Every one of us is a
complex biochemical structure in which every factor affects every other factor
in an endless synergistic loop.
Every time you have
a thought or feeling, it is expressed biochemically, as a cascade of
neurotransmitters, hormones, or cellular responses. Therefore, your physical condition can have
an enormous impact on your mood, your ability to think clearly, and your
overall outlook on life -- just as your mood, thoughts, and beliefs can affect
your physical condition. Mind-body
medicine isn't some mystical mumbo jumbo.
It's Human Biochemistry 101.
There isn't really
any such thing as "body", "mind", "sensation",
"emotion"--- those are just the names we've come up with to make
sense of our experience. What we really
have, when we look at our human lives, is biochemistry: one big interactive network of hormones,
neurotransmitters, synapses, and glands whose job is to respond to the
challenges and opportunities of our environment. These responses all happen through
electricity and chemistry, and all of them are always both physical and
emotional.
A hormone is a
signaling molecule that helps to regulate the body's physiology and
behavior. Hormones are produced by
glands, which are part of our endocrine system.
[Hormones] are the
middle, overlapping ground between what we usually think of as "mind"
and "body".
Each system is based
in an endocrine gland, moving from the base of the spine up to the crown of the
head, and each one represents a nexus of anatomy, physical function, and
biochemistry as well as a group of emotions, thoughts, and life issues.
If we don't meet our
survival needs or feel safe, it's difficult even to think about anything else:
we are constantly on edge until we feel rooted.
If we're going to be
fully present in our body, we need to feel rooted, grounded, and safe.
The pituitary is
sometimes called the inner eye, as it maintains surveillance over a wide range
of activity throughout your entire biochemistry.
The Root [chakra]
represents our relationship to the physical world: how we distinguish self from
non-self and how we respond to threats to our physical survival -- safety,
home, food, and money.
If we don’t have a
basic sense of self-- what's good for us, what's bad for us, what supports our
body, and what threatens it -- it's very difficult to feel safe.
These are all Root
issues: adult identity, financial safety, ability to survive independently, and
ability to take care of our loved ones.
If we can't say no
to the demands of others, we might also find it hard to say no to the foods
that don't really serve us. The throat
is a place of self-expression, but it's also the gateway for food to enter our
body. When we come from a place of
healthy expression, speaking clearly and truthfully, and eating mindfully, we
can more easily choose the foods that our body truly wants and needs.
