The Body Leaves Clues: The Mind-Body Connection

We have been hearing, reading and learning much about the mind/body conection in recent years. As a mindset coach and hypnotherapist, I know the importance of understanding this ‘pairing’ and of also connecting: the conscious and subconscious minds and the two cerebral hemispheres of our brain (left and right).

In my 30+ year career as a dentist, I learned much about the body and plenty of behavioral psychology as well. In dental school, an area that we had to study in detail was the head and neck. We had to do anatomical dissection to learn about the cranial nerves. To be frank, I recall this being one of the most complex systems to learn.

The 10th cranial nerve and the longest, is the vagus nerve (refer to the former blog post: Your Brain/Body Highway: the Vagus Nerve). In it, I explain the facts and functioning of this fascinating and winding nerve, which connects the brain to the gut. On the way, the vagus nerve innervates the facial musculature, throat, vocal cords, then the heart and solar plexus and then, on to the gut (often referred to as the ‘second brain.’). This big and wonderful nerve stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, which is our ‘rest and digest’ system.

The vagus nerve shows us that there is a literal, physiological mind/body connection. This brain-body ‘highway’ works in both directions: brain to body and body to brain. In practical terms, you can use this information to help in your everyday world. How?

Your body gives the first signs or signals for what’s going on in your mind. Here’s an example; let’s say that your partner/spouse lies to you about an issue regarding work. What he/she says sounds logical and makes sense in a ‘checklist’, systematic kind of way. ‘But’----and this but is the space between a stimulus and a response, when you can tune in to your inner voice, your center, heart, gut and feel what your body is feeling you and telling you. Here’s what can happen in this time of ‘but’; if your stomach is in a knot or you have a gut feeling (tightness), letting you feel that something’s not right, then listen and trust your body’s sensations, even if there’s lots of evidence to the contrary (ie: logical).

It’s imperative that you follow the body’s lead. It’s always right. Just make sure that trauma or fear is not influencing you so much that you’re not able to hear it (the body’s signals) clearly. The massive fears caused by trauma experiences and the bully, your inner critic, have to be shoved out of the way so that you ‘hear’ your inner voice and body impulses and translate and interpret them correctly.

Again, the body’s signal relayed from your deeper, stronger subconscious mind, often precedes the awareness of your conscious mind. This is one of the main reasons that great leaders of all kinds, in all fields, often say that a big part of their success can be attributed to ‘listening to and trusting their gut instincts’ or intuition. They know how to hear and feel it and to really listen to it.

As Albert Einstein said, “The only real valuable thing is intuition.” And this from an inventor and leader in the field of physics (and the logic of science)……

It’s not just about paying attention to your body to mind signals but also trusting what it’s telling you. Many of us know, intellectually, that it’s a great idea to follow our ‘intuition’ or ‘gut hunch’ but the fact is that most of us don’t actually do it. Our inner critic, very harsh self-judgement and trauma background can interfere and interrupt this natural process. This can interrupt the positive and forward progress in our lives.

So, be sure to follow these 3 STEPS:

1)feel, hear and see the many body sensations you experience, letting you ‘know’ what feels: right/wrong, good/bad, trusting/suspicious, etc. and then,

2)don’t talk yourself out of it (with your intellect). When you do, your life often veers off the ‘good’ path for you. Trust it (your intuition) and trust yourself. This allows you to connect your conscious awareness to your subconscious mind.

3)Connect your two brain hemispheres: left and right, for maximum and optimal functioning: mental, emotional, physical, environmental and spiritual.

A Bit About the HEMISPHERES:

-The brain is formed by two cerebral hemispheres, separated by a fissure or groove

-The brain in divided into the left and right hemispheres.

-Each of these hemispheres has an outer layer of grey matter; the cerebral cortex supported by an inner layer of white matter.

-Your life functions best when you utilize both hemispheres in a balanced way.

-The left side of the brain controls the right side of the body and vice versa.

-The left hemisphere of the brain is responsible for: logic, analytical, systematic, verbal and linear thinking; mathematics.

-Left hemisphere dominant people often excel in the following fields: analyst, programmer, reporter, scientist.

-The right hemisphere of the brain is responsible for: creativity, imagination, intuition, holistic thinking, the arts, feelings, emotions, connecting with others in an emotional way.

-Right hemisphere dominant people often excel in the following fields: graphic and interior design, painter, musician, psychologist, counselor, coach, manager.

So, we need the left hemisphere for rational, daily thinking, planning and logical skills, such as mathematics and language. And we need the right hemisphere to synthesize it and to use our creativity, imagination and intuition. Bottom line-------they must work in harmony.

To create a BALANCED and AUTHENTIC life, it’s good to be aware of making these connections:

-Between conscious awareness and your subconscious mind, which is the stronger, automatic pilot or default mind, and is the ‘storage center’ for what you learned and absorbed, mostly in your formative years (0-7 years).

-Between your mind (brain) and your body (including your throat, heart and gut): the vagus nerve ‘highway.’ Some tips: to stimulate your vagus nerve and therefore, your parasympathetic nervous system, you can run your hands under cold water, take a cold shower or gargle with cold water for at least one minute. With the sympathetic nervous system, which stimulates your ‘fight, flight or freeze’ response and the parasympathetic nervous system working together, your body can return to balance (or homeostasis), where it belongs.

-Between the left and right cerebral hemispheres of your brain, so that you can utilize both your intuition and your reason.

-Let’s also add that the mind affects the body and the body affects the mind.

So, be sure to keep your body healthy and happy; with good food, movement, self-care (ie: massages, baths, saunas, dance, etc.) and with sensual enjoyment (of the ‘senses’, that is); ie: good food, affection, pleasant smells, sex, etc.

And keep your mind sharp, open and continually learning and expanding. Mind and body; one surely affects the other. Keep them in healthy balance and harmony, working interdependently and as a content ‘pair’

—who work together to keep you healthy, happy and living your own definition of success and your best life.

“If prayer is you talking to God, then intuition is God talking to you.”                          -Dr. Wayne Dyer

With smiles and love,

Dr Gigi

PS: Learn my helpful and practical tools for connecting your mind and body @www.gigiarnaud.com and sign up for your free discovery session.