Salad and the MindBody Link
Did you know you can reduce hunger & increase satiation by telling the waitress ‘I’ll have the hearty salad” instead of saying “I’ll just have the salad”.
Useful information, don’t you think, if you want to improve your health?
Parts and functions of brain & the body are connected like the strands of a spider web. Tug at one and another somewhere else is influenced. In this case language & hunger.
It’s very clear that the brain & body are connected in fascinating & well researched ways. Most of the mechanisms behind it are understood. It’s not woo woo or magic. It’s how our brain & body work together.
So how can we USE this connection to help us influence our health?
That’s my work. That’s what the Lightning Process is all about, using how the brain and body influence each other to make change.
You are already using the mind body connection whether you know it or not. It’s how all humans with a brain & a body work.
If you are feeling stuck in your health then understanding the mind/body connection isn’t just interesting, it can change your life.
I hope you find the following list of research findings interesting AND exciting.
Instantly alter your Immune response by thinking of a loved one, reduce pain by swearing, increase confidence by changing posture, alter mood by altering facial expression, increase fatigue by using fatigue related words, calming heart rate by changing tone of voice, altered amygdala functioning by recalling calm event, reduce symptoms of altitude sickness by thinking you have been given extra oxygen, back pain being triggered by being told you have to be careful, increase lack of trust of someone when you smell fish, increase grip strength on right hand by seeing an image of a hammer AND increase sensitivity of left thumb by seeing same image of hammer, reduce medication by listening to Jonny Cash, food triggering a memory then memory triggering pain, painful RSI triggered by cultural beliefs, reduce confidence by lowered inflection at the end of your sentence, a racing heart biasing your ability to guess a mountain height, increase piano skills by visualising playing piano, trigger muscle growth by visualising moving, increase fitness by learning that what you are already doing counts as exercise, feeling more satiated by saying “I’ll have a hearty salad“ instead of “I just have a salad”, feeling refreshed if you were told you actually had 8 hours when you didn’t, placebo is the most tested & effective drug on the planet, improve immune function through watching comedies, pessimism or anger lowering immune function, a memory triggered by touching a body part AND that same body part hurting by touching on a memory, decrease the itch in a wooden leg by scratching it, altered digestive response when food is labelled ‘naughty but delicious’, remembering forgotten words by going to the place you learnt them, reducing trauma by wiggling eyes, a bell triggering a saliva response, an allergic reaction by incorrectly believing the leaf is poison ivy, a histamine response triggered by listening to Mozart, a fan on your face while on a treadmill tricks the brain you’re moving faster so you feel tired faster, seeing red increases a pain response, a single word triggering a stress response or feelings of love, a phrase triggering a fatigue or pain response, you feeling pain when someone whacks a fake rubber arm, a location triggering a fibromyalgia flare, another person bending over triggering your back pain
……… and reading a list might even trigger a phone call 🙂