Mind-Body Connections in Meditation

Far from being isolated, disparate entities, our minds and bodies work together in a relationship of mutual dependency, each drawing support from the other. Only when both are fully nourished can we live balanced and harmonious lives.

The way we think and feel about ourselves has a direct influence on our bodies, and vice versa: a healthy body will help to create a healthy mind. For example, when athletes reach peak physical fitness, their performance can be further enhanced if the right mental conditions are present to enable them to do so.

From a less positive perspective, if you believe in your mind that you are unable to achieve something, then this can have a strong negative influence on your physical ability to do so. Such negative self-images can prevent us from attaining our true potential in life.

Learning to recognize this binding relationship between mind and body can help to change the quality of our lives. Through a process of inner exploration and interpretation, meditation can help you to understand the interconnectedness of the mind and body, and your unconscious thoughts and motivations.

The images that come to us in meditation are like dreams: they are born out of the unconscious and correspond with unconscious energies. They can be understood in the same way as dream images, they have symbolic significance and should not be taken literally.

In meditation, unlike dreams, you can delve into and explore these images, letting them change and grow in your mind's eye. Meditation then becomes a creative process in which you allow the symbols that arise from your unconscious into your conscious mind to evolve and reveal their true meaning.

When you meditate everything becomes imbued with significance: �â'¬Å"coincidences�â'¬ï¿½ seem to have purpose and to have occurred for particular personal reasons. For example, �â'¬Å"chance�â'¬ï¿½ meetings may be more intimately connected with your unconscious than you had previously thought possible. So, when you meditate, take careful note not only of what happens inside yourself, but also of what happens to you.

Mind And Body

To be healthy human beings and to function at the peak of our potential, we need to achieve a balance of mind and body.

If we serve our outer needs without allowing ourselves time for the person within, and especially if we ignore the inner voice that tells us to slow down or take a break, then at some point our health will begin to suffer. At the very least, our ability to withstand stress or pressure will be weakened.

Meditation is an effective way to ensure that we are not neglecting an important aspect of our well-being, the state of our mind, and its optimum relation with our body.

To achieve this goal, there is no need to spend hours in strict contemplation. A few minutes each day can be enough. Gradually, we will begin to understand the mind, body relationship and in the process discover a new dimension in our lives.

By learning to meditate we can even, in due course, tap into a source of healing and rejuvenation deep within ourselves. It is not the amount of time we spend in meditation that counts, but the development of our understanding during that time.