Mind body medicine and mindfulness can help to restore the mind and body to a state of wholeness. Wellness happens on a continuum. Healing sometimes brings about cure, and sometimes it does not bring about cure, but healing can restore us to a state of wholeness and increased inner peace, even if we have chronic illness or a terminal disease.
Illness can disrupt our lives, changing the way that our body functions and disrupting our mental and emotional balance. Mindfulness can help us to restore the mental and emotional balance, which may help to restore physical balance as well.
“Since illnesses are experienced in the dimensions of both body and psyche, their cures do best to draw upon the information and resources of both.”
Kat Duff
Whether we are dealing with autoimmune disease, cardiovascular disease, long COVID, chronic fatigue syndrome, cancer, or another illness, addressing illness from a mental and emotional perspective in addition to addressing it from a physical standpoint is important.
It is estimated that 90% of illnesses are stress related. Reducing stress can reduce our susceptibility to additional disease processes and has been shown to reduce symptoms of some medical conditions. Positive psychological health is associated with decreased risk for heart disease and other stress related diseases.
Here are some ways that we can reduce stress and increase our capacity to cope with chronic illness:
- Spend some time noticing what’s right with you. When we experience illness, the mind naturally becomes fixated on the illness and may consume our waking thoughts. This often adds to our stress and suffering. Jon Kabat-Zinn, the creator of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program, says that if you’re still breathing, there’s likely more that’s right with you than there is wrong with you. In addition to going about the business of medical care and self-care to address the illness, try to also spend time noticing what’s right with you.
- Practice mindfulness meditation. Decades of research has shown that practicing mindfulness on a regular basis can increase feelings of inner peace, happiness, and well-being and can reduce symptoms of stress, anxiety, fatigue, depression, autoimmune illness, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, gastrointestinal disorders, and pain.
- Spend time every day doing something that brings a little joy. Savor the good flavor of a cup of tea, the view of a brilliant blue mid day sky from your window or front yard, the sound of birds singing, the beautiful colors of a sunrise or sunset sky, the sound of rain, the softness of a pet’s fur, the touch of a loved one. As you notice these pleasant events, try to pause to really savor them and notice the good sensations and feelings that they bring. Savoring pleasant events can activate the parasympathetic nervous system, facilitating a greater sense of inner peace and supporting our healing process. Increased happiness may be a side effect of this practice.
- Spend time in nature. If you are able, try to get outside and allow your attention to rest on the sights, sounds, smells, and feel of nature. If getting outside is difficult, try to find a view of nature from a window or savor some photographs of nature. Notice the good sensations and feelings that arise when you rest your attention on what you’re experiencing through your senses. Try to dwell on those good sensations and feelings for 20-30 seconds. Scientists continue to discover positive benefits of being in nature. Did you know that they have discovered that trees emit a chemical compound that is calming to human beings??
- Practice mindful journaling for resilience. This is a great practice to do with a focus on nature. If you’re able to get outside, as you dwell on your sensory experience of being in nature in practice #4 above, try writing about what you’re experiencing in the present moment. If you’re not able to get outside, try recalling a pleasant experience you’ve had in nature in the past. Try to recall the good feelings and sensations that were evoked, and write about the recalled experience as well as the good sensations and feelings you’re experiencing in the present moment as you recall it.
Mind body medicine approaches illness from a mind body perspective and teaches us that both the mind and body have an interconnected relationship regarding health and well-being. What would it be like if we all focused an equal amount of time and energy on our mental and emotional well-being as we do on our physical well-being when we are dealing with illness? I invite you to consider journaling about the prospect of embracing the idea of mind body medicine.