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Utilizing the Mind-Body Connection · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  We find that our state of physical health clearly impacts
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  our minds. In cases of severe pain, the
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  mind may actually be fixated on the pain signals and be unable
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  for that period of time to focus on virtually anything else.
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  But the connection is more subtle than simply reacting to
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  acute pain. We find that as we experience
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  some kind of discomfort, we begin to worry, to speculate, to
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  research causes of the symptoms we are experiencing, and then to
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  begin to self diagnose and create scenarios in our minds
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  about what is taking place and what the impact will be.
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  We turn specific bodily signals into a cause for creation of an
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  entire structure of gloom and doom.
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  In many cases, the mind's action creates stress which impacts the
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  body in a negative feedback loop.
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  If we then visit a doctor and undergo some review and testing
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  by experts in the field of physical health, recognizing
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  that they don't necessarily have all the answers and may
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  themselves wind up speculating to some degree.
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  In many cases we learn that what we feared has not come to pass.
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  In the meantime, our mind has been sending signals of fear and
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  uncertainty back to the body consciousness.
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  Even supposing that our speculation and fear was based
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  in the reality of the body's actual experience, the reaction
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  is generally not helpful and may actually set back the process of
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  restoring health or recovering. On the other side, the mind can
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  be a powerful aid to healing in a number of ways.
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  If it is properly utilized. Its action can be subtle or
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  overt, internal or external. The mind can first of all
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  refrain from jumping to conclusions or imagining what
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  the cause of the concern in the body happens to be.
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  This alone represents a shift from the negative feedback loop
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  to the body to a neutral status. It can send positive
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  affirmations or suggestions to the body, such as indicating
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  that this is likely a short term issue that will soon be resolved
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  or that support or assistance will be acquired to aid the body
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  in its restoration of balance and health.
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  The mind can organize a response, including consultation
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  and advice that may be able to determine the actual situation
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  and begin a course of treatment as may be required.
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  The mind may send a signal to the body that a particular food,
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  herb, drug, therapy, or other action will fix the situation.
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  The placebo effect represents the mind telling the body that
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  it is getting supported. This creates a positive feedback
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  loop. Beyond that, the mind can take
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  steps to provide the body with healing vibrations such as
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  immersion in healing sounds, visiting nature sites that
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  refresh and uplift the body and mind, and positive thoughts of
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  support to the body. Calming and soothing activities
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  can have a wonderful effect on the body.
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  It is easy for the mind to move into a state of stress and
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  communicate this to the body. The mind may, through its own
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  mode of action, actually create imbalances in the body.
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  In most cases, it may be best to simply listen to the body and
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  let it heal itself. We see this phenomenon with
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  animals when they are feeling out of sorts.
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  They may simply find a quiet spot and sleep, allowing their
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  body to restore itself. Or they may seek out a
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  particular herb or food which they instinctively know will
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  help them. The body consciousness has a
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  tremendous power to heal itself if we don't try to apply our
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  partial mental understanding and solutions to its action.
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  The Mother provides yet another option, and that is to open
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  oneself to the higher force of the divine, to be receptive and
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  to allow that force to set things in order, the Mother
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  writes. Quote There are people as soon
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  as the least thing happens to their body, their mind is
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  completely upset. There are others still who may
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  be very ill and yet keep their mind clear.
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  It is rarer and more difficult to see a mind that's upset and
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  the body remaining healthy. It is not impossible, but it is
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  much rarer, for the body depends a great deal on the state of the
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  mind. The mind, I have written it
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  there in the book, is the master of the physical being, and I
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  have said the latter was a very docile and obedient servant.
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  Only one doesn't know how to use one's mind, rather the opposite.
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  Not only does one not know how to use it, but one uses it I'll
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  as badly as possible. The mind has a considerable
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  power of formation and a direct action on the body, and usually
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  1 uses this power to make oneself I'll.
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  For as soon as the least thing goes wrong, the mind begins to
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  shape and build all the catastrophes possible to ask
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  itself whether it could be this, whether it could be that, if it
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  is going to be like that, and how it will all end well if
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  instead of letting the mind do this disastrous work, one used
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  the same capacity to make favourable formations.
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  Simply, for example, to give confidence to the body, to tell
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  it that it is just a passing disturbance and that it is
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  nothing, and if it enters a real state of receptivity, the
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  disorder will disappear as easily as it has come, and one
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  can cure oneself in a few seconds.
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  If one knows how to do that, one gets wonderful results.
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  End Quote. Reference.
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  Shrioro Vindo and the Mother Powers Within, Chapter 18, Mind,
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  pages 139 to 140.