Can the Mind heal the Body?
Well yes, the mind can be used to heal everyday ailments & pains. Interested?
When the body is in pain, it affects the way you hold yourself, think, act and speak. You feel uncomfortable, irritable and lack energy – all of which affects the way you interact in your world.
Research proves that the mind affects how the body feels and likewise, the body can affect the mind. It’s a known fact that if you think positive, happy thoughts you feel lighter and energised. Contrary, think negative, depressing thoughts & you immediately feel heavy and lifeless.
So the key is to make a concious effort to continually cultivate a peaceful, happier state of mind which in turn will ensure the body feels calmer, energised and at ease… even when we feel less than optimum such as when we have a headache, a cold or any other everyday twinge & ailment.
Yoga places emphasis on the role of the mind in the healing process and includes numerous techniques, including meditation, to calm the mind and channel its power into physical and emotional healing.
A regular yoga practice of postures and breathing techniques will help quiet the mind and, if illness or a sedentary lifestyle has left the body weakened, yoga will help it become healthy and strong again and the mind will once again be clear and able to cultivate a happier, joyful existence. Isn’t that how you’d rather live your life?
Try this healing exercise supplied by Yoga Breaks in Spain.
Try this exercise and see if it alters the way your body and mind feel. You might want to read it through a few times so that it feels familiar, then try doing what it suggests with your eyes closed or have someone read the exercise to you.
Sit in a comfortable, upright meditation posture – in a chair if you cannot sit on the floor. Close & become aware of your breath as the chest gently rises and falls.
Now, focus on your right foot, and imagine that your right foot is filled with a clear white light. You can visualize it, or simply think, “My right foot is full of light.”
Focus on your left foot, and imagine light filling each part of the foot—the toes, the sole, the arch. You may use your breath as well, breathing into each part of the body as you feel it fill with light.
Be aware of the right ankle, and feel it filling with light. Now, the left ankle. The right calf—bone, muscle, and skin. The left calf. The right thigh, and then the left.
Bring your awareness up into your pelvis, hips, buttocks. Feel them filled with light, as you touch them with your breath.
Let your awareness continue to rise into the lower abdomen, bringing light to the whole area, the flesh and the abdominal organs. Say to yourself “My abdomen has become light.”
Now feel the light enter your lower spine. Again, say to yourself, “My spine is made of clear white light.”
Imagine the light in your upper abdomen and midback, in your chest and rib cage. Feel your heart and lungs expand with the light. Let it fill your back ribs and your upper spine. Then feel it in your right arm—from the upper arm all the way down to your fingertips. Now, feel it in your left arm.
Let the light infuse your neck. Feel it fill your skull. Your forehead. Your eyebrows and eyes. Your nose. Your cheeks. Your mouth has turned to light, and your tongue and teeth.
Feel your brain completely illuminated by the light.
Think, “My entire body is light. Light fills every particle of blood, every cell, every membrane and organ. I am light.”
As you inhale, feel that you are breathing in particles of light. As you exhale, let the light flow out into the world.
Rest now in this body of light and enjoy the sensations that you feel in the body and mind.
