“...Some days it’s good to taste, and other days it’s good to touch. And there are times when there is everything at once. For example, today it smells as if one night there, behind the hills, out of nowhere, a huge orchard appeared, and everything up to the horizon is fragrant. There is a smell of rain in the air, but there is not a cloud in the sky..."

“...At first, in a thin stream, then more and more generously, the juice of the beautiful hot month ran along the gutter into clay jugs; they let it ferment, skim off the foam and pour it into clean ketchup bottles - and they lined up in rows on the shelves, glistening in the darkness of the cellar.
Dandelion wine.

These very words are like summer on the tongue. Dandelion wine is summer caught and corked in bottles... After all, this summer will certainly be a summer of unexpected miracles, and you need to save them all and put them aside somewhere for yourself, so that later, at any hour when you want, you can tiptoe into the humid darkness and extend your hand..."

Summer flavor is great. But there is something more that touches, and whatever it is, stirs the soul of each of us. Published more than half a century ago, the novel subtly and deeply, psychologically true and accurately depicts the inner world of a teenager. Or maybe this is too narrow? Gently and lovingly, Bradbury reminded us of how he grew, matured and was becoming any of us.

Friendship and separation, awareness of life and facing death, family values and loneliness, dreams and creativity...

And love, love, love, which, like the golden light of summer flowers, permeates every description, every phrase, the love that radiates from the entire novel. Love for people, your past, writing, for us, the readers.
“How can I thank Mr. Jonas? - thought Douglas. - How can I thank him, how can I repay him for everything he did for me? There is nothing, well, nothing to repay for this. There is no price for this. How to be? How? Maybe we need to repay someone else somehow? Pass gratitude around? Look around, find a person who needs help, and do something good for him. This is probably the only way..."

Of course, there are other books on the subject of growing up. For example, J. Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye." And yet, “Wine...” is closer to me.

I will not reveal all the intrigue and describe the differences. I'll just encourage you again:

Read, for both books are worthy of being read and used in our noble cause - healing the human Soul. For both authors did the same thing - they loved us and treated us, each in their own way.

Debbie Shapiro
Bodymind: A Workbook (How the Body and Mind Work Together)
Genre – psychological guidance, workshop

Knowledge of psychosomatics, even basic knowledge, is necessary for a psychologist. As has been mentioned many times, our body speaks to us using metaphorical language. Any ailment, illness or accident is a message from the Soul.

Here is what D. Shapiro writes about this:

“...The body is a walking book in which our experiences, traumas, worries, worries and relationships are recorded. Uncertain posture, a stooped or weak back, or, conversely, a strong and strong back, remain with us from an early age, becoming part of our essence. To believe that the body is only a separate, mechanically working organism means not to see the most important thing. To reject, thereby, the source of great wisdom, which is always at our disposal.”

Unfortunately, our ideas about psychosomatics are very superficial. The common phrase “all diseases are from nerves” has rather an ironic connotation, and for medical workers the term “psychosomatic” is often synonymous with the words “far-fetched”, “imaginary”, “imaginary”.

There is another, already personal reason why many deny the psychosomatic nature of diseases and, even more so, accidents:
“Do I want to harm myself?!” - the man exclaims.
I agree, in reality, no one consciously dreams of harming their health. However, the body, mind/thinking and Soul are connected by the finest, sometimes incomprehensible threads:

“...Just as the body reflects everything that happens to the consciousness, so the consciousness reacts to the pain and discomfort that the body experiences. There is no escaping the universal law of cause and effect... The messages we subconsciously send to the body are a factor in how we feel. Messages behind which there are failures, despair, anxiety are destructive in nature, they cause a malfunction in the functioning of defense mechanisms (the immune system). By weakening the body, they indirectly prepare it for illness. When we say our heart is broken, can the body recognize the difference between emotional and physical distress? It seems not, because the power of imagination has a very direct effect on our body...”

D. Shapiro’s short book contains in concentrated form both the mechanisms of occurrence of psychosomatic problems and methods of working with them. The book also contains a comprehensive dictionary of the most common diseases and their explanation from the perspective of psychosomatics.

Unlike other authors, D. Shapiro approaches the interpretation of ailments from different angles. It not only describes the relationship between a “damaged” organ or part of the body and its functionality, but also relies on the complexity of connections in the body:

“A lot of details matter. What part of the body is damaged? Where is it located - on the right or on the left? What tissues – soft, hard, liquid – does it consist of? What sphere of activity (action, movement) does it represent? What system (digestion, circulatory...) does it belong to?..”

In addition, the author points out, one should pay attention to “out-of-body” details, for example, events preceding illness, words and metaphors with which a person describes an illness, the attitude towards illness on the part of loved ones, personal perception of oneself, the patient...
At one time I was struck by a phrase from the book:

“Illness also has positive sides: it gives us the opportunity to temporarily free ourselves from responsibility and responsibilities and take time for ourselves. It’s as if we are on vacation and allow ourselves to do things that we forbid when we are healthy. Including, when we get sick, we more easily express feelings, for example, love or care. Especially if we are talking about a serious threat to life... Sometimes an illness hints that it’s time to take a break, tune in to changes, get used to them. Or, on the contrary, we need to stop doing something that weakens us..."

The book is full of examples, including personal ones.

“By studying body language, we learn what and how the Soul communicates to us. And we will soon realize that behind recurring illnesses lies something deeper... The transition from illness to healing and health requires great courage, strength and honesty. We must take an active part in our own healing. If we have participated in the disease (no matter how unconsciously), we are able to participate in its healing.”

On my own behalf, I will add that by learning to recognize the psychosomatic causes of your own illnesses, you will gain inner freedom, acceptance of both your capabilities/resources and your limitations.

Arnhild Lauveng
Tomorrow I was always a lion
Genre: biographical prose

Book by a Norwegian author. This unusual text was written by a woman who suffered from schizophrenia for nine years. Yes, I was exactly sick. Arnhild Lauveng is a former schizophrenic, a man who defeated the disease.

I started reading this book three times. For the first time, having mastered several pages, I convinced myself that I would never have to work with like this clients; She slammed the book and returned it to her colleague. The second time I glanced through the text, snatching out passages... They say, I got an idea of what was written...

And only now, having postponed the creation of this article, I sat down to the book consciously - with a pencil, stopping, thinking. And the point is not at all that the text is replete with “terrible” pictures. rather, on the contrary, Arnhild spares us, the “healthy ones.”

Yes, the modern reader and viewer knows works on the topic of madness that are “more terrible” than the work of Arnhild Lauveng. Take at least some of Stephen King's novels or films, such as "Shutter Island", "Mom" and others...

Now I understand that before I was prevented from reading the book by my own fears. Many of us for the time being avoid confrontation with the beyond, be it death, madness or spirituality. Any kind of otherness frightens us.

However, a psychologist needs to take risks and expand his consciousness, leaving his comfort zone, touching on topics that are “scary” for most people. This is the only way we, psychologists, can feel what it is like to be Other.
That's why Arnhild Lauveng's book is on my list.

In detail, but at the same time with care for “healthy” readers, Arnhild describes the origin and course of the disease, focuses on the internal experiences and suffering of patients, insisting that a piece of “I” in a schizophrenic always remains intact. The book contains a lot of discussions about the diagnostic system and treatment methods for schizophrenia, problems of adaptation and relationships with loved ones, discrimination against mentally ill people in society...

And, of course, there are practical aspects that will be useful to a psychologist. For example, I took into work invaluable information about symptoms:

“Symptoms belong to the person who exhibits them. They appear during illness from within our personality, created on the basis of our interests and life experiences. At the same time, the person does not realize that he himself created his symptom... For example, I had many hallucinations. And hallucinations are not brought in from somewhere outside, they are not something that has nothing to do with the personality of a particular person. All my hallucinations contained important and correct truths, expressed in clumsy language, because I could not speak differently then. This is roughly what happens with dreams. Just like the dreams of healthy people, the hallucinations of patients with schizophrenia also need to be deciphered and interpreted.”

There is another theme in the book that resonates warmly with me. The author sincerely thanks those people who met along her path, helping her cope with the disease. She writes not only about doctors and nurses, but also about social service workers, random fellow travelers and neighbors, new colleagues, employers who gave not just a place, but a chance.

It is also therapeutic for me to realize that a person is capable of overcoming any obstacles, rising above any problems. Increase your awareness, accept responsibility for your choices and move towards your goal.
Filled with courage, love for people and faith in human capabilities, the book will bring hope and desire to overcome life’s difficulties into your world, young colleagues.

“The first thing you need to know when you start developing a plan is where you want to go. I wanted to become completely healthy and study to become a psychologist. This was my goal. But many of my assistants, seeing how bad I was, set more realistic goals in their work: to teach me to get along with the symptoms, to become independent. Of course, these were not bad goals, but they did not inspire me. Besides, those were their goals, not mine. I didn’t want to accept my illness, I wanted to defeat it.”

Good luck and prosperity,
Evgenia Oshchepkova

Ecology of Health: This book remains a fascinating story about the intimate relationship between the human mind and body...

The book remains fresh and exciting, an exciting and exciting story about the intimate relationship between the human mind and body. It clearly shows how conflict situations, fears, feelings of melancholy or depression can directly negatively affect your body and cause more or less permanent disorders of its activity, and interfere with the normal functioning of a wide variety of organs - from the heels to the roots of the hair.

In almost all excellent writings on medicine and healing, one basic concept is often omitted, apparently as irrelevant. It is a relationship between mind and body that may have a direct impact on our health and our ability to heal.

The fact that these relationships do exist and are very important is only now beginning to be recognized; We still have to learn and accept their deeper true meaning for humans.

Only when we explore the extraordinary relationships between all aspects of our personality (our needs, unconscious reactions, repressed emotions, desires and fears) and the functioning of the body's physiological systems, their ability to self-regulate, only then will we begin to clearly understand how great the wisdom of our body is.

With extremely complex systems and functions, the human body exhibits limitless intelligence and compassion, constantly giving us the means to further self-knowledge, confront unexpected situations and move beyond our subjectivity. The unconscious energies that underlie our every action manifest themselves in the same way as our conscious thoughts and feelings.

To understand this body-mind connection, we must first understand that body and mind are one. We usually view our own body as something we carry around with us (often not exactly what we would like). This “something” is easily damaged, requires training, regular food and water intake, a certain amount of sleep and periodic checks. When something goes wrong, it gets us into trouble, and we take our body to the doctor, believing that he or she can “fix” it faster and better. Something has broken - and we fix this “something” motionless, as if it were an inanimate object, devoid of intelligence. When the body is functioning well, we feel happy, alert and energetic. If not, we become irritable, upset, depressed, filled with self-pity.

This view of the body seems frustratingly limited. He denies the complexity of the energies that determine the integrity of our body - energies that continuously communicate and flow into each other, depending on our thoughts, feelings and physiological functions of various parts of our being. There is no difference between what happens in our minds and what happens in our bodies. Therefore, we cannot exist separately from the body in which our life is contained.

Please note: in English, to indicate someone significant, the word “somebody” is used, which means both “someone” and “important person”, while an insignificant person is defined by the word “nobody”, that is, “no one” or "nonentity".

Our bodies are us. Our state of being is the direct result of the interaction of multiple aspects of existence. The expression “My hand hurts” is equivalent to the expression “The pain inside me manifests itself in my hand.” Expressing arm pain is no different than verbally expressing dysphoria or embarrassment. To say that there is a difference is to ignore an integral part of the whole human being. Treating only the hand means ignoring the source of the pain that manifests itself in the hand. To deny the body-mind connection is to deny the opportunity that the body gives us to see, acknowledge and eliminate inner pain.

The effect of body-mind interaction is easy to demonstrate. It is known that feelings of anxiety or worry for any reason can lead to indigestion, constipation or headaches, and accidents. It has been proven that stress can lead to stomach ulcers or heart attacks; that depression and sadness make our bodies heavy and sluggish - we have little energy, we lose our appetite or eat too much, we feel back pain or tension in our shoulders. Conversely, a feeling of joy and happiness increases our vitality and energy: we need less sleep and feel alert, less susceptible to colds and other infectious diseases, since our bodies become healthy and therefore better able to resist them.

You can gain a deeper understanding of the "mind of the body" if you try to see all aspects of physical and psychological life. We must learn to understand that everything that happens to our physical body must be controlled by us, that we are not just victims and should not suffer at all until the pain passes. Everything we experience within the body is an integral part of our total existence.

The concept of "mind body" is based on the belief in the unity and integrity of every human being. Although the integrity of the individual is determined by many different aspects, they cannot be isolated from each other. They are in constant interaction with each other, knowing everything about each other at any moment.

The mind-body formula reflects psychological and somatic harmony: the body is just a gross manifestation of the subtlety of the mind. “The skin is inseparable from the emotions, the emotions are inseparable from the back, the back is inseparable from the kidneys, the kidneys are inseparable from the will and desires, the will and desires are inseparable from the spleen, and the spleen is inseparable from sexual intercourse,” wrote Diana Conelli in the book Traditional Acupuncture: The Law of Five elements" (Dianne Connelly "Traditional Acupuncture: The Law of the Five Elements").

The complete unity of body and mind is reflected in states of health and illness. Each of them is a means by which the “mind of the body” tells us what is happening under the corporeal shell.

For example, an illness or accident often coincides with significant changes in life: moving to a new apartment, new marriage or change of job. Internal conflicts during this period easily throw us off balance, resulting in a feeling of uncertainty and fear. We become open and defenseless to any bacteria or viruses. At the same time, illness gives us a respite, the time needed to rebuild and adapt to changed circumstances. Illness tells us that we must stop doing something: it gives us space in which we can reconnect with those parts of ourselves with which we have ceased to be in touch. It also puts into perspective the meaning of our relationships and communication. This is how the wisdom of the mind of the body manifests itself in action, the mind and body constantly influencing each other and working together.

The transmission of signals from the mind to the body occurs through a complex system involving the bloodstream, nerves, and a variety of hormones produced by the endocrine glands. This extremely complex process is regulated by the pituitary gland and hypothalamus. The hypothalamus is a small region of the brain that controls many body functions, including thermoregulation and heart rate, as well as the activity of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. Numerous nerve fibers from throughout the brain converge in the hypothalamus, connecting psychological and emotional activity with bodily functions. For example, the vagal nerve from the hypothalamus goes straight to the stomach - hence stomach problems caused by stress or anxiety. Other nerves extend to the thymus and spleen, the organs that produce immune cells and regulate their function.

The immune system has a huge potential for protection, rejecting everything that could be harmful to us, but it is also subordinate to the brain through the nervous system. Therefore, she directly suffers from mental stress. When we are exposed to severe stress of any kind, the adrenal cortex releases hormones that disrupt the brain-immune communication system, suppressing the immune system and leaving us defenseless against disease. Stress is not the only factor that can trigger this reaction. Negative emotions - suppressed or prolonged anger, hatred, bitterness or depression, as well as loneliness or bereavement - can also suppress the immune system, stimulating the hypersecretion of these hormones.

Located in the brain limbic system, represented by a set of structures, which include the hypothalamus. She performs two main functions:

regulates autonomic activity, for example, maintains the body's water balance, gastrointestinal activity and hormone secretion,
unites a person’s emotions: sometimes it is even called the “nest of emotions.”

It is the cerebral cortex that begins to “sound the alarm” in the event of perception of any life-threatening activity. (Perception does not always correspond to a true threat to life. For example, stress is perceived by the body as a mortal danger, even if we think that it is not.) The alarm signal affects the structures of the limbic system and hypothalamus, which, in turn, affect the secretion of hormones and the functioning of the immune and nervous systems. Since all this warns of danger and prepares to meet it, it is not surprising that the body has no time to rest. All this leads to muscle tension, nervous confusion, spasms of blood vessels, and disruption of the functioning of organs and cells.

In order not to fall into a state of anxiety when reading these lines, you should remember that such a reaction is not caused by the event itself, but by our attitude towards it. As Shakespeare said: “Things in themselves are neither bad nor good, they are only like that in our minds”. Stress is our psychological reaction to an event, but not the event itself. The anxiety system is not triggered by a quick and easily disappearing wave of anger or despair, but by the accumulating effect of constant or long-suppressed negative emotions. The longer an unreacted mental state persists, the more harm it can cause, depleting the resistance of the “mind of the body” and continuously spreading streams of negative information.

However, it is always possible to change this state, because we can always work on ourselves and move from simple reactivity to conscious responsibility, from subjectivity to objectivity. For example, if we are constantly exposed to noise at home or at work, we may respond with increased irritability, headaches and increased blood pressure; at the same time, we can, by objectively assessing the situation, try to find a positive solution. The message we convey to our body - irritation or acceptance - is the signal to which it will respond.

Repeating negative thought patterns and attitudes, such as worry, guilt, jealousy, anger, constant criticism, fear, etc., can cause us much more harm than any external situation. Our nervous system is entirely under the control of the “central regulatory factor,” a control center that in humans is called personality. In other words, all situations in our lives are neither negative nor positive - they exist on their own. And only our personal attitude determines their belonging to one category or another.

Our bodies reflect everything that has happened and experienced by us, all movements, satisfaction of needs and actions; we contain within ourselves everything that has happened to us. The body actually captures everything previously experienced: events, emotions, stress and pain are locked inside the body shell. A good therapist who understands the mind of the body can read the entire history of a person's life by looking at his physique and posture, observing his free or constrained movements, noting areas of tension, and at the same time the characteristics of injuries and illnesses suffered. Our bodies become a “walking autobiography”, our body features reflecting our experiences, traumas, worries, anxieties and relationships.

The characteristic pose - when one stands, bent low, the other stands straight, ready to defend - is formed in early youth and is “built into” our primordial structure.

Just as the body reflects everything that happens in a person’s consciousness, so the consciousness experiences pain and discomfort when the body suffers. The universal law of karma about cause and effect cannot be avoided. Every phenomenon in human life must have its own reason. Each manifestation of human physicality must be preceded by a certain way of thinking or emotional status. Paramahansa Yogananda says:

"There is a natural connection between the mind and the body. Whatever you hold in your mind will be reflected in your physical body. Any hostile feelings or cruelty towards another, intense passion, persistent envy, painful anxiety, outbursts of vehemence - all this is real destroys the cells of the body and causes the development of diseases of the heart, liver, kidneys, spleen, stomach, etc. Anxiety and stress have led to new fatal diseases, high blood pressure, damage to the heart and nervous system, cancer.Pains that torment the physical body, "These are secondary diseases." published

From Debbie Shapiro's book "The Mind Heals the Body"

Any persistent thought resonates in the human body.
Walt Whitman

In almost all excellent writings on medicine and healing, one basic concept is often omitted, apparently as irrelevant. It is the relationship between mind and body, which may directly affect our health and our ability to recover.

The fact that these relationships do exist and are very important is only now beginning to be recognized; deeper we have yet to learn and accept their true meaning for humans.

Only when we explore the unusual relationships between all aspects of our personality (our needs, unconscious reactions, repressed emotions, desires and fears) and the functioning of the physiological systems of the body, their ability to self-regulate, only then will we begin clearly understand how great the wisdom of our body is.

With extremely complex systems and functions, the human body exhibits limitless intelligence and compassion, constantly providing us with the means to further self-knowledge, confront unexpected situations and move beyond the limits of our subjectivity.

The unconscious energies that underlie our every action manifest themselves in the same way as our conscious thoughts and feelings.

To understand this body-mind connection, we must first understand that the body and mind are one. We usually view our own body as something we carry around with us. (often not exactly what we would like).

This “something” is easily damaged, requires training, regular food and water intake, a certain amount of sleep and periodic checks.

When something goes wrong, it gets us into trouble, and we take our body to the doctor, believing that he or she can “fix” it faster and better. Something has broken - and we fix this “something” motionless, as if it were an inanimate object, devoid of intelligence.

When the body is functioning well, we feel happy, alert and energetic. If not, we become irritable, upset, depressed, filled with self-pity.

This view of the body seems frustratingly limited. He denies the complexity of the energies that determine the integrity of our body - energies that continuously communicate and flow into each other, depend on our thoughts, feelings and physiological functions of various parts of our being.

There is no difference between what happens in our minds and what happens in our bodies. Therefore, we cannot exist separately from the body in which our life is contained.

Please note : in English, to indicate someone significant, the word “somebody” is used, which means both “someone” and “important person”, while an insignificant person is defined by the word “nobody”, that is, “nobody”, or “ nonentity."

Expressing arm pain is no different than verbally expressing dysphoria or embarrassment. To say that there is a difference is to ignore an integral part of the whole human being.

Treating only the hand means ignoring the source of the pain that manifests itself in the hand. To deny the body-mind connection is to deny the opportunity that the body gives us to see, acknowledge and eliminate inner pain.

The effect of body-mind interaction is easy to demonstrate. It is known that Feeling anxious or anxious about anything can lead to an upset stomach, constipation or headache, to accidents.

It has been proven that stress can lead to stomach ulcers or heart attacks; that depression and sadness make our bodies heavy and sluggish - we have little energy, we lose our appetite or eat too much, we feel back pain or tension in our shoulders.

AND on the contrary, the feeling of joy and happiness increases our vitality and energy: We need less sleep and feel alert, less susceptible to colds and other infectious diseases as our bodies become healthy and therefore better able to resist them.

You can gain a deeper understanding of the "mind of the body" if you try to see all aspects of physical and psychological life.

We must learn to understand that everything that happens to our physical body must be controlled by us, that we are not just victims and should not suffer at all until the pain passes. Everything we experience within the body is an integral part of our total existence.

They are in constant interaction with each other, knowing everything about each other at any moment. The Mind-Body Formula Reflects Psychological and Somatic Harmony: The body is simply a gross manifestation of the subtlety of the mind.

“The skin is inseparable from the emotions, the emotions are inseparable from the back, the back is inseparable from the kidneys, the kidneys are inseparable from the will and desires, the will and desires are inseparable from the spleen, and the spleen is inseparable from sexual intercourse,” wrote Diana Conelli in the book Traditional Acupuncture: The Law of Five elements"

(Dianne Connelly “Traditional Acupuncture: The Law of the Five Elements”).

The complete unity of body and mind is reflected in states of health and illness. Each of them is a means by which the “mind of the body” tells us what is happening under the corporeal shell.

For example, an illness or accident often coincides with significant changes in life: moving to a new apartment, new marriage or change of job. Internal conflicts during this period easily throw us off balance., resulting in a feeling of uncertainty and fear.

We become open and defenseless to any bacteria or viruses.

In the same time illness gives us a break, the time required to rebuild and adapt to changed circumstances. Illness tells us that we must stop doing something: it gives us space in which we can reconnect with those parts of ourselves with which we have ceased to be in touch.

Moreover, she puts into perspective the meaning of our relationships and communication. This is how the wisdom of the mind of the body manifests itself in action, the mind and body constantly influencing each other and working together.

The transmission of signals from the mind to the body occurs through a complex system involving the bloodstream, nerves, and a variety of hormones produced by the endocrine glands.

This extremely complex process is regulated by the pituitary gland and hypothalamus.

The hypothalamus is a small area of the brain, which controls many body functions, including thermoregulation and heart rate, as well as the activity of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.

Numerous nerve fibers from throughout the brain converge in the hypothalamus, connecting psychological and emotional activity with bodily functions.

For example, The vagal nerve from the hypothalamus goes directly to the stomach- hence stomach problems caused by stress or anxiety. Other nerves extend to the thymus and spleen, the organs that produce immune cells and regulate their function.

The immune system has enormous potential for protection, rejecting everything that could be harmful to us, but it also subordinated to the brain through the nervous system. Therefore, she directly suffers from mental stress.

When we are exposed to severe stress of any kind, the adrenal cortex releases hormones that disrupt the system brain-immune connections, suppressing the immune system and leaving us defenseless against disease.

Stress is not the only factor that can trigger this reaction.

Negative emotions- suppressed or prolonged anger, hatred, bitterness or depression, as well as loneliness or bereavement - may also suppress the immune system, stimulating the hypersecretion of these hormones.

The brain contains the limbic system, which is represented by a set of structures, which includes the hypothalamus.

It performs two main functions: it regulates autonomic activity, for example, maintaining the body’s water balance, gastrointestinal activity and hormone secretion, and in addition, it unites human emotions: sometimes it is even called the “nest of emotions.”

Limbic activity connects our emotional state with the endocrine system, thus playing a leading role in the relationship between body and mind.

Limbic activity and the functioning of the hypothalamus are directly regulated by the cerebral cortex, which is responsible for all forms of intellectual activity, including thinking, memory, perception and understanding.

It is the cerebral cortex that begins to “sound the alarm” in the event of perception of any life-threatening activity. (Perception does not always correspond to a true threat to life. For example, stress is perceived by the body as a mortal danger, even if we think that it is not.)

The alarm signal affects the structures of the limbic system and hypothalamus, which, in turn, affect the secretion of hormones and the functioning of the immune and nervous systems.

Since all this warns of danger and prepares to meet it, it is not surprising that the body has no time to rest. All this leads to muscle tension, nervous confusion, spasms of blood vessels, and disruption of the functioning of organs and cells.

In order not to fall into a state of anxiety when reading these lines, you should remember that such a reaction is not caused by the event itself, but by our attitude towards it.

As Shakespeare said: “Things in themselves are neither bad nor good, they are only like that in our minds.”

Stress is our psychological reaction to an event, but not the event itself. The anxiety system is not triggered by a quick and easily disappearing wave of anger or despair, but by the accumulating effect of constant or long-suppressed negative emotions.

The longer an unreacted mental state persists, the more harm it can cause, depleting the resistance of the “mind of the body” and continuously spreading streams of negative information.

However, it is always possible to change this state, because we can always work on ourselves and move from simple reactivity to conscious responsibility, from subjectivity to objectivity.

For example, if we are constantly exposed to noise at home or at work, we may respond with increased irritability, headaches and increased blood pressure; at the same time, we can, by objectively assessing the situation, try to find a positive solution.

The message we convey to our body - irritation or acceptance - is the signal to which it will respond.

Repetition of negative thought patterns and attitudes such as anxiety, guilt, jealousy, anger, constant criticism, fear, etc., can cause us much more harm than any external situation.

Our nervous system is entirely under the control of the “central regulatory factor,” a control center that in humans is called personality.

In other words, all situations in our lives are neither negative nor positive - they exist on their own.And only our personal attitude determines their belonging to one category or another.

A good therapist who understands the mind of the body can read the entire history of a person's life by looking at his physique and posture, observing his free or constrained movements, noting areas of tension, and at the same time the characteristics of injuries and illnesses suffered.

Our bodies become a “walking autobiography”, our body features reflecting our experiences, traumas, worries, anxieties and relationships. The characteristic pose - when one stands, bent low, the other stands straight, ready to defend - is formed in early youth and is “built into” our primordial structure.

Just as the body reflects everything that happens in a person’s consciousness, so the consciousness experiences pain and discomfort when the body suffers. The universal law of karma about cause and effect cannot be avoided.

Every phenomenon in human life must have its own reason. Each manifestation of human physicality must be preceded by a certain way of thinking or emotional status.

Paramahansa Yogananda says:

There is a natural connection between the mind and body. Whatever you hold in your mind will be reflected in your physical body. Any hostile feelings or cruelty towards another, strong passion, persistent envy, painful anxiety, outbursts of ardor - all this really destroys the cells of the body and causes the development of diseases of the heart, liver, kidneys, spleen, stomach, etc.

Anxiety and stress have led to new deadly diseases, high blood pressure, damage to the heart and nervous system, and cancer. Pains that torment the physical body are secondary diseases.

D Shapiro, the mind heals the body. ©Debbie Shapiro from the book “The Mind Heals the Body”

***

Chapter 1 THE CONTAINER OF GREAT WISDOM

Any persistent thought resonates in the human body.Walt Whitman

In almost all excellent writings on medicine and healing, one basic concept is often omitted, apparently as irrelevant. It is a relationship between mind and body that may have a direct impact on our health and our ability to heal.

The fact that these relationships do exist and are very important is only now beginning to be recognized; We still have to learn and accept their deeper true meaning for humans.

With extremely complex systems and functions, the human body exhibits limitless intelligence and compassion, constantly giving us the means to further self-knowledge, confront unexpected situations and move beyond our subjectivity.

The unconscious energies that underlie our every action manifest themselves in the same way as our conscious thoughts and feelings.

When something goes wrong, it gets us into trouble, and we take our body to the doctor, believing that he or she can “fix” it faster and better. Something has broken - and we fix this “something” motionless, as if it were an inanimate object, devoid of intelligence.

When the body is functioning well, we feel happy, alert and energetic. If not, we become irritable, upset, depressed, filled with self-pity.

This view of the body seems frustratingly limited. He denies the complexity of the energies that determine the integrity of our body - energies that continuously communicate and flow into each other, depending on our thoughts, feelings and physiological functions of various parts of our being.

There is no difference between what happens in our minds and what happens in our bodies. Therefore, we cannot exist separately from the body in which our life is contained.

Please note: in English, to indicate someone significant, the word “somebody” is used, which means both “someone” and “important person”, while an insignificant person is defined by the word “nobody”, that is, “no one” or "nonentity".

Our bodies are us. Our state of being is the direct result of the interaction of multiple aspects of existence. The expression “My hand hurts” is equivalent to the expression “The pain inside me manifests itself in my hand.”

Expressing arm pain is no different than verbally expressing dysphoria or embarrassment. To say that there is a difference is to ignore an integral part of the whole human being.

Treating only the hand means ignoring the source of the pain that manifests itself in the hand. To deny the body-mind connection is to deny the opportunity that the body gives us to see, acknowledge and eliminate inner pain.

The effect of body-mind interaction is easy to demonstrate. It is known that feelings of anxiety or worry for any reason can lead to indigestion, constipation or headaches, and accidents.

It has been proven that stress can lead to stomach ulcers or heart attacks; that depression and sadness make our bodies heavy and sluggish - we have little energy, we lose our appetite or eat too much, we feel back pain or tension in our shoulders.

Conversely, a feeling of joy and happiness increases our vitality and energy: we need less sleep and feel alert, less susceptible to colds and other infectious diseases, since our bodies become healthy and therefore better able to resist them.

You can gain a deeper understanding of the "mind of the body" if you try to see all aspects of physical and psychological life.

We must learn to understand that everything that happens to our physical body must be controlled by us, that we are not just victims and should not suffer at all until the pain passes. Everything we experience within the body is an integral part of our total existence.

The concept of "mind body" is based on the belief in the unity and integrity of every human being. Although the integrity of the individual is determined by many different aspects, they cannot be isolated from each other.

They are in constant interaction with each other, knowing everything about each other at any moment. The "mind of the body" formula reflects psychological and somatic harmony: the body is simply a gross manifestation of the subtlety of the mind.

(Dianne Connelly “Traditional Acupuncture: The Law of the Five Elements”).

The complete unity of body and mind is reflected in states of health and illness. Each of them is a means by which the “mind of the body” tells us what is happening under the corporeal shell.

For example, an illness or accident often coincides with significant changes in life: moving to a new apartment, new marriage or change of job. Internal conflicts during this period easily throw us off balance, resulting in a feeling of uncertainty and fear.

We become open and defenseless to any bacteria or viruses.

At the same time, illness gives us a respite, the time needed to rebuild and adapt to changed circumstances. Illness tells us that we must stop doing something: it gives us space in which we can reconnect with those parts of ourselves with which we have ceased to be in touch.

It also puts into perspective the meaning of our relationships and communication. This is how the wisdom of the mind of the body manifests itself in action, the mind and body constantly influencing each other and working together.

The transmission of signals from the mind to the body occurs through a complex system involving the bloodstream, nerves, and a variety of hormones produced by the endocrine glands.

This extremely complex process is regulated by the pituitary gland and hypothalamus. The hypothalamus is a small region of the brain that controls many body functions, including thermoregulation and heart rate, as well as the activity of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.

Numerous nerve fibers from throughout the brain converge in the hypothalamus, connecting psychological and emotional activity with bodily functions.

For example, the vagal nerve from the hypothalamus goes straight to the stomach - hence stomach problems caused by stress or anxiety. Other nerves extend to the thymus and spleen, the organs that produce immune cells and regulate their function.

The immune system has a huge potential for protection, rejecting everything that could be harmful to us, but it is also subordinate to the brain through the nervous system. Therefore, she directly suffers from mental stress.

When we are exposed to severe stress of any kind, the adrenal cortex releases hormones that disrupt the brain-immune communication system, suppressing the immune system and leaving us defenseless against disease.

Stress is not the only factor that can trigger this reaction. Negative emotions - suppressed or prolonged anger, hatred, bitterness or depression, as well as loneliness or bereavement - can also suppress the immune system, stimulating the hypersecretion of these hormones.

The brain contains the limbic system, which is represented by a set of structures, which includes the hypothalamus.

It performs two main functions: it regulates autonomic activity, for example, maintaining the body’s water balance, gastrointestinal activity and hormone secretion, and in addition, it unites human emotions: sometimes it is even called the “nest of emotions.”

Since all this warns of danger and prepares to meet it, it is not surprising that the body has no time to rest. All this leads to muscle tension, nervous confusion, spasms of blood vessels, and disruption of the functioning of organs and cells.

In order not to fall into a state of anxiety when reading these lines, you should remember that such a reaction is not caused by the event itself, but by our attitude towards it.

The longer an unreacted mental state persists, the more harm it can cause, depleting the resistance of the “mind of the body” and continuously spreading streams of negative information.

However, it is always possible to change this state, because we can always work on ourselves and move from simple reactivity to conscious responsibility, from subjectivity to objectivity.

For example, if we are constantly exposed to noise at home or at work, we may respond with increased irritability, headaches and increased blood pressure; at the same time, we can, by objectively assessing the situation, try to find a positive solution.

The message we convey to our body - irritation or acceptance - is the signal to which it will respond. Repeating negative thought patterns and attitudes, such as worry, guilt, jealousy, anger, constant criticism, fear, etc., can cause us much more harm than any external situation.

Our nervous system is entirely under the control of the “central regulatory factor,” a control center that in humans is called personality.

In other words, all situations in our lives are neither negative nor positive - they exist on their own.And only our personal attitude determines their belonging to one category or another.

A good therapist who understands the mind of the body can read the entire history of a person's life by looking at his physique and posture, observing his free or constrained movements, noting areas of tension, and at the same time the characteristics of injuries and illnesses suffered.

To consider that the body is an isolated mechanical system is to miss the point. This means denying yourself the source of great wisdom that is available at any time.

Just as the body reflects everything that happens in a person’s consciousness, so the consciousness experiences pain and discomfort when the body suffers. The universal law of karma about cause and effect cannot be avoided.

Every phenomenon in human life must have its own reason. Each manifestation of human physicality must be preceded by a certain way of thinking or emotional status. Paramahansa Yogananda says:

Anxiety and stress have led to new deadly diseases, high blood pressure, damage to the heart and nervous system, and cancer. Pains that torment the physical body are secondary diseases.

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Neck

At the level of the neck we enter from the abstract into physical conception; therefore, here we bring in breath and food, which support us and ensure physical existence.

The neck is a two-way bridge between body and mind, allowing the abstract to become form and form to express itself.

We “swallow” reality through our throats. Consequently, difficulties in this area may be associated with resistance or unwillingness to accept this reality and include oneself in it.

We tend to associate food with ideas, as manifested in expressions such as “food for the mind,” “do you think this can be digested?”, “served with sauce,” “this is an unappetizing idea,” or “he has been stuffed with false ideas.”

Therefore, when reactions to unacceptable ideas are suppressed, swelling and pain may appear in the throat, tonsils and adjacent organs.

A similar reaction can develop in response to the feelings of others or situations that we are offered to “swallow”, while we find them “inedible”.

Since the throat is a “two-way bridge,” problems in this area can equally reflect both resistance to the need to “swallow” unacceptable phenomena of reality and the inability to release emotions, be it love, passion, pain or anger.

There is an easy connection between the neck and the fifth chakra as the center of divine communications.

The neck also serves as a means of allowing us to look around, that is, to see all aspects of our world. When the neck becomes stiff and stiff, it limits its mobility, which in turn limits your vision.

This indicates that our views become narrow, that our thinking becomes narrow, that we recognize only our own point of view, see only what is right in front of us.

Since the neck relates to conception, it also represents the feeling of having a right to be here, a sense of belonging, a sense of home. If this sensation is lost, the integral sense of confidence and presence is destroyed, which may result in a spasm or constriction of the throat.

In such cases, it can be very difficult to swallow something, the energy stops flowing to our physical being. This creates the “hippie syndrome” (“avoidance syndrome”), which is triggered by feelings of rejection and resentment.

The unconscious energies that underlie our every action manifest themselves in the same way as our conscious thoughts and feelings.

When the body is functioning well, we feel happy, alert and energetic. If not, we become irritable, upset, depressed, filled with self-pity.

There is no difference between what happens in our minds and what happens in our bodies. Therefore, we cannot exist separately from the body in which our life is contained.

Expressing arm pain is no different than verbally expressing dysphoria or embarrassment. To say that there is a difference is to ignore an integral part of the whole human being.

You can gain a deeper understanding of the "mind of the body" if you try to see all aspects of physical and psychological life.

The complete unity of body and mind is reflected in states of health and illness. Each of them is a means by which the “mind of the body” tells us what is happening under the corporeal shell.

The transmission of signals from the mind to the body occurs through a complex system involving the bloodstream, nerves, and a variety of hormones produced by the endocrine glands.

This extremely complex process is regulated by the pituitary gland and hypothalamus.

Numerous nerve fibers from throughout the brain converge in the hypothalamus, connecting psychological and emotional activity with bodily functions.

Stress is not the only factor that can trigger this reaction.

However, it is always possible to change this state, because we can always work on ourselves and move from simple reactivity to conscious responsibility, from subjectivity to objectivity.

Our nervous system is entirely under the control of the “central regulatory factor,” a control center that in humans is called personality.

FROM THE BOOK “THE MIND HEALS THE BODY”

Chapter 1
THE CONTAINER OF GREAT WISDOM

Any persistent thought resonates in the human body.
Walt Whitman