Your body and your mind are one, two-parts of the one YOU. This might not be news to you, but even if it isn’t news to you, you may not still be living as though they are one. You may still blame or reject your body when it is unwell or when it is in pain.
Un-wellness and pain are messages from the body to your conscious mind, messages from one part of yourself to another part of yourself. They are messages about problems. How often do you pause to listen, to enquire, and seek to understand what the messages are about?
One of the communication systems that connect the mind and body is the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS). The ANS has two main arms: The Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) and the Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS). The SNS is our “Fight and Flight” nervous system, and the PNS is our “Rest, Digest and Repair” nervous system.
The SNS is responsible for quick responses to threat and danger. It is the system that stimulates, that creates alertness. It is our stress response system.
These two-systems can’t both be running fully at the same time. When the SNS is on-line, the PNS is off-line. Because most of us lead busy, overstimulated fast paced lives with little focus on rest and relaxation and plenty of focus on stress, trying to keep up, keep on top, stay in control and prove ourselves our SNS is hogging the airwaves.
When this happens, our immune systems become suppressed, our digestive function becomes compromised, there is a rise in inflammation in the body, and biochemical imbalance occurs. All of which drive illness and pain.
If we want to be healthy, we have to look at our lifestyles, the choices we make, the ways in which we push ourselves, and the beliefs and stories we operate our lives by.
Slow down, be kind to yourself and learn to say no. What’s the worse thing that could happen if you do? You might be healthier, happier and more at peace.
Written by Adam Cootes, Arising Self - http://arisingself.com
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