The key to using our full healing potential lies in recognizing the 'primacy of mind over matter'.
Illustration of a Person's Mind — by Tara Winstead
The Science of Mind-Body Healing
In recent years, leading-edge scientific research and various philosophical and medical traditions have come together, challenging our fundamental understanding of health, disease, and the nature of reality itself. We seem to be moving towards the idea that reality is very much influenced by our mind, we see the world the way we believe it is, consciously and subconsciously.
In my work, I connect people with their emotions, their internal experiences, so that they no longer need to avoid that what pains them. Through this practice they come closer to their authentic selves and become aware of their conditioning and programming which acts as a filter on how they see reality. It decreases emotional suffering and with it, physical suffering, so I have experienced.
Our exploration of this subject of healing the body through the mind in this article begins with recent studies on the placebo effect, which is a powerful example of the mind-body connection. Research has shown that placebos can be remarkably effective. Sometimes, achieving up to 50% of the effectiveness of actual drugs in treating conditions like migraines. This is a remarkable finding!
When I studied human movement science and later naturopathic medicine, I often had discussions with medicine students about this phenomenon. At the time they often saw this as a nuisance instead of something they could implement in their healing practice. The discussions often ended when they stated “anything can make a patient feel better if make them believe it works” and I asked, then why don’t you?
Placebos can work their magic even when patients are aware they’re receiving it! This suggests that the actual ‘ritual of treatment’, the focused intention of healing, can cause measurable physiological changes.
However, the idea that mental and emotional factors play a crucial role in health and disease is not new. Long before these recent scientific findings, various alternative and holistic approaches to medicine have already been using this knowledge.
One such approach is German New Medicine, developed by Dr. Ryke Geerd Hamer in the late 20th century. Hamer claimed that diseases are not mistakes of nature, but meaningful biological processes trying to solve an unexpected emotional and psychological conflict. According to this perspective, specific types of emotional shocks correlate with specific biological responses. These then manifest as diseases.
Anthroposophy, a spiritual philosophy developed by Rudolf Steiner, places emphasis on the connection between body, soul, and spirit in health and disease. Anthroposophical medicine looks at illness not just as a physical malfunction, but as an opportunity for personal growth and transformation. It beliefs that understanding the deeper meaning of an illness can be key to healing it.
Naturopathic medicine, goes far back in history as well and also recognizes the profound impact of mental and emotional states on physical health, choosing treatments that address the whole person and the context they are in and not just isolated symptoms. My anamneses of a client took 1,5 hours asking them not just about their symptoms but also about their work situation, family life, relationship etc.
These alternative approaches, in recent past times, where often viewed sceptically by mainstream medicine. Now, as science progresses in discovering more about these mind-body phenomena, these ideas are becoming more and more relevant.
brain imaging studies — photo by Anna Shvets
When we delve deeper into the neurological aspects, we see that brain imaging studies have identified increased activity in the mid brain during placebo-induced pain relief. This activity as a result of our thoughts and beliefs directly influencing our neurological processes poses an interesting challenge to the traditional model that views disease as a purely physical phenomenon.
The Philosophy of a Mental Reality
As science find out more and more about these mind-body interactions, philosophical ideas like analytical idealism have been becoming more and more popular, offering an increasingly popular framework that could explain these findings. Made popular by thinkers like Bernardo Kastrup, analytical idealism offers us a radical reimagining of reality: consciousness, not matter, is the fundamental basis of existence. I write radical, but it’s not that new if we really look at the subject. The view, that our physical world, including our bodies, are manifestations of a universal consciousness is an old one.
The idealist perspective finds deep resonance in various non-dual philosophies and spiritual traditions, particularly in non-dual tantric schools of thought. These ancient wisdom traditions, like Advaita Vedanta, Kashmir Shaivism, and certain schools of Buddhism, claim that reality is fundamentally an undivided whole. All is one consciousness, and the apparent duality of mind and matter, subject and object, is seen as an illusion (maya) or a play (lila) of consciousness. Shiva is mind, Shakti is matter.
Shiva — photo by N.M. Sunil
By integrating these non-dual perspectives with analytical idealism, modern scientific findings, and the wisdom from alternative medical traditions, we can come to an understanding of the role of consciousness, or mind, in health and healing. By recognizing our fundamental nature as consciousness and understanding the intimate connection between mind and matter, we might gain access to deeper levels of healing potential.
Another perspective on Disease
So, this combination of ideas, leads us to the following consideration; if reality is fundamentally mental, then diseases might be am expression of psychological events and mental convictions.
Consider the role of stress in many health conditions. We know that chronic stress can lead to inflammation, weakened immunity, and many physical symptoms. But what is stress if not a result of pattern of thoughts and beliefs about our life? If we can change these mental patterns, could we not only reduce stress-related illnesses but potentially address a wider range of health issues?
The placebo effect demonstrates that belief alone can trigger healing responses in our bodies. But what if we extended this beyond belief in a particular treatment to a fundamental belief about the nature of reality itself? If we truly internalized the idea that mind, or consciousness is primary and the physical secondary, could we unlock even greater healing potential?
This isn’t about denying the reality of physical symptoms, but about recognizing that these symptoms are manifestations of deeper patterns in consciousness.
Embracing this perspective also doesn’t mean abandoning conventional medicine. Instead, it suggests a more integrated approach to health that recognizes the power of both physical interventions and conscious experiences. It validates practices like meditation, visualization, and other mind-body techniques as potentially powerful complements to traditional treatments.
This perspective, while empowering, also comes with responsibilities and potential traps.
It’s crucial not to blame individuals for their illnesses or suggest that positive thinking alone can cure all ailments! This is a mindset I’ve seen in the spiritual community more than often and it leads to an unhealthy form of bypassing the reality of suffering.
The patterns of consciousness that manifest as diseases often run deep and may be influenced by collective as well as individual factors. While this view of reality suggests fantastic possibilities for self-healing, it doesn’t mean the value of medical expertise or the reality of physical processes become less. Instead, it invites us to see these as part of a broader, consciousness-based understanding of health and disease.
Taking back Power
The combination of the scientific research on the placebo effect, philosophical perspectives like analytical idealism, ancient wisdom traditions, and insights from alternative medical approaches offers a reason for rethinking our approach to health and healing. By recognizing that ‘consciousness comes first’ and recognising the power of our beliefs to shape our physical reality, we open up new paths for understanding and addressing disease.
Could we heal ourselves by realising that the mental is primary and the material world secondary?
Could we heal our body by healing our trauma’s, our subconscious beliefs, programmed into our minds since birth?
I believe we can, and it’s become a fundamental pillar of my own practice and the work that I offer to the world.
Evidence, both from recent scientific studies and long lived traditions, suggests that we may indeed have more power over our health than we’ve previously thought possible.
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