In this current day and age, we are more and more frequently hearing the terms mind, body and spirit used in relation to wellness. Numerous studies are being done and have been done correlating the inter-relatedness between these three words and their impact on our health. In order to further understand how exactly our health is affected; we must first understand how these concepts work together. When we strive for truly creating a synergistic relationship among the mind, body and spirit, we are able to achieve a unity of self that contributes to a powerful reality with our energy, our wellness, and our contribution for the welfare of this world.

First lets examine how the mind works. In general terms, mind is divided into two parts with two entirely different functions. The conscious mind is our ordinary awareness of the world we live in. We see, hear, feel, smell, and sometimes taste things about our everyday world that gets processed through our conscious mind. Our conscious mind is responsible for making decisions, judging, analyzing, and ultimately coming to conclusions. Based on those conclusions, whatever they are for us, the information is then submitted to the subconscious mind. The subconscious keeps all of this information and stores it in our memories. The subconscious mind also has within it, a natural blue print for how our body is suppose to function. These functions take place within what is known as the autonomic nervous system. ( i.e., that which is responsible for regulating the heart beat and the electrical and chemical activity within the body.)

The subconscious mind absorbs information from all 5 senses, without questioning or analyzing the information. When there is a difference between what the subconscious and the conscious mind perceives, this can create a state of disharmony. The person may consciously want something to be a certain way, but maybe they have a more dominant thought/belief within the subconscious mind that is attached to a particularly distressing emotion, which causes them to feel a sense of gridlock from achieving their goals. If this is the dominant thought/belief/memory within the mind – then like a computer, that is how the body will function, according to its program. The information contained within our subconscious mind generates thoughts based on belief, this translates into energy, which then becomes the spirit of what you're doing, thinking, and feeling. The energy of our thoughts, which are produced by our mind, can be positive, healthy energy or negative disharmonious energy. The cumulative effects of our energy development can have a dramatic impact on our health, whether good or bad.

The body works according to a natural blueprint of functioning based on the information that is hard-wired within us. Aside from genetic information, there is information from the mind and spirit that can have a wide range of effect on the body – electrically and chemically. Think of the body as the vehicle for the fuel of thoughts and energy that is generated by the mind and spirit. Stress, thoughts, and emotions all have the ability to create a physiological response within the body. These responses can either be helpful or harmful to us, depending on their classification of positive or negative in nature.

A key phrase that I have often quoted in many of my other articles that is prevalent in the mind/body profession is, "what the mind represses, the body expresses." How many of you readers experience pain, headaches or discomfort in certain areas of your body in response to stress? Do you get tightness in the shoulders, tension in the chest, or even a heavy feeling in the stomach and abdominal region? These are a few of the main areas where stress makes us aware of its presence. Sometimes all you have to do is think about something negative that happened and......soon enough you feel the uncomfortable changes taking place in your body.

The spirit is an area that often receives little attention. Mostly because people do not understand how it fits in to complete the connection. Spirit can be viewed in two ways; First, spirit as the motivation and ambition created by the mind. This is actually incomplete by itself, since the mind and spirit work together. The spirit becomes the motivation for the mind to generate the kind of energy based on the spirit of thoughts. So the mind generates energy and the spirit motivates the mind to generate more energy. The problem occurs when thoughts are negative. Then the spirit becomes clouded, dirty and obstructed with disharmonious thoughts. This filters down to the point of feeling pain experiencing illness and various other forms of mental and physical problems. The second way to view spirit is to view it as the true nature of the self, or as some put it – the higher self and/or soul. This refers to our divine self, our connection to our higher power, whoever we consider that to be. Regardless, of how you choose to look at it, they are both acceptable viewpoints. In all actuality, they are together as one, since negative thoughts and emotions, etc., have the same impact on both. If we experience negative thoughts and emotions enough, we create the circumstances for imbalance and disharmony to cause a disruption in our energy. This filters down and affects both the mind with a lack of positive energy coming from the spirit and to the body with the negative impact on our health. The discordant thoughts and emotion create havoc in the chemical and electrical responses of our body directly contributing to many forms of stress related illness.

Through a truly holistic approach to life, paying attention to the synergistic actions of the mind, body and spirit working together as one, we create wellness in our lives and the world around us. Keep your stress levels down, eat a healthy balanced diet, get some form of regular exercise and remember to allow time to focus on the needs of your spirit. What are the thoughts, words, and actions of your daily life that will enable you to be happy and healthy?

Copyright 2003, Daniel M. Clark, All rights reserved.

Daniel M. Clark, has a Bachelors Degree in Psychology. He holds a Master Clinical Hypnotherapist certification with the National Board of Professional and Ethical Standards and Advanced Hypnotherapy certification through the American Board of Hypnotherapy. He has specialized certification in the areas of: Stress Management, Learning Enhancement, Smoking Cessation, and Past Life Regression. He is also a Certified Qigong Healer through the Eastern Healing Arts Association.