The Power of Mind Over Matter - The Relationship Between Mind and Body

The phrase "The power of mind over matter" has been used so often it has become something of a cliché. To what extent is this concept valid?

Early psychologists believed than man is made up of two different substances. Mind and Matter. Matter was something that could be seen. It occupied space. It could be weighed. Mind on the other hand was a substance that could not be measured. It is clear however, that to separate mind and matter is quite impossible.

It is clear that every human action has both mental and physical attributes. When you are happy you laugh, which is a physical action. When you are sad you cry. When you are embarrassed you may blush. When you are frightened your state of mind results in physical reactions. Your blood pressure rises.

Conversely the physical condition of the body affects the mind. When your body lacks nourishment and you are hungry, you could be irritable, angry or depressed. When you are exposed to extreme cold or severe cold it will also result in certain mental conditions.

We have come to accept to what extent negative mental states can affect bodily functions. A physical reaction such as a heart attack can be brought about as a result of a severe shock. In the same way certain physical conditions can be alleviated or even cured by adopting a certain attitude of mind.

For centuries Oriental healers have maintained that it was possible to control internal body functions such as blood pressure, body temperature, brain waves, heart beat and other internal body functions by forces of the mind. Until fairly recently Western Scientists refused to accept this and ridiculed this idea. However the work carried out by researchers into Biofeedback in the 1960's confirmed that this is indeed possible and has led to a complete re-assessment of the situation.

The process of Biofeedback involves connecting a person to a machine, which can indicate changes in internal functions by recordings on the machine. These recordings are directly affected by conscious effort of the mind. In this way a person can learn, for example, to control his blood pressure by observing the reaction of the machine to thought processes.

You can quite easily demonstrate your own power to control your physical reactions

without having to resort to elaborate biofeedback machines. It can be done by the use of your imagination rather than will power. In many instances the imagination is far stronger than willpower.

Sit back in a comfortable chair with your eyes closed. Clear your mind of all thoughts. Make your mind completely blank. For example, think of a blackboard on which nothing has been written. After you have been sitting in this position for a minute or so, place the fingers of your right hand on your left-hand pulse and note your pulse rate.

Rest for a few moments, with your mind still completely devoid of all emotion, then allow your imagination to take you back to an exciting sports event you have either attended personally recently or watched on TV. It must be something in which you felt personally involved emotionally.

Recapture in your imagination every exciting incident in the sports event. While you are doing this repeat the process of measuring your pulse rate once again. You will find there is an appreciable difference as compared with the pulse rate taken when you were in a completely neutral mental state.

This will provide you with a graphic illustration of the fact that you have within you the ability, not only to control your mental state by the power of your imagination, but also your physical state.

Here is another experiment that will give you an indication of your imaginative power and also confirm that the power of imagination is more powerful than will power.

Try, by an extreme effort of will, to make yourself cry. Try and make tears come to eyes.
Unless you use an onion you will find this extremely difficult to do. But it can be easily accomplished by using your imagination.

Use your powers of imagination to produce a graphic image in your mind of a very sad, tragic or emotional incident that touched your life recently that moved you very deeply at the time.

It could have been a dreadful accident you happened to witness; or the funeral of a very dear friend or relation; or the loss of someone dear to you; or even a movie that touched you in a special way.

Focus your mind on the particular incident that affected you emotionally.

If your imaginative is sufficiently strong and the images you visualize are vivid and graphic, it is highly likely that tears will begin to well up in your eyes, especially if you are alone and can cry unashamedly.

Perhaps you sometimes wonder how actors and actresses are able to produce tears almost at will when required to do so in a scene. It is because they have been trained to use their powers of imagination to an extraordinary degree. They have developed the art of identifying themselves so completely with the characters they portray, they live the part they portray. Through training they have learnt the art of role-playing.

Role-playing is a skill that can be acquired through training. Even though you may have no desire to become an actor and no aspirations to go on stage, you will find that it is a skill you will find very useful indeed in creating helpful images in your mind.

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