More than skin deep.
I write a lot about how to take care of your skin. I’m absolutely evangelical about wearing a good sunscreen. If you don’t believe me you better read this. I get frustrated at the amount of skincare that is available that doesn’t stack up from a scientific point of view.
Beauty in some form or another has been at the centre of my career and I guess you could say it’s been my life, although I don’t feel defined by it. It’s had its rewards. Helping others find confidence through their appearance can be fulfilling.
Another kind of beauty?
Health and wellness play a key role in the health and beauty of your skin. But, here’s a thought, how you care for your skin, and your inner wellness is interconnected with the wellbeing of your mind. Your thoughts can impact on every aspect of your beauty and your health.
Do we pay enough attention to our mind? Or, do we allow negative thoughts to control us? Can we hear above the din of our internal chatter and hear what our body is trying to tell us?
Do we pay enough attention to our mind? Do we allow our negative thoughts to control us? Can we hear above the din, that which our body is trying to tell us?
If you’ve ever watched someone seemingly age overnight after a life-changing trauma, then you know an inkling of the power our mind has over our body. When we see this happen, we’re witnessing the mind-body connection even if you don’t know this or acknowledge it.
These are the times when a deep trauma can shake a person so much, just putting one foot in front of the other becomes insurmountable. These are the times of deep grief or personal catastrophe.
But what about the everyday stress of life?
The eternal list of things to do, people to please, deadlines to meet. The worry of having enough money, keeping a roof over your head or the fear of losing your job? Or the fractured relationship that goes unhealed and filed away in the ‘too hard basket’ of our brain. On and on it goes. We all have some stress in our life.
Some say, ‘Oh hey, I handle stress’ or ‘I thrive on pressure’ but do we? Who are we trying to convince?
Is anyone of us actually capable of handling stress? Or do we push it aside? Cover it up with too much alcohol or some other destructive panacea. Until one day. Something happens. You get sick, your back goes out, unexplained anxiety, or, it’s a little more subtle and like a pebble on the beach, almost unknowingly you begin to slowly wear down much sooner than you should.
In my own family, I’ve seen what a lifetime of worry can do to someone. Its grip an insidious creep finding its way into every cell of the body and with devastating consequences and for some it can lead to chronic illness.
Sounds drastic? Maybe. You may even disagree, you may say the mind can’t possibly have that much power over the body. But for me, I’m quite sure, uncontrolled worry and mismanaged stress do have the potential to make us ill and many of the 21st-century ailments we so often hear about are possibly linked to the mind-body connection. Perhaps more than we’d like to believe.
Of course, no disrespect to any group or movement trying to make their life better, more peaceful and more spiritually connected. I applaud them, but sometimes it’s easy to brush it all aside as a bit too, well, you know, woo-woo, hocus-pocus, hippie nonsense. Right?
But to be dismissive would be to miss something life-changing.
Scientific data is now emerging to back up what many have been saying for hundreds, if not thousands of years. Somewhere along the way in our mad rush to achieve who knows what.
Did we just stop listening to the intuitive power of our body?
This week I was kind of ‘blown away’ by a woman who has healed her own auto-immune disease through practising what she has learnt about the mind-body connection. After years of frustration and debilitating chronic illness, finally listening to her internal world and making adjustments in handling stress, turned her chronic illness and life around.
Completely!
Her name is Shannon Harvey and her journey was so transformational, she has made a film about it.
I’m linking to the trailer of the movie below. I have no affiliation with Shannon or her work, nor is this a sponsored post. I’m simply sharing something that appears to me as the blindingly obvious and yet we ignore it. The mind-body connection!!
A short trailer: The Connection. Mind Your Body.
How important is the mind-body connection?
Is this one of the most important articles I’ve ever written. If you believe like I do everything is interconnected, then yes it is.
These are the light bulb moments that change us and recognising the mind-body connection has on our lives could be one of those moments.
It’s important to note those interviewed for this film all value the importance of modern-day medicine, nor do they espouse to the belief that changing your attitude to stress or remaining positive and optimistic is a cure-all.
No, this is never implied. But, there is compelling evidence that the mind-body connection plays a crucial role in getting well and staying healthy.
Here is the link to Shannon Harvey’s website: The Connection: Mind Your Body Or, you can find Shannon here.
Before you go. I’m not a health professional, if this article has raised issues for you, please seek out the support of a trusted doctor or medical professional.
See you next time.
