Having had shoulder surgery on August 28, 2018 for a rotate r-cuff injury I continue to ponder the connection of the mind and body.
Having watched a PBS series hosted by Bill Moyers thirty years ago, I’ve had a gut level feeling that most of our illnesses originate in our mind — when we twist and turn — unable to find solutions to overwhelming problems until our bodies finally rebel by making us sick enough to go to bed.
Dr. Flanders Dunbar, an authority on psychosomatic medicine, wrote in her book Mind and Body, “the inability to relax is one of the most widely spread diseases of our time and one of the most infrequently recognized.”
Doctor Norman Vincent Peale said “there does not seem to be very many people who understand the absolute necessity of relaxing or who would know how to practice it if they tried.”
In 2016 I was caught in the middle of a personal problem, so overwhelmed that I quit eating or drinking until I found myself having emergency surgery on July 21st at Willis Knighton Hospital, due to a blocked, twisted colon.
Though not a doctor I will always believe that was a psychosomatic illnesses that ended up in a physical solution — surgery.
I would go so far as to say that even my back problems may also be linked to a psychosomatic illness — which isn’t to say that the pain isn’t real.
The Bible says that “as a man thinks in his heart so he is” and I believe this applies to all areas of our lives, both physically and emotionally.
Since that time I have continued to think about and to delve into areas where I only have a gut level feeling without too much knowledge to back up what I believe or why.
Still I ponder how our mind and our bodies are connected.
I believe if we could ever gain control of and become master of our thoughts that most of our illnesses would be eliminated.
Since my colon surgery I’ve talked to two friends who experienced the same surgery after one too many traumatic blows to their emotional well being. They each had either a death or a loss of an emotional support system that they thought they had to have to keep on going thus their gut kicked in, came to their rescue, and they each had surgeries identical to mine, including the doctors who performed each of our surgeries surgeries.
How or why we have this strong mind body connection I do not understand but I sense it is true. I also believe that if we understood and followed God’s plan for our lives everything would fall into place but I know that most likely that will never happen because we are flawed and most often too stubborn to give into divine guidance for our lives.
The Bible also says “it is not in man to direct his own steps.”
How true — how very true!
The Bible also says “the fool hath said in his heart there is no God.”
Maybe I am just a simple minded person but when I observe the universe and my own body I know there is just too much evidence going on here to not believe in a a higher power and I know that we are often too weak willed to turn our over to him completely because we want to hold the reins of our lives, not submitting to his will — yet I know that He doesn’t want a puppet but children who want to listen — to obey but we most likely are a far cry from getting there but this body is physical and one day we will shed that which cause us much unnecessary pain because of who we are.
Contact Sarah at [email protected]