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 | Mind/Body Connection Forum |
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| The Mind/Body Connection Name: Ashley Gar Date: 2002-04-24 16:45:18 Link to this Comment: 1949 |
After finishing this lecture series, I find it very interesting that mind and body are often thought of as distinct aspects of human experience. Looking back on the first question posed to us at the forum, "What is wellness," I have reconsidered my answer: "I guess I would say that wellness entails eating well as trying to do right by your body and mind." Now, I would not hesitate and "guess" that a state of wellness derives from a mind/body connection. Instead, I may say with absolute certainty that an acknowledgement of the mind/body connection is necessary to achieve a state of wellness.
The six topics we have covered in this course have been well thought out as to draw upon the importance of this mind/body connection. All of our presentations have been intricately related to each other: sleeping habits affect depression while depression affects sleeping habits; depression is a hallmark of addiction; stress may help us fulfill our goals, but an overblown anxiety may be dangerous. Additionally, I have realized the importance of the healthy body for the functioning of a healthy mind, as nearly every presentation has focused on the importance of exercise as a method of achieving a harmony of the mind and body. Exercise can decrease stress, which can decrease headaches; exercise releases endorphins, which can help elevate our "moods"; by being more attune to our body though exercise, we may be more able to recognize what is good for our body and, conversely, what is not; exercise can help regulate our sleep patterns, decreasing stress and uplifting our moods.
Now that I am attuned to this mind/body connection, I am more liable to make changes in my lifestyle that reflect this symbiosis. I realize now, for example, that consistently substituting a large cup of coffee (or its equivalent) for that extra hour or two of sleep is not only not a reasonable substitute, but also that, in doing so, I am putting myself at risk for unnecessary headaches, as well as bouts of depression, and poor performance from lack of sleep. Relieving anxiety or "taking the edge off" are not served well by a cigarette or drink - tying stress to addictive substances only leads to further problems. Instead, when I feel overwhelmed by a situation, perhaps I should divorce myself from its immediacy by taking a run or doing something similarly healthy for my body.
Being at Bryn Mawr, we all know how easy it is to feel overwhelmed by our surroundings, our friends, and our work. These lectures may particularly speak to us as college students and women. It is especially important that we recognize the connection that the mind and body share, so that we may obtain an overall sense of wellness in such an intense environment. Are those extra 30 minutes of studying really necessary when we won't remember the material anyway, thanks to our consistent lack of sleep? Would we be better served by engaging in some sort of ritual that makes us unwind after a long and busy day at the Mawr? I think so. Not only can these activities ward off the headaches, the anxiety, the depression that plague so many people here, but they can actually improve our moods and make us more ready to battle that ever-increasing load of work. I think that we would do well to put into practice the words of our presenters.
Knowing what I do now, I am able to take the advice of the experts we have had access to, and I hope that I will. I know I could certainly use a de-stresser and mood enhancer on a regular basis. If we are capable of doing it naturally by attuning ourselves to the connection between the body and mind, we should certainly take advantage.
| Wellness and its Importance Name: Kate Lenah Date: 2002-04-24 17:15:07 Link to this Comment: 1951 |
It has always been my experience that wellness is an important part of my life, yet many times I have found myself putting it aside for more important matters such as work or simply wanting to have fun. For example, going out the night before you know you have to get up at 6am the next morning is not exactly the definition of wellness, but the sacrifice is made in order to have a good time. Once in a while, this is alright. However, college is a time when staying up all hours of the night and then having to wake up for early classes becomes quite common. Also common is skipping meals in order to get work done or because classes do not allow you the time to eat. This can result in fatigue, headaches, and depression. Generally it is wise to incorporate exercise and balanced meals into your schedule as well as to find a good sleep pattern, however difficult that may be to accomplish sometimes.
However hard finding the time to eat right, sleep, and exercise is, I feel that at Bryn Mawr it is almost nearly impossible. It takes a great effort to be able to sleep for more than eight hours here, and I am only able to eat lunch two days of the week. Since Bryn Mawr is such a stressful place, I have often found myself becoming depressed and at points I thought it was a serious problem. Yet when I began to sleep better and exercise again, I was amazed at how better I felt. It did make me feel a bit foolish that I had envisioned deep psychiatric problems and a little sleep and exercise cured it, but I did feel relieved. I am a strong believer that what is most important is how you are feeling, and if you are stressing yourself out to the point of depression or anxiety, it is really not worth it. By balancing your life, you can maintain a healthier, happier lifestyle which will enhance all your activities. The only problem is finding the time to do it.
| Final Thoughts on Women Living Well Name: Marie Brow Date: 2002-04-25 15:34:33 Link to this Comment: 1962 |
The Women Living Well series was truly eye opening. I had always suspected that there was a connection between the mind and the body, but never had any definite proof. Listening to different speakers from a variety of disciplines talk about the mind/body connection week after week has given me that proof. I have a new resolve to try and become more aware of, and improve, my personal mind/body connection.
One of the major changes to my thinking has been the idea of a spectrum spanning the feelings of "well" and "unwell." Until recently I lived with the notion that "wellness" and "sickness" were two separate situations. A person was either one or the other. Now I realize that these two are linked by a gray area, wide range of feelings that lie somewhere in between. Each day we wake up at a different point along the spectrum. The talks also helped me to understand that I do not always have to strive to live at the "well" end of the scale. Stress, anxiety, and mood changes are all healthy and productive in moderate amounts. Coming to terms with the idea that I do not, and should not, always feel at my 100% best has given me a more accurate understanding of my health.
Of course, often times we do want to make ourselves feel better, to increase our sense of wellness. I learned from the lectures to not always look at physical causes when I feel sick. In addition to viruses and bacteria, physical sickness can also be triggered by unwell emotional or mental states. Because I don't like to put anything in my body that doesn't need to be there (i.e. medicines), I am very grateful for this new outlook. Now when I feel a cold or a migraine coming on, I am going to stop and evaluate my mental situation. By addressing the other areas of my life in which I may be feeling unwell or experiencing higher than normal stress, I can work towards eliminating the physical ailments as well.
After this six week seminar I feel as if I have a much better grasp on my health. I am viewing my body much more holistically, connecting the mind and body instead of keeping them separate. As Professor Grobstein said, we are all experts on our minds and body. Women Living Well has given me some tools with which to better understand how my personal mind and body connection operates. With a raised awareness of the interdependence between the mind and body, I am better prepared to improve and maintain my health.
| Realizing the Mind-Body Connection Name: Elizabeth Date: 2002-04-25 17:05:18 Link to this Comment: 1966 |
Thinking about the mind and body as an inter-connected pair is extremely important to my personal lifestyle and health. As a woman living in a stressful environment, it is crucial to see the relationship between my outside environment, my mind and my body. When one of these three elements change, I am very likely to see a change in another. By talking about the mind and body as inter-related I am better able to live a healthy life and make healthy decisions.
All of the topics that we studied show a tremendous connection between the mind and body. Headaches show that mental stress can cause a physical pain manifested in headaches. In the anxiety seminar we saw that very real physical symptoms can result from mental anxiety. We learned that exercise can greatly improve mindset and mental serenity and that depression has a very real impact on our body. We learned about the mind-body connection in addiction and the ill-effects of sleep deprivation on both our mind and body. Thus, even in a huge range of topics we see an intense link between the mind and the body.
In my own life, I also realize the connection between mind and body. For example, if I am stressed out, my body may need more sleep. After the seminar I have begun to think more about how my frame of mind affects my body. The seminar reinforced the idea that the mind affects the body. However, the seminar also made me reflect about how the body can affect the mind. By exercising regularly, a physical activity, people can affect their mind. This is certainly a very interesting connection that I may not have thought about as seriously without attending this lecture series.
In conclusion, these lectures have made me examine more thoroughly, the mind body connection that is ever-present in my life. By thinking about the two as inter-connected I am much better able to see how one affects the other. By better understanding how the mind impacts the body (and vice versa) we are better able to make healthy lifestyle choices, something the Bryn Mawr community and people as a whole can benefit from.
| paper Name: aeronwy Date: 2002-04-25 22:41:01 Link to this Comment: 1969 |
It's not a coincidence that mind and body are thought of as separate entities. The information that we get about each one is never mentions the other. Research or announcements about medical advances are always focused on improving one of these aspects, not the other, and I think approaches to treatment of ailments are usually in one direction over the other as well. I would like to say that attending the series has helped to de-polarize mind and body in my mind, but I am not sure I honestly can. The division is pretty well entrenched in my thinking.
That's not to say that the lectures haven't been helpful, of course. There was a balance between those people who showed how the mental affects the physical (anxiety, depression) and those who showed how the physical affects the mental (exercise, sleep deprivation).
I really feel that any application of the lessons learned through the lectures is a very individual thing. I also think that if you do bring those lessons to bear on your life, that won't necessarily be because you now have a new consciousness regarding the duality of the body and mind. Just because I realize that they aren't as distinct and separate as before doesn't have any bearing on whether or not I choose to change my exercise or sleep schedules.
As for Bryn Mawr... I think that necessity will always triumph over all here. You will always end up doing what it takes to get things done. When it comes down to making a choice I don't think that people will ever pick something for their own physical and mental improvement over doing something necessary for their academic success. That's not the kind of person I feel that the Bryn Mawr student is; if she were, this wouldn't be the type of school that it is. Of course, I'm sure plenty of people will disagree with this, and others will think I am being too pessimistic, but it's still what I believe.
That is the most ironic part of all, I guess, because if we are going to talk about mind and body being interrelated, then theoretically the Bryn Mawr student, now having been enlightened to say, the benefit exercise delivers for your physical energy, would be ecstatic and all too eager to try it out, with the ultimate aim, of course, to improve her grades. Still, I don't see it happening.
| IN WHAT WAYS DOES TALKING ABOUT THE MIND AND BODY Name: Shanze Mun Date: 2002-04-26 23:18:39 Link to this Comment: 1973 |
Here at Bryn Mawr, these discussions have made me aware of a lot of things I was not aware of before. I have learned that for my mind and body to function to their fullest potential, I need to get a good amount of sleep every night. Usually I get about 8 hours of sleep every night but sometimes I get more work and get only 5 hours or less of sleep. Ms. Pien mentioned that the sleep lost could pretty much never be recovered no matter how much you try and make up for it. She also stated the effects of sleep deprivation on your mind and body and their ability to function. It has made me realize that I need to manage my time better so that I can get enough sleep every night so that I can function better the following day. The talk by Ms. Fonshell about exercise and mental health was very useful as well. I have not been exercising since I have come to Bryn Mawr even though I know it is very important. Her talk motivated me to start exercising regularly because you become more energetic and feel better about yourself and your surroundings. The talks regarding depression, migraine headaches, anxiety, and addiction were also very useful in explaining how these things can affect your mind and body. Overall, I need to manage my time well so that I eat at least three meals a day, I exercise, sleep well, and get all my work done without stressing a lot.
This wellness course has made me understand how the mind and the body work together and how your everyday life affects them. In order for your mind and body to function to their full potential, one needs to make decisions accordingly. This course has really given me good insight on how to lead a healthy life.
| The Mind Body Connection Name: Hedya Arya Date: 2002-04-28 23:44:42 Link to this Comment: 1983 |
The notion of separating the physical and mental aspects of the human experience has never made sense to me, seeing as to how all of these systems are interdependent. The organs responsible for our mental capacities are also physically existent, thus making them susceptible to the same weaknesses as any other physical entity of the body. Therefore, embracing a holistic approach to human health seems like the only truly
effective method.
Looking back on the list of topics discussed throughout the forum, there were automatically certain issues I could identify, which I knew had some sort of experience with. These definitely included stress, anxiety, sleep deprivation, and other rather frequent "side effects" to being a college student. The advice and information offered by the speakers were things that I had heard before, perhaps from a TV show or read in a
magazine article. But, of course, it never hurts to be reminded of them. With an issue such as sleep deprivation, for example, everyone knows that pulling an all nighter won't put you in the best mood the next day, but sometimes they have to happen so that the work gets done. However, making a habit of it ultimately works against the student. When considering the level of quality-work one can produce on a good night's sleep, staying up night after night to simply get assignments finished doesn't seem so appealing. Therefore, for me, it's a priority I need to remind myself of more often.
Regarding exercise, I guess I was autmoatically in this mindset where I had to allocate a specific time, date, and location for physical activity that I could deem worthy of being called "exercise." Since the session on that topic however, I have begun to incorporate exercise into my schedule; I take the long way to a building on campus, I'll walk to Suburban Square if it's a nice day, etc. Any way in which a person can maintain his/her health is beneficial, but it feels especially nice when there's a method of optimizing that effort to work in with an already existent and hectic schedule.
With other topics that I have not had as much experience with, such as migraines/headaches and depression, I feel that having some sort of background on their implications is helpful for facing times when I may actually have these experiences. For example, not being a frequent sufferer from headaches, I would most likely end up eating/drinking things that would make my condition worse because of my lack of experience with them/knowing what works. Also, if nothing else, perhaps I can offer advice to friends who do deal with these conditions.
In an environment such as Bryn Mawr, when more or less "common sense" ideas about health and well-being may sometimes be forgotten in the chaos of deadlines, presentations, and finals, remembering the mind-body connection serves as a sort of reality check. Much of a student's performance here reflects her mental capacities, but the quality of these mental capacities is very much dependent on her physical state of being. To sacrifice one for the other wouldn't be conducive to a successful college career. Thus, trying to find a balance of interests/priorities is the best way of establishing and maintaining a healthy level of operation within the mind-body connection.
| Living Not So Well at Bryn Mawr Name: Celestina Date: 2002-04-29 03:56:16 Link to this Comment: 1986 |
YOUR TEXT REPLACES THIS CAPITALIZED MATERIAL. BE SURE PARAGRAPHS ARE SEPARATED WITH A BLANK LINE.
With the Women Living Well Series, I have finally begun to understand more about the relationship between physical and mental well-being. In understanding this relationship I have realized that is important to care about both aspects of my life. My diet, my exercise regime, and the amount of sleep I get have a profound impact on my mental state. But in thinking of these aspects I can help but wonder how I would suffer if I, as a college student, were to begin thinking about these aspects in my everyday life.
In September I will be teaching elementary school in New York City. I have already begun searching for gyms or programs that offers hip-hop dance to the public. Without the luxury of a free gym, I need to enroll in something that will allow me to escape the rest of the day or the week and give my body a physical workout. Currently I am taking Modern Dance I and the instructor is so good that I actually relax in that class instead of worrying about the time or being so bored (as I have been in the same exact class) during class that I cannot wait to leave. I love my dance class. It allows me to escape my everyday pressures. I know that I will be taking night classes and teaching full time in September but I am confident that I can take at least three hours of the week to do something for myself like enrolling in dance. However, if I were to expel energy in making sure that I was doing well mentally and physically in college I don't think I would be graduating.
While the "Women Living Well" Series was very informative, I could not follow any regime here at Bryn Mawr without the risk of failing. I need about 10 hours of sleep every night (8 hours of sleep is not enough). That would mean that I have 14 hours of every day. An hour would be dedicated to working out, take another hour for meals, three hours of classes and I am left with 9 hours. In addition to school, I work on campus (8 hours a week) and off-campus (at King of Prussia, about 20-30 hours a week), and I am in a sorority at the University of Pennsylvania (takes many hours of my week). Some nights I have no chance of getting work done at all, and I have to sacrifice something. That extra hour for exercise has been sacrificed, and I never get ten hours of sleep. It's imperative that I use any and all hours to accomplish what I must to graduate. However, now with this information from the seminar in mind, I feel so guilty about how I've treated my body physically and I understand why I might have been so susceptible to depression and anxiety during my college years. But what can I really do about this?
In general, I have to realize that I can only do so much. It's unfortunate that I can't say that about my studies and everyday life but if I were to stop working at my off campus jobs I would have no money and no way in which to live next year. If I were to say this about my studies I wouldn't graduate. If I were to say this about my extra-curricular activities (which I have already cut drastically back on) I would be turning my back on my fellow people that need help and encouragement. Unfortunately, if I say that about my own well-being (sleep, good eating habits, excellent exercise regime, etc) then nothing will really happen. For the exception of anxiety, depression, obesity (which can still be curved without being too strict), Et. Cetera. And these don't seem as bad as failing a class, or losing a paycheck. It's unfortunate, but this is how our society lives, works, and continues to succeed today.
I don't want to be a negative spin on the seminars, in fact, I thought they were very informative. I want to be a woman who lives well, but I think at our stage in life this is asking for too much. However, for future reference, this seminar will prove invaluable to me outside of Bryn Mawr College.
| Women Living Well Name: Lelani Lyn Date: 2002-04-29 13:43:23 Link to this Comment: 1990 |
I believe that discussing mind and body as two inter-related aspects has been very enlightening, in the same vein, it also seems to have complicated my life as it has pushed me to examine things more realistically.
After the series of seminars, there are so many aspects of my life that I recognize are in need of improvement. I need to sleep more, start exercising and I really should toss out most of my medicine cabinet. But my life hasn't been too receptive to these sorts of changes. Instead, now that I know how much things like sleep deprivation really truly affect my mind and body, I feel all the more affected by it. Maybe it's just me feeling sorry for my poor, lazy self. But I daresay that ignorance is bliss.
I used to be quite content with 5-6 hours of sleep, and I thought that I could function on 3.5-4. But now, I find it difficult to roll out of bed on 7, reminding myself that I deserve 8.
I think that especially as college students, we tend to make lifestyle choices wherein we don't end up at top functioning levels or with optimum health. Our work takes a toll, of course. For example, I am writing this paper in a bit of a daze. I'm inexplicably tired on this early Sunday evening (6:05pm) and actually I have been wondering where my weekend went.
The seminars however, provide answers to little questions like that. And when I am fully awake, I may be coherent enough to recall them. But for now, I am merely trying to keep my eyes open and my mind focused on the task at hand.
I hope to one day be healthier and happier and carrying the stamp of approval of health specialists and psychoanalysts and anyone else who has a say in this. But today, and probably through exam week, I will be just another fairly confused Bryn Mawr girl trying to make it to commencement.
| Women and Wellness Name: Ana Salzbe Date: 2002-04-29 15:06:38 Link to this Comment: 1991 |
Wellness in mind and wellness in body are often thought of as two disconnected aspects of life. Yet, as the speakers stated in the Women and Wellness seminars, mind and body are definitely connected in issues of wellness.
This fact was made clear in all of the seminars, particularly in those concerning anxiety, depression, addiction, and migraines. In the seminar on anxiety, we saw how the mind – when experiencing anxiety – could influence the body, and how this anxiety could be manifested physically. Similarly, we saw how stress could be physically manifested in a migraine. As well, in the seminar on addiction, we learned how a person's mindset could influence their actions – for example, the stages of addiction are connected and related to the state of mind experienced by the addict.
The connection between mind and body is something that directly affects our lives every day. For example, we saw how a lack of sleep can not only affect a person physically, but also influence that person's mental performance throughout the day. Similarly, depressed feelings can make it harder for someone to deal with whatever she or he has to face in their daily lives. The awareness of the mind-body connection, however, can help us make choices in our lives that will be beneficial to both mind and body. In recognizing the relationship between wellness in mind and body, we have a greater ability to live a healthy life – and a greater ability to take care of ourselves, in both mind and body.
| The Mind and Body Phenomenon Name: Nicole Pie Date: 2002-04-29 16:40:01 Link to this Comment: 1993 |
Even before this seminar series, I had always thought of the mind and body as being one entity. In order to achieve a healthy lifestyle, you must achieve a healthy mind and body. To achieve a healthy body, one must eat properly in order to get an adequate amount of nutrients, and one must also exercise to keep their body physically fit so their body is prepared for the day ahead of it. In order to achieve a healthy mind, one must get an adequate amount of sleep, so the mind as well as the body can have time to rest and sort out the events of the day. One must also find ways to reduce anxiety and stress on their mind, so they are able to work efficiently without being distracted from the stress and anxiety. Stress and anxiety are not good for the body either, because stress and anxiety causes the body to tense up and hold the stress and anxiety within the muscles causing the muscles to ache, which causes the person to be in a bad mood.
I am more aware of my actions and how those actions affect my body, now that the seminar series is over. I now think about how I treat my body and have improved my eating habits as well as my sleeping habits. It is difficult in an environment like Bryn Mawr to get an adequate amount of sleep and nutrition because of the time restraints class work puts on us. I believe that this series is helpful to remind people how they treat their body will affect them in the end. For instance, it reminded people why they get migraines or headaches as well as what not getting enough sleep does to your body.
By talking about the mind and body as interrelated, helps to put these problems in perspective, because you can tell someone that anxiety and stress will make them irritable and could possibly give them a headache, which just deals with the mind, but if they don't realize that the body is also involved, they won't understand why their muscles ache. People quickly forget that the mind and body are connected when dealing with pains and aches as well as symptoms occurring within their body.
| The Mind-Body Connection Name: Adrienne L Date: 2002-04-29 23:05:38 Link to this Comment: 1998 |
As a child, my parents made it a point to emphasize the importance of exercise in one's daily life. I remember that during exam periods, my father would always ask me whether I was doing some form of exercise, and would stress that it was a very important part of my life - especially during exam periods. But I, like most teenage children who lived away from home, did not feel the compulsion to take my parents' advice. I knew the physical benefits of exercise, and wanted to be fit, but (especially during exams or periods of high stress) I felt that there were more important things to do with my time than exercising.
I am not usually the sort of person who would rather learn the hard way than take someone's advice, but in this case that is exactly what I did. I soon realized, however, that having a healthy body is a crucial factor in dealing with the various stresses that one faces in life, and in just generally being well. It was also not long before my definition of wellness changed significantly. I had always seen wellness as simply 'not being sick'. But being free from illness is only one element of wellness; ability to cope with stress, sufficient sleep, mental and emotional stability, healthy eating habits are among a large list of the other aspects of wellness which I had never considered before.
This seminar helped reinforce my new-found appreciation for the mind-body connection, as they are truly linked in the most fundamental of ways. One cannot achieve complete good health and wellness without being healthy both in mind and in body.
| Connections Name: Natalie me Date: 2002-04-30 14:26:50 Link to this Comment: 2012 |
During this Women Living Well seminar, we have focused on creating connections between our mind and body. I have found several things quite helpful for learning to manage my mental as well as physical health in a stress intensive environment such as Bryn Mawr.
Several things were particularly interesting hearing about, such as the discussions on anxiety and depression and stress. Learning about these problems in relation to such things as addiction, sleep deprivation, headaches, and exercise was a helpful way to analyze my lifestyle habits and learn to self check my moods with my physical conditions. I have learned that if I am stressed or am experiencing certain moods there are physical things that can help alleviate that such as exercise.
My favorite discussion must have been the sleep deprivation and performance speaker. It was helpful to hear about ways in which sleep deprivation can interact with my moods and performance- both physical and mental. This has helped me place a higher priority on managing my time, however often there is not a lot you can do during finals week when things get down to the wire. However, I know that during the normal school seminar in the future it would be much better for me to maintain a steady sleeping schedule in order to maximize my learning potential.
This is also related to exercise. I hope to pick up a regular program once again after finals are over. This seminar made me realize how much it can impact your moods, performance and sleeping in a very positive way that makes day to day stress more bearable.
All in all, the connections of physical and mental conditions have helped and will continue to help me manage my time and prioritize things in an appropriate and healthy way.
| The Mind-Body Connection Name: Jennifer V Date: 2002-04-30 15:48:15 Link to this Comment: 2013 |
That all changed in Grade 6, when I began studying martial arts. After only a few months, the improvements to both my body and my mind were remarkable. Not only was I stronger and more confident, but I was also more focused, and better able to concentrate. I continued my studies through elementary and high school, stopping only when I left for college. Living away from home eight months of the year prevents me from actively training at my school anymore, but I have found other activities that require less of a time commitment, and I will never again make the mistake of neglecting the physical aspect of my life.
During these past six weeks, we have seen many different instances in which mind and body influence each other. Activities that are beneficial to one are beneficial to the other, and activities that are detrimental to one are detrimental to the other. This means that none of our actions can be thought of in isolation. Any choice we make with regard to our lifestyle will influence every aspect of our life to some degree. We therefore have to be careful to keep our mental and physical activities in balance.
Of course, balance is rarely easy. Here at Bryn Mawr, we are constantly under pressure to learn more, and work harder. The temptation is very strong to make schoolwork the primary consideration. People often forgo exercise, deprive themselves of sleep, and subsist on coffee for days or weeks at a time, for the sake of getting more work done. Then, when the weekend comes, people often choose to escape the pressure by abusing their bodies in different ways, like excessive drinking. Somehow, through all of this abuse, such people still expect their minds to remain unaffected.
As this seminar has demonstrated, this is a completely unreasonable expectation. While it may be more productive in the short term, mistreating one's body will, sooner or later, begin to interfere with one's ability to think and learn effectively. Like any other student, there have been times when I chose to stay up for long periods of time working; I got done everything I had to do, but it was much more difficult to function the next day. If I made sleep deprivation a habit, I would certainly lose out in the end. Similarly, there are times when I sit at my desk all day instead of getting some exercise, but this is a last resort, not a habit or a lifestyle.
The interplay between mind and body is an important issue for everyone, and this seminar has provided many interesting and informative insights. Hopefully, understanding the mind-body connection will help us all make smarter, healthier choices in the future.
| The Mind and Body Connection Name: Monica R. Date: 2002-05-01 00:14:51 Link to this Comment: 2016 |
I used to think that the mind and body are separate and distinct aspects of the human experience. Being a part of the Women Living Well Series class has expanded my knowledge on how the mind and body are both inter-related and also work together. Since I am a freshman adjusting to the college life has been one of the major things I had to ever go through in my life. Being continents away from a place that I call home and having feelings of being alone was not easy to go through. The amount of work I get in Bryn Mawr can be very overwhelming, however I try to manage my time in a way that I can still function properly everyday. There are times when I don't get enough sleep because I try to finish a lot of work in one day even though it is not due until the next week.
Another thing is that I wish to go to the gym more. I used to enjoy going to the gym because it was a way for me to release my stress. However living at the other end of campus from the gym, has made me not go to the gym as often as I would like to. I feel that exercise is definitely a big part of the mind and body connection. All of the lectures given in the Women Living Well Series class presented exercise as a way of relieving stress and being more productive. I believe that if your body feels good then it influences the way you feel which greatly influences what you are thinking. In Bryn Mawr, I believe that the Athletics Department definitely offers great opportunities for students to exercise and use the gym facilities. I think it would be a great idea if Bryn Mawr had a small SPA near the gym for facials and massages because this is definitely one way of relieving stress.
Being here at Bryn Mawr has made me more aware of myself as a person, living in a very relaxing environment gives me the time to contemplate about my life and the direction I want it to follow. My eating habits have been better since I have been living in Bryn Mawr, I am more concerned about eating vegetables which is one thing I never ate much of. Most of my friends here are very health conscious and I am glad that they are because they have also helped me change my eating habits. I remember that I would always eat a lot of greasy food. Now I am very concerned with my intake since I am big built. If there was something I would love to change in my lifestyle habits, I would have to say that it would be catching up on my sleep. On the weekends, I also tend to sleep late because I talk to my friends and hang out. Hopefully, I will try to sleep earlier on the weekends and not waste my day. One thing I don't like is waking up on a weekend knowing that half of my day is over. I believe that all these lectures have opened up my eyes on the different things affecting my lifestyle and the choices I make. Having the opportunity to be able to listen to well respected lecturers has been a great experience for me and I thank them for making me aware of this mind and body connection.
| The Mind and Body Connection Name: Monica R. Date: 2002-05-01 00:15:09 Link to this Comment: 2017 |
I used to think that the mind and body are separate and distinct aspects of the human experience. Being a part of the Women Living Well Series class has expanded my knowledge on how the mind and body are both inter-related and also work together. Since I am a freshman adjusting to the college life has been one of the major things I had to ever go through in my life. Being continents away from a place that I call home and having feelings of being alone was not easy to go through. The amount of work I get in Bryn Mawr can be very overwhelming, however I try to manage my time in a way that I can still function properly everyday. There are times when I don't get enough sleep because I try to finish a lot of work in one day even though it is not due until the next week.
Another thing is that I wish to go to the gym more. I used to enjoy going to the gym because it was a way for me to release my stress. However living at the other end of campus from the gym, has made me not go to the gym as often as I would like to. I feel that exercise is definitely a big part of the mind and body connection. All of the lectures given in the Women Living Well Series class presented exercise as a way of relieving stress and being more productive. I believe that if your body feels good then it influences the way you feel which greatly influences what you are thinking. In Bryn Mawr, I believe that the Athletics Department definitely offers great opportunities for students to exercise and use the gym facilities. I think it would be a great idea if Bryn Mawr had a small SPA near the gym for facials and massages because this is definitely one way of relieving stress.
Being here at Bryn Mawr has made me more aware of myself as a person, living in a very relaxing environment gives me the time to contemplate about my life and the direction I want it to follow. My eating habits have been better since I have been living in Bryn Mawr, I am more concerned about eating vegetables which is one thing I never ate much of. Most of my friends here are very health conscious and I am glad that they are because they have also helped me change my eating habits. I remember that I would always eat a lot of greasy food. Now I am very concerned with my intake since I am big built. If there was something I would love to change in my lifestyle habits, I would have to say that it would be catching up on my sleep. On the weekends, I also tend to sleep late because I talk to my friends and hang out. Hopefully, I will try to sleep earlier on the weekends and not waste my day. One thing I don't like is waking up on a weekend knowing that half of my day is over. I believe that all these lectures have opened up my eyes on the different things affecting my lifestyle and the choices I make. Having the opportunity to be able to listen to well respected lecturers has been a great experience for me and I thank them for making me aware of this mind and body connection.
| The Mind and Body Connection Name: Elizabeth Date: 2002-05-01 15:32:54 Link to this Comment: 2021 |
Although the mind and the body are regarded as two separate entities, they are very closely related. The functioning and state of one greatly affects the other. If one does something to one's body, the mind is very likely to feel the consequences whether they are good or bad.
Two examples of this connection are sleep and exercise which then also connect to each other. When a person lacks sleep, her body not only functions slower, but so does the mind. It becomes harder to think properly and to be able to carry out more complicated tasks. Dr. Pien mentioned that sleep deprivation has the same effect as alcohol on the body. Therefore, if one does not sleep enough, the consequences can me just as dangerous as if someone is drunk. I found this image very powerful since the dangers of drinking are widely publicized. This fact makes many of the signs that one sees in someone who is sleep deprived very definite and all the more real. Exercise also exhibits a great effect on not only the body, but also the mind. First, one will not feel as inclined to exercise if one is lacking sleep. From there, exercise helps not only the body function better, but also the mind. The effects of exercise are often publicized. However, there are other benefits. One's mood tends to improve with exercise as well as improving the condition of one's body. As one exercises more, the tendency is to feel better physically as well as mentally. Also, exercise can have a positive effect on one's sleep in that one tends to sleep better after one has put an exercising regiment in place.
By looking at only the dealings with the mind and body concerning sleep deprivation and exercise, it is easy to see the connection they have. When one does not have the available resources, like sleep, it is much more difficult to keep the two parts working well together. Something one does to their body affects the mind and vice-versa. These are not isolated incidents. By understanding this, the necessity for exercise, sleep, and proper eating become all the more obvious.
| Thinking about the Mind-Body Connection Name: Rabia Qure Date: 2002-05-01 22:38:56 Link to this Comment: 2024 |
Throughout the Women Living Well series, we have looked at mind and body as inter-related and in many ways this has helped in alerting us to think about our lifestyle habits, practices, and choices. Indubitably, our lifestyles are made up of a confluence of things and each of these things must work together to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
In general, if we think about mind and body as connected, we are cognizant of the fact that a healthy body produces a healthy mind and vice versa. That is to say that if our bodies are physically strong and able to confront the issues of everyday life, i.e. waking up early, walking and/or driving far distances, stress, jobs, etcetera, our minds tend to be stronger and we perform more efficiently. On the other hand, if we are physically weak or sick, our performance is worse and our general mood is also worse. Only if we consider the mind and body as parts of the same whole will be equipped to meet the challenges of our everyday lifestyles.
At Bryn Mawr, I understood the mind-body connection very early in my academic career. Though I had been accustomed to staying up all night studying and writing papers, I soon discovered that the complete lack of sleep for two days at a time and sometimes more caused me to get sick very quickly. The stress of finishing work on time led to a deterioration in my physical well-being as well. It was only when I began to eat breakfast, exercise daily for at least fifteen minutes, and plan for an adequate amount of sleep that I finally was able to boost my immune system. Thus, the solution to my physical problem of being sick necessitated an holistic mind-body solution.
The mind and body definitely are interrelated. They affect each other and thus are the key to health for each other.
As our minds and bodies age, we must look to the connection between the two to understand how to treat our mental and physical ailments. Throughout the course of the Women Living Well series, we have looked at issues as seemingly diverse as sleep deprivation, exercise, addiction, and depression. The underlying reality however is that each of these issues is a facet of the total mind-body connection. If we think about mind and body as associated, we will not only be more aware and comprehensive of our health, but better able to treat ourselves. Therefore, we as women must continue to educated ourselves about the effects of ostensibly unrelated activities on our complete health outlook.
| Thinking about the Mind-Body Connection Name: Rabia Qure Date: 2002-05-01 22:41:11 Link to this Comment: 2025 |
Mind and body are indeed inter-connected. They must each function in concert on order for each of us to maintain optimal health. That is to say that we must concentrate on strengthening the mind-body connection if we are to be healthy and remain that way.
Throughout the Women Living Well series, we have looked at mind and body as inter-related and in many ways this has helped in alerting us to think about our lifestyle habits, practices, and choices. Indubitably, our lifestyles are made up of a confluence of things and each of these things must work together to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
In general, if we think about mind and body as connected, we are cognizant of the fact that a healthy body produces a healthy mind and vice versa. That is to say that if our bodies are physically strong and able to confront the issues of everyday life, i.e. waking up early, walking and/or driving far distances, stress, jobs, etcetera, our minds tend to be stronger and we perform more efficiently. On the other hand, if we are physically weak or sick, our performance is worse and our general mood is also worse. Only if we consider the mind and body as parts of the same whole will be equipped to meet the challenges of our everyday lifestyles.
At Bryn Mawr, I understood the mind-body connection very early in my academic career. Though I had been accustomed to staying up all night studying and writing papers, I soon discovered that the complete lack of sleep for two days at a time and sometimes more caused me to get sick very quickly. The stress of finishing work on time led to a deterioration in my physical well-being as well. It was only when I began to eat breakfast, exercise daily for at least fifteen minutes, and plan for an adequate amount of sleep that I finally was able to boost my immune system. Thus, the solution to my physical problem of being sick necessitated an holistic mind-body solution.
The mind and body definitely are interrelated. They affect each other and thus are the key to health for each other.
As our minds and bodies age, we must look to the connection between the two to understand how to treat our mental and physical ailments. Throughout the course of the Women Living Well series, we have looked at issues as seemingly diverse as sleep deprivation, exercise, addiction, and depression. The underlying reality however is that each of these issues is a facet of the total mind-body connection. If we think about mind and body as associated, we will not only be more aware and comprehensive of our health, but better able to treat ourselves. Therefore, we as women must continue to educated ourselves about the effects of ostensibly unrelated activities on our complete health outlook.
| "Living Well" and Being a Vegetarian Name: Meghan Lam Date: 2002-05-02 10:17:45 Link to this Comment: 2030 |
Over the last six weeks, the "Women Living Well" seminar has been a useful tool in emphasizing and expanding that which I have been taught for many years concerning the connection between mind and body. The first time this connection was emphasized for me was in middle school; in my opinion, however, it can never be stressed enough. It is so easy to forget that what one does to one's body could severely alter one's mind (or vice-versa!). In this paper, I intend to discuss the way this seminar has changed my own way of thinking, in addition to the manner in which my life been altered since becoming a vegetarian.
In eighth grade Health class, our teacher showed us the "health" triangle, where each leg stood for the body, mind or spirit. She told us that if any of the "legs" of the triangle were missing, we would be unhealthy people. This teacher was in a very real way proof of that. She ran twelve miles every morning, and told us the first day of class that if she were to miss her daily run for any reason, we would know it. In fact, several weeks later, she came into class late, tired and mean, because she had missed her morning "dose" of endorphins. In retrospect, this woman was both an example of what a good exercise regime could do for someone, and of what an excess of anything (even endorphins) could do to a person. The correlation between a healthy mind and a healthy body seems to be moderated intake of all things, including exercise.
At Bryn Mawr, or at any college, there is nothing easier to do than to neglect the body in favor of developing the mind (or to neglect the mind in favor of developing a taste for beer and pizza). The conditions that exacerbate this problem are, certainly, the amount of work in every class, in addition to the easy-to-get, starchy and fatty foods in the dining halls. What to me is worse, when our young bodies need solid, healthy foods the most, we have the "grazing" period before final exams. Due to the abundance of grazing food, I gained about ten pounds during exams my freshman year – and have never been able to get rid of at least five of them!
In my personal "health" life, since becoming a vegetarian almost three years ago, my mind-body-spirit awareness has only strengthened; though it has taken me a long time to see some kind of mutual peace for every aspect of my general health. When I gave up meat, I was afraid of missing all of my daily nutrients and proteins, because I grew up learning that our bodies need meat, because we were made to eat meat. Due to my constant fear of becoming anemic and undernourished, I began to consume food (for the first time) that actually benefited me. I found that my hair became thicker, because I was actually getting enough protein, through tofu and legumes. This is not to say that I didn't eat a lot of pasta, but becoming a vegetarian was the first time I really crossed that threshold of realizing that if I didn't eat well, my mind would be weaker.
Soon after dropping the meat from my daily regime, I read A Diet for a New America, a tremendously informative book by John Robbins, founder of EarthSave International. In it, he details different and varied ways for vegetarians and vegans to eat well. The scariest points, for me, that he made in his book dealt with the necessity of buying organic meat, if one chooses to eat it. Mr. Robbins made it apparent that the sicknesses of animals, mistreated and pumped full of antibiotics, really can affect the way we feel, and think. By simply eating selectively, all of us can prolong our lives (and the lives of other things!), and we can feel better in general.
This discourse, I realize, is predominantly body-to-body: what we eat affects our health. To go back to the "Living Well" course, however, we saw this nutrition theme in nearly every seminar. For example, in the first session, taught by Dr. Larry Kerson, there seemed to be a clear correlation between certain types of food and possible headache or migraine triggers. Not to get too health-nutty, but I believe certain kinds of foods can also trigger anxiety or depression. Too much sugar always makes me depressed, for example. Obviously, an excess of coffee would make anyone anxious. As far as the seminar on addiction goes, again, sugar is an addictive substance. I don't know that it could ruin everyone's lives, but imagine someone with genetic diabetic tendencies. What would (even a moderate) sugar addiction do to them? What if they were to combine that with steady sleep deprivation? The sugar and the lack of sleep could be a very dangerous combination.
"Women Living Well" has been helpful and instructive to me in another way: it has shown me that there are people of authority who care about the state of our young bodies and minds. It was very encouraging to see professors and professionals taking time to talk to us about the up-keep of our bodies, perhaps preventing some of us from becoming their patients later on!
In sum, I feel like I have turned a corner. There are nine days left in my final semester at Bryn Mawr. These last four years have been rather grueling, but if there is one thing I have gained recently, it is a larger perspective on the "wealth" of good health. It is a message I can take with me in life; I believe that a healthy body makes a happier person. This seminar has helped show that "healthy" does not only and strictly mean exercising regularly, but that it encompasses the whole body, so that we keep our "health triangles" well-balanced.
I would like to attach a few websites that I found informative, which might be of general interest :
1 – www.earthsave.org: This website is the home site of EarthSave International, founded by John Robbins in 1989.
2 – www.foodrevolution.org: This is another John Robbins website, detailing the ways our eating habits can affect the world.
3 - http://www.panix.com/~candida/: This is a list of sites about C. Albicans – ways to avoid it, ways to beat a yeast infection without medication, etc. Perhaps in the future of "Women Living Well," yeast infections could be confronted. I know many / most women will have a yeast infection at some point, and maybe certain types of medications, preventative measures, and diets could be explored.
| The Mind-Body Connection: When Women Will Really B Name: Greta Tess Date: 2002-05-02 14:16:26 Link to this Comment: 2031 |
The importance of thinking of the body-mind connection is especially relevant for women. The pressures of work, friends, activities, significant others, and children demand that our bodies are constantly on the go—causing many women to turn their attention away from their own mental health. Unfortunately, because these two entities have such a strong relationship, many women do not feel as healthy as they should. With the current health and fitness craze, many women remember they need to make time for their bodies in the form of exercising and eating properly. Where is the current healthy mind craze? As we have seen in the past seven weeks through these lectures, having a healthy body is only a small part of overall well-being.
Until I went abroad to Australia last semester, I too was one of those women constantly on the go without a thought about the state of my mind. I ate properly, exercised regularly, and occasionally got the recommended amount of sleep. But by the end of sophomore year, I knew something was missing. There were very few days that I felt "really good." Why? I was not ill. My body was present in the classroom, the gym, and parties...but I was not completely there because I was neglecting the mind-body connection. My semester abroad in Australia was spent focusing on me. I did the activities I enjoy, learned the importance of their "no worries" moto, and reevaluated what made me a happy person. "No worries" became part of my daily language and action—it means don't stress. What is so important it is worth making yourself sick or unhappy over? With this attitude, I was able to focus in class, studying and take exams, and relate to people socially in a way I had not for a while. My goal for coming back to Bryn Mawr was to continue this state of mind. Although I must admit I am not as carefree as I was in sunny Melbourne Australia, I am much happier than before I left. I feel "really good" the majority of the time now. At Bryn Mawr "no worries" means getting enough sleep, going for a walk if I feel overwhelmed, and thinking about my overall health as much as I do about my studies. We get caught up in the academic pressure, fast-paced lifestyle, and being the best at Bryn Mawr. It is only when we can appreciate ourselves both physically and mentally that we are able to truly have a successful career at Bryn Mawr. I will not look back at Bryn Mawr in 10 years and remember my graduating GPA or that test that I didn't do well on. I will, however, be able to look back and remember how healthy I felt, how much I appreciated my friendships, and how I was able to benefit from my mind-body connection.
We are only young once. We are at the critical age where our decisions about how we treat our minds and bodies will have lasting consequences. We pride ourselves on "being able to do it all." Work, kids, significant others...being successful at all of these. This takes more than a Bryn Mawr diploma, more than a Ph.d, and more than looking good while you're doing this. For women this means taking time out of your busy schedules to satisfy your mind-body connection. As the seminars have emphasized, these satisfaction requirements are different for each woman. It may mean taking a swim, yoga, reading your favorite book, going to a spa, or talking to a friend. It means being physically active and mentally sound. We need to remember check on the status of our body-mind connections every once in a while. We go for physicals once a year, why not reevaluate our overall well-being at least this often as well. Are we getting frequent migraines, losing your temper with you kids, depressed, or perhaps abusing a substance? It is within our power to change your lifestyle habits, practices, and choices.
What is the classic message at Bryn Mawr? Women can do anything. Women are Olympic athletes, key political figures, and sitting on the Supreme Court. However, it is not until we are able to recognize the importance of the mind-body connection and act accordingly, that we will truly be able to do anything and enjoy all that we are doing.
| The Mind Body Connection Name: Shanti Mik Date: 2002-05-03 00:57:56 Link to this Comment: 2035 |
It was easier to understand, through this seminar, how much more interrelated mind and body are. It is very easy to think that an affliction of the body only takes its toll on the body and vice versa. I noticed that this is not necessarily true when I looked at my own sleeping patterns. I realized that my work was greatly affected when I did not get enough sleep. I also realized that the later I was up, the harder it was to focus and the poorer quality my work was. The lesson for this came the hard way when I was up way too late one night studying for a final. I didn't think that a lack of sleep could affect my body's ability to function. Yet I learned first hand, that my mental health relies on my physical health.
I've learned to also take more care of my body. I used to think that people who told me to exercise just wanted me to get in better shape. I would go with a friend to the gym once in a while but then I started playing soccer. By playing a sport I realized that there is more merit to exercise than just getting in shape. All that oxygen I was taking in during the game helped me focus more on my work, it curbed my appetite, and in general made me more excited for the things that were going on.
After hearing the seminars on exercise, sleep, and mood, I realized that my well-being depends on multiple factors and that I won't just feel physically better if I get more sleep. By relating mind and body experiences, I've attempted to work out more and to get more rest. At this point, I've realized that I definitely need those 8 and ˝ hours of sleep to function properly. I've set myself up on a more rigid schedule and have imposed a bedtime on myself. I also have tried to stop letting my grades become such a stress to me. The more stress I put on myself, the harder it was to work and the more physical strain I would feel. I was able to offset that strain in part with exercise but I realized that to truly feel well, I would have to put my mind and body first and if need be sacrifice some work.
Living here at Bryn Mawr among so many intelligent and competitive women, it's easy to get caught up in work or to let that be the only goal in your life. I've stopped worrying so much about things in general. I learned quickly after coming here that a lot of the things that I saw as stresses where just stresses that I imposed on myself. After I attempted to change my lifestyle here, I kept it changed even at home. I found that I had more energy to keep up after my younger siblings and I was still alert and capable of talking to my parents when they came back from work. I was sleeping better so I was yawning through my day but instead was enjoying the time that I had with my family.
By thinking of being well in a more holistic sense and realizing that my mind and body work together, I was able to achieve more relaxation. In the past, I would stop doing work but would still feel physical stress, or I would stop working out but would still feel pressure or anxiety about schoolwork. I've learned to put the two together and to really appreciate the connection between mind and body. They are both part of my body and make me capable of being healthy and active. From this seminar I've realized, the I will not feel well if I punish one part of my body while releasing my mind. Mind and body are simultaneous experiences, which need to be taken care of and given attention.
| Women Living Well Name: Date: 2002-05-03 01:04:35 Link to this Comment: 2036 |
YOUR TEXT REPLACES THIS CAPITALIZED MATERIAL. BE SURE PARAGRAPHS ARE SEPARATED WITH A BLANK LINE.
| Making Choices: Learning to Take Care of Mind and Name: Irum Ali Date: 2002-05-03 01:06:18 Link to this Comment: 2037 |
For me, the mind and body have always been inter-related. However, it was a connection that I was dimly aware of, and did not acknowledge as essential to the way I functioned. For me, life was always mind over matter ? if you put your mind to it, there was nothing that you couldn?t do, no matter how tired you were. Four years in the high-stress, extremely demanding atmosphere of Bryn Mawr has taught me differently. How I feel mentally always effects how I feel physically. Just as importantly, how I feel physically undoubtedly effects how I feel mentally. It is an undeniable fact. One cannot consider one to be more important than the other. Just as we nourish our bodies, we must nourish our minds. Balance is imperative. It is one of the most important lessons that I have learned while at college. A lesson that was made clearer and the goal of balance more attainable through the strategies I have learned in this seminar.
In college life it is very easy to fall into a pattern where we focus on one aspect of our beings to the detriment of the other. We so often hear people say things like: ?I haven?t had time to eat today?/?I haven?t slept in days? or ?I don?t have time to think about how upset I am?/?I don?t know how to express my emotions?. To me, each of these things is as unhealthy as the other. To be well, rounded, healthy and happy individuals, we must take on the responsibility of caring for ourselves.
Although caring for ourselves can encompass many things, this seminar has helped me learn specific ways to care for myself. It was easy at first to dismiss most of the things that the speakers were saying as common sense. However, as time went on, I asked myself the difficult question ? if its such common sense, then why aren?t I doing half the things that I should be doing to take care of my body? I told myself that I had priorities, that I was a Senior and I needed to focus on my work, on finding a job, on preparing for the challenges that would undoubtedly lie in store for me in the real world. Then it came to me ? learning how to make taking care of myself a priority was not only a key to doing better academically and being a more dynamic person socially, it was the best preparation for the real world that I could ever learn. This would be what the real world would be all about ? learning how to be at your best, mentally and physically so that you can maximise your performance and happiness.
After years of always staying up all night to get it done, I have learned now that sometimes you have to sleep ? or sometimes you have to give up something else in order to be able to get enough sleep. I have learned that eating healthily is more important than being thin. I have discovered that taking fifteen minutes to take a walk or that taking a dance class makes me a happier person. I have learned that there are options out there ? that are ours for the taking. We can let life dictate the terms, or take life and live it our way ? and be happier, healthier ? and less sleep deprived! It?s about making choices ? the right ones for us.
| Connected Name: Lois McAff Date: 2002-05-03 07:18:17 Link to this Comment: 2038 |
YOUR TEXT REPLACES THIS CAPITALIZED MATERIAL. BE SURE PARAGRAPHS ARE SEPARATED WITH A BLANK LINE.
Lois Mcaffrey-Lopez
Mind-Body Wellness Seminar
May 3, 2002
Realizing that mind and body are integrated inter-related experiences of life is an important and vital component to living a full life. Realizing this adds a dimension of texture and richness to the life experiences. We are not talking heads, nor are we simply bodies to train to perform. We are an integrated "being" of emotions and thoughts and feelings. It is important to stay in touch with our bodies in order to integrate myself into a whole person.
Realizing this inter-relation is what has enabled me to feel like a whole living being. It has enabled me to begin to feel connected with the earth and all that lives here with me. Separating out your brain from your body leaves an empty feeling, that the brain keeps struggling to overcome. But it can't alone.
This feeling of being connected with life has been the best result of realizing the inter-relation, however, it also has given me a fuller sense of myself. All of my senses are important to my life - touch, hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting, thinking, and we need to keep the body awake and healthy to fully realize our senses. There is a texture and depth that comes to life fully experienced, and I don't think it is possible to fully experience life as a talking head.
When I realize the importance of a healthy body to this experience, I remember that I want to help keep this health. One of the components for me seems to be consistency. I have consistent needs for exercise and healthy food and rest and it is important that I consistently fill these needs. Sometimes this means doing things I don't want to do, like going to the gym on a day when I feel tired. But the amazing thing is that after the gym, I'll often feel invigorated. Must be those endorphins. And then, my mind is clearer and I perform better over all. But consistency is a key. If you are overstressed and under exercised, I believe it will take some time to reap the benefits of exercise.
The major goal of Bryn Mawr College seems to be to "grow your brain." And this has wonderful benefits on an integrated body and mind. But if you are stressed and cut-off from yourself, the knowledge you are gaining at Bryn Mawr College will be difficult to integrate within your life. And that's the purpose of this college education, is it not? To lead a richer fuller life, and to make the mind a more interesting place to be. But I've found I need mind body heart and soul to accomplish this, not in pieces, but as a whole entity. Healthy lifestyles help me live as a whole person.
| The Mind Body Connection and its Current Expressio Name: Rachel Wri Date: 2002-05-03 09:48:03 Link to this Comment: 2039 |
What I appreciated most about the class was not that it was the first time that I have ever heard or thought that my mind and body were in connnection, but that it is the first time that I have heard that at Bryn Mawr-- at least in this way. Oh sure, in my higher level English classes we sometimes talk about the way that the mind and body are connected, but always the mind takes precidence over the body and in Women Living Well, I think that the relationship between the two was far more balanced. I learned that, in its own way, the body has agency; it can intervene to disrupt the life of the mind if it goes abused for too long.
I am most struck by this idea of agency with regard to sleep deprivation. It seems to me that when one is chronically or acutely sleep deprived, the very sense that you cannot stay awake (in class, on the road, while you sit and watch television) is your body taking control of the situation. At Bryn Mawr, we place a premium on the life of the mind and we tax it with many tasks that encroach later and later into our bedtimes and cause the alarm clocks to go off earlier and earlier. At some point, the body says enough. Yes, I want to be able to accomplish all the tasks set before me, gaining good grades and recognition along the way, but I am frankly frightened by the side effects that the sleep deprivation therapist described-- inability to efficiently learn or remember new information, inability to judge one's own level of impaired reasoning, changes in mood and behavior-- because they seem very much like the early symptoms of addiction.
What concerns me about that parallel is that I think sleep deprivation and the exhaustion and depression that accompany it, often lead people at Bryn Mawr to substance abuse. I am not sure that I want to claim that there are a serious number of addicts on campus, but I know that there are many students who have turned to alchohol/tobacco/marijuana to escape both the work they had to do and the terrible feelings that accompany both sleep deprivation and the depression that comes with realizing that you cannot accomplish the tasks in the way that you want. In terms of the body needing something that the mind probably knows is dangerous, addiction seems the worst way in which the body intervenes against the express thoughts of the mind and eventually, the chemical changes in the brain that addiction cause actually make the mind as dependent as the body tricks it into feeling from the beginning. I think that we run the risk at Bryn Mawr of putting so much trust in the mind's capacity to reason and choose, that we put ourselves at risk for great harm when the body intervenes because of stress and pressure.
To avoid addiction on this campus, as well as to decrease the depression, sleep deprivation, and anxiety that are epidemic in my opinion, this idea of the mind/body connection must be talked about outside of the hour long blocks that it has been given by the P.E. department. Don't get me wrong. I appreciate that time, but even in its set up, I was there every week, even when I needed the time for work/rest/lunch (in short to fulfill the basic requirements for my own body) I continued to come so that I would get credit for the class. In other words, my academic life which includes a need for P.E. credit still intervened (one could argue positively or negatively) to force my participation in this valuable pannel. Instead, I hope that we will begin to talk about this connection in other classrooms, in the dorms, with our friends, and basically wherever two or three Mawrtyrs gather, because we already talk about the mind when we're together. Perhaps then, when the mind/body connection is not just allocated its one hour a week for exploration, but takes center stage as a way of understanding all of our behaviors on and off campus, we will be able to make consistant healthy decisions about both the mind and the body. I look forward to that day as a Bryn Mawr student with an active mind and as a woman with a body I want and need to take care of.
| Botticelli and the Mind/Body Connection Name: Molly Finn Date: 2002-05-03 10:36:27 Link to this Comment: 2041 |
The Mind/Body binary seems very out of date. Instead I think they are parallel spectra. It's not a scale; you do not balance your mind against your body. You are constantly shifting the levels on these similar tracks. Balance is important, but so is dialogue. Your body and mind need to have chats.
Coming to Bryn Mawr I have become very aware of my mind/body, or rather, I have been aware of the presence of my mind and the absence of my body. I feel my brain getting bigger, more wrinkly. I feel my body when I have stomachache or a headache, if I'm tired or anxious. At some point my brain and body are going to affect each other, going to react in a way which will force me to change my habits. But most of my habits are pretty good. I sleep eight hours every night. I eat spinach. I (used to) exercise everyday. I rarely have a drink. These aren't the habits I need to change to fell better. Instead I need to hug people more often. I need to walk around in my underwear more. I need to learn how to breathe deeply. I need to do something creative with my whole body. I need to allow myself to cry for several hours whenever I need to. These things are not going to change my chemistry. They are going to do something more permanent for me.
For Halloween I dressed up as Botticelli's Venus (only a lot less naked). It was a way for me to connect my mind, art, beauty, with my body, make my intellectual life my physical life.
And yes, as a matter of fact, I am the goddess of love.
| I Am My Own Co-Pilot Name: Alice Goff Date: 2002-05-03 10:36:35 Link to this Comment: 2042 |
There seems to an abundance of people these days who are of the mentality that they have little to no responsibility for what they do in their lives. At college this is a common and often comforting way of thinking. When one receives a paper back on which one has gotten a less than desirable grade, one's first thoughts sometimes tend towards, "that must be because the professor doesn't like me". The poor attendance at Plenary this year was a perfect example of the sort of apathy and irresponsibility which is wont to manifest itself on this campus. It is not without reason—the act of receiving an education is a highly evaluatory process, students are constantly being critiqued and graded on their accomplishments. At a rigorous school such as Bryn Mawr, this lack of responsibility-taking serves as a sort of defense mechanism against feeling inadequate, or like a failure as a student.
This attitude extends beyond our academic lives, into our mental and physical lives. As college students, we are notorious for staying up until the wee hours, drinking coffee by the tankard and then in the morning complain of feeling like we have the flu and popping pills to alleviate the symptoms. This course has done a great deal to expose the possible negative consequences of this type of "mind-body separation". As long as we can identify that our actions and choices have physical ramifications, which are indeed, our responsibility. Each of the lectures of the course seemed to be geared towards equipping us with an awareness of this fact, and a basis of knowledge on which we can begin to make the mind-body connection—make decisions that positively affect our physical well being, and take responsibility for these decisions. I thank you very much for providing this resource, which will, for me, serve as a reminder that I have control over not only my achievements as a student, but my achievements as a person.
| The Mind Body Connection Name: Tasneem Pa Date: 2002-05-03 12:16:15 Link to this Comment: 2044 |
The Mind Body Connection
When I'm stressed out, I can't sleep well. I start notice things happening to my body: I tend to break out, my gums feel swollen and sore, my hair feels dry and just sort of sits there on my head, my hands get really dry. The physical signs are soon followed by mental/ personality changes: I'm generally irritable, I don't have meaningful conversations with people, I laugh very often, and I can't concentrate on my schoolwork. This just stresses me out even more, and so I fall into a rut. I have found that it's hard for me to get out of these ruts by just "thinking" about it, but usually a change in location or circumstances will do it for me. For example, if I'm stressed out and haven't been sleeping well, and I go home for the weekend, I feel much better when I come back on Monday and feel ready to take on the week in a more positive way. Or if my friends and I go to a movie, or to the city, I come back feeling pretty good about things and recharged. This leads me to believe that the mind and the body are connected in ways that I don't fully understand.
I got the same impression from talking about physical and mental health issues in the Women Living Well seminars. It's so interesting, and scary, that missing a significant amount of sleep can be fatal to your health, and the health of a complete stranger, if you get behind the wheel. I've always held such high contempt for people who drive while intoxicated, but I know I've driven while sleepy plenty of times. And just 30 minutes of exercise, 3 times a week, can ward of depression. Another sign of the mind-body connection. I feel like I already knew most of this, but it's helpful to be reminded to take care of our minds and our bodies, and treat them as parts of a whole, rather than separate units. Especially at Bryn Mawr!
| Women Living Well: Mind and Body Connection Name: Daniella F Date: 2002-05-03 12:39:47 Link to this Comment: 2045 |
YOUR TEXT REPLACES THIS CAPITALIZED MATERIAL. BE SURE PARAGRAPHS ARE SEPARATED WITH A BLANK LINE.
Daniella Forstater
P. E. Seminar
5/3/02
Women Living Well: Mind and Body Connection
I have always believed that the mind-body connection is an important one. It can be seen in the miraculous recoveries that patients have made from illnesses simply by having a good attitude. I have learned especially through these lectures, though, that things besides life-threatening illnesses are a part of this connection as well-things as minor as a good night sleep or getting a sufficient amount of exercise each day.
This seminar has motivated me to try and improve my lifestyle habits, not just because staying healthy will help me physically, but because it will also probably improve my mental and emotional health. I can certainly see the benefit of sleeping well. I know that when I sleep for very few hours I have trouble concentrating, I move especially slowly, and I just feel crumby in general. This in mind, the converse is definitely true as well-more sleep can improve mood. In terms of exercise, its effect on mood is evident from what we know about endorphins and the runner's high. It seems that even a minimal amount of exercise would do the same thing to a smaller scale.
As much as I would like to incorporate healthy habits into my life, though, and as much as I say I will try and do it, I must admit it is very doubtful this will actually happen. I feel at this point that my lifestyle is essentially consumed by being a student at Bryn Mawr. It is very difficult to find time to do things that are good for me. Even when I am not busy with schoolwork, I usually feel there is something I could be getting done and therefore don't allow myself the time, for example, to go out and take a walk. Perhaps I might have more success getting into better habits once I finish school-but then again, I might end up making the same excuses once I get a job. The importance of healthy lifestyle habits has been stressed by this class, though, and so I think I am really going to make an effort to do a better job this summer. I hope that if I can get into some sort of routine while I have more free time, I will have an easier time incorporating the habits into my life during the school year when their effects are probably the most needed.
| The Role of Balance in Wellness Name: Mariah Sch Date: 2002-05-03 13:26:28 Link to this Comment: 2046 |
Through the "Women Living Well" series, I have become more aware of the connection between the mind and the body. A person's mind, body and spirit are connected through a delicate equilibrium and it is apparent that if one of these spheres is not properly cared for, it will create imbalance in the other spheres as well. In the "Migraine Headaches and Stress" lecture, eating, sleeping and working habits were all discussed as possible factors which can cause headaches. I believe that keeping lifestyle habits as regular as possible helps the body to adjust into a rhythm and thus helps the body to stay strong and healthy. In the exercise and mental health lecture, exercise was emphasized as a vital part of maintaining overall wellness. I find that exercising regularly helps me to maintain mental focus for certain tasks. Exercising also keeps the body strong so that it can sustain healthy, strong immune functioning. Exercising keeps the emotional sphere in balance because it can be a source of stress relief. Not only do lifestyle habits such as eating, sleeping and exercising affect physical, mental, and emotional wellness but certain important life choices and practices can drastically and permanently affect well being. The effects of addiction on one's life are serious. Addiction to drugs or alcohol have documented physical effects on the brain, kidneys, lungs, and many other vital organs. The damage is often irreparable. In addition to those obviously frightening effects, addiction affects a person's ability to maintain balance in her life. An addict can't focus on any aspect of her life besides the substance and thus her mental and emotional well being is compromised. Her relationships to others suffer and she can not work. In summary, I have learned that balance and regularity in lifestyle, habits and practices is in many ways the general rule for maintaining health in every sphere of life: in the mental, physical, emotional and spiritual.
| The Mind/Body Connection Name: Barbara Ca Date: 2002-05-03 14:03:32 Link to this Comment: 2047 |
As evidenced by our seminars this semester, there are several very good reasons to abandon the traditional mind/body dualism and to accept a more holistic view of human existence. Because Bryn Mawr College is such an academically focused environment, it is a common trend among students to neglect their physical well-being in order to achieve greater intellectual success. On the whole, we do not sleep enough, skip meals, fail to exercise regularly, and endure a great deal of stress throughout the academic year. We seem to think success in one area requires sacrifice in the other. By becoming aware of the fact that the mind and body have a symbiotic, rather than opposing, relationship, we realize that such a lifestyle is counterproductive to the ends we desire. Not only does it harm our bodies, it hinders success in intellectual areas.
It is generally agreed that one of the guiding principles of life is balance. If we come to accept that the mind and body are dependent on one another and that they are both equally constitutive of our identities, we must begin to find a balance between our academic requirements and our bodily concerns. Perhaps an all-nighter isn't worth that extra point on the exam; perhaps eating a full meal will be more helpful in preparing for a test than jamming in another fifteen minutes of studying. The seminars on sleep deprivation and exercise, especially, help us to see how important taking care of our bodies is to our success in academic endeavors. Another positive side effect of this view toward the mind/body relationship is that it encourages us to take greater responsibility for our physical welfare. Illness is often something beyond our control, but living a healthy lifestyle is not. Having a positive attitude toward exercising and eating well is essential to improving one's physical well-being.
| Living Well Name: Emiko Sait Date: 2002-05-03 14:30:42 Link to this Comment: 2049 |
As I come upon the end of my undergraduate career, it is apparent to me that the connection between my mind and body are closer than I first imagined. The series of lectures in ?Women Living Well? has been a more tangible and professional approach to what I feel most students learn at the end of four years at an institution like Bryn Mawr College. The path to the realization of self-care and the connection between the mind and body, without the aid of such a class, often comes at a dear price later in the academic undergraduate experience. Unfortunately, the path to such realizations is often a difficult one and long in the making. Commonly, students contact a point where there is no other alternative than to let their studies fall by the wayside of emotional and physical health. Such a point is often difficult and overwhelming. In that sense, I feel that a class such as ?Women Living Well? is beneficial to those beginning the process of learning to take care of one?s self before it becomes a necessity further down the line.
I feel that it is unfortunate that I came upon this class so late in my time here at BMC. I know that it would have been influential in the choices I made, had I been exposed to a forum in which topics such as depression and sleep deprivation were discussed with my peers. The opportunity to openly discuss the lifestyle choices that are frequently made at BMC, in reference to the academic and emotional workload that seems to overburden most, would have helped me to observe the larger context of my own choices.
I
It is important to note that Bryn Mawr College is a place that is surreal. It bears little resemblance to the environments in which most of us will settle further down the line. This point is significant in that it touches upon the idea that most of us have realized that there is a strong relationship between how well are bodies are treated and how well or hearts and minds function. However, we also tend to prioritize the need to accomplish before most else, including health. I don?t feel that BMC would be the academically-charged environment that we ?enjoy? without a studentbody that strives to achieve. I have always wanted to exercise, eat right, and sleep enough, yet I have always convinced myself that once I finish school, there would be ample time to relax and treat myself well. I had always been a believer in the concept that one has to experience the dreariness of rain in order to appreciate the warmth of the sun.
In general, I have always hoped to treat my body well, knowing that it is an integral component of a healthy mind. I have attempted on numerous occasions to begin exercise plans, eat regularly (versus one a day), sleep at least eight hours a night, keep my anxiety levels low, avoid any overwhelming demands of my time and effort unless necessary. I suppose the key term in that statement is the word, ?necessary.? At some point in my life, I had prioritized the responsibility of self-care as something with which I could not be bothered. I am aware that the human body is a resilient machine, and as a student, I have pushed it to the limits. It seems a common trait among Mawrters to be accustomed to a high degree of suffering. There really is no other term to describe what we put ourselves through.
Suffering: physical, mental, emotional strain that borders on the unbearable at times. Is there a reason to put one?s self through this? Yes. There is a sense of achievement, accomplishment, knowing that you have pushed the envelope further that you had hoped. What also needs to be understood, in reference to self-care and the trials and tribulations of BMC, is that there is a very strong reinforcer as a result of being an overachiever and not giving full consideration to one?s health. It feels great to achieve and to do well. When Karen Levin discussed addiction, I feel as if she should have touched upon the topic of achievement as a form of addiction. After a week of no sleep, little food and no exercise in order to finish and perfect one research paper, there is an amazing feeling that courses through one?s body and mind. For the Mawrter, perhaps it is this feeling that connects the mind and body the most?
| Women and Wellness Name: Jennifer P Date: 2002-05-03 14:37:06 Link to this Comment: 2050 |
YOUR TEXT REPLACES THIS CAPITALIZED MATERIAL. BE SURE PARAGRAPHS ARE SEPARATED WITH A BLANK LINE.
Jennifer Prince
Women in Wellnes
The attendance of courses like this should be imperative for the Bryn
Mawr community. All Bryn Mawr students should be required to take one
of the seminar courses, whether it be woman living well or even women in
sports and film.The seminars foster the type of discussion that students
often avoid. The topics that were covered in the women and wellness
seminar could not have been better selected. I looked forward to each
new topic. The most informative ofcourse was the session on Sleep
Deprivation.
Unfortunately I share the sentiment that talking about Sleep
Deprivation at Bryn Mawr is like preaching to the choir. Its become quite
a redundant topic. We talk about it indirectly or directly everyday. It often
seems like there is a competition among students of who has gotten the
least amount of sleep with the most amount of work done. Everyday it s
the same lines - how are you?, Tired - I got like four hours of sleep last
night! Yikes!What were you working on? Well I had my stat problem set to
finish which is already six pages and I have three problems left; I have my
soc' paper, my spanish essay and workbook excercises, calc mathematica
assignments, and a thirty minute presentation in bilogoy at nine in the morning.
If you are lucky the dialogue will end there. However all too often the girls
keep it going by challenging each other to see who actually has the most
work to do.
We know that we don's sleep here. But not many college students
are sleeping anywhere around the county. Maybe we're just at that age.
But the speaker got me thinking about my own progression or regression
since I had been attending Bryn Mawr. Freshman year I still had the drive
from highschool in my blood. I could start my work at ten o'clock be
done by three and wake up at eight to shower and go to my nine o'clock
class. However after just a couple months here I started to become a little
more stingy with my time. I started to set a bed time for myself. I knew
that If I wasn't in the bed by a certain time, then wherever I was, I would
be falling asleeep. Making a schedule made sleep more fulfilling. I started
to stick to my schedule and found that waking up and even falling asleep
became easier. And then came the hell weeks - aka Bryn Mawr weeks.
These are the weeks that professors have preselected as the time when
they give everyone all the work they've been storing in their offices for
the past years. That's when the schedule is lost for ever. The committment
goes out the window and is back to four hour nights and two hour naps
during the day.
It doesn't help that I have been awake for more than twenty four hours right now. I've never done this before. In highschool I took naps in
between. I would do work and then wake up in the early morning to finish
and then end the night with an hour more of sleep if I am lucky. But from
elven o'clock in the afternoon yesterday to seven thirty this morning I
typed on the Guild computers. I left to eat lunch, eat dinner and get more
books. I close my eyes for four minutes and I'm fine. I don't feel perfect. I
actually feel a littl wierd. I don't have an appetite, my eyes hurt, and my
head is slightly throbbing. These all point to the fact that my body is ready
to rest.
And I will oblige. I feel what the speaker was talking about. I can feel
that this is not healthy and that my body needs a vacation from the
computer screens. I am thankful for the women and wellness seminaras
The speakers over all have been eformative. This was definetly worth the
time. !
| The Mind-Body Connection Name: Nitya Thom Date: 2002-05-03 15:09:16 Link to this Comment: 2052 |
The relationship between the mind and the body is something that is constantly explored and questioned by people all over the world. All signs so far point to the fact that there is indeed an extremely strong connection between the mind and the body. It has been found that it is possible to combat an illness, reduce stress, or gain mastery over your inner life through mind-body techniques. The various lectures throughout this seminar have all dealt with this connection that is vital in the lives of humans.
I'm sure all of us have experienced sometime or the other, the fact that the state of the mind does have a strong bearing on the health of the body. Studies have found that students studying for a test are at higher risk for becoming ill closer to the time of the exam. Our thoughts definitely influence the way we feel physically. Psychological states such as depression and anxiety can alter immune function and other biological processes, leading to poor health practice and diminished use of the health care system. As we have seen over this whole seminar, dealing with day to life in a balanced way definitely bettters your health and decreases the risk of any illnesses. Keeping my mind active and functioning and maintaining a positive attitude towards life, I have found, is a great way to stay healthy.
The mind-body relationship extends both ways – the condition of the body has a great impact on one's state of mind. Feeling physically well definitely helps ones mental peformance. Unhealthy living conditions often lead to altered mental states like depression, anxiety etc. Keeping the body fit is a great way to maintain the quality of life. I often find that the days I exercise better, I am more confident, energetic and perform much better in general. Days that I havent' slept enough, I am moody and my energy levels are down. This semester I have made it a point to exercise regularly and have definitely seen a change in the quality of my peformance and my life in general. I have also found that Yoga is a great way to become aware of the connection between one's mind and body and to develop this connection. In my opinion, the real way towards mental and physical well-being is through the mind-body connection. Recognizing this can help humans eliminate a lot of unnecessary troubles.
| The Mind/Body Connection Name: Michelle R Date: 2002-05-03 15:15:31 Link to this Comment: 2053 |
I would like to first talk about food and diet, a topic that really ought to have been included in the Women Living Well lecture series. Perhaps mentioning this first and most prominently in the paper will be more effective in getting this topic included in following semesters. This is an especially important issue for college students. I realize a Nutrition class does exist that can be taken for Physical Education credit. However, given that Bryn Mawr's dining hall is all-you-can eat, our students are more likely not to eat healthily. Lately I find myself not eating as much as I should because I find the food unappetizing. Sometimes I will skip meals altogether to get more sleep or to work on assignments. I came to BMC (this is my first year) underweight, gained eight pounds in my first semester, and am still underweight. So, to get to the point: my situation is hardly unique. Eating habits should be a part of the discussion series. And now on to answering the actual question.
Talking about lifestyle habits as inter-related made them more relevant for me. Learning about the compounded effects of bad habits on the body was more affecting than just hearing about what each bad habit does individually. Everyone knew even before the lectures that not exercising and continuously not getting enough sleep are bad for you. These are the most prevalent health truisms out there.
The lectures were effective because we found out that lack of exercise doesn't just hurt you in physical ways. Exercise is a form of stress relief that I had never really considered. I'm a fairly skinny person, and so never needed to exercise to lose weight. From the lecture on exercise, I learned that not exercising also leads to lethargy. I had always figured that whenever I was feeling lethargic, I was just bored. I would usually take a nap whenever I felt this way. From another lecture, I learned that napping in these situations is the exact opposite of what I should be doing. But, did I actually follow through and start going to the gym? I swam three times in one week, skipped one week of exercise, and then did three days the next week in the Fitness Center. I did not go at all for the next couple of weeks. My body did feel different (better) after each time I had exercised. I felt more awake, experienced the feelings everybody does after exercising. The week after I stopped going because I had a paper and a major exam due.
The lecture on Migraine Headaches, while related to another health issue - stress, was not all that relevant to my life since I do not suffer from headaches. "Women and Addiction" also was not so meaningful to my life, though I am the better for having attended both lectures. I better understand these issues that are so central to the lives of a lot of people. Should I start getting headaches, I will know that something serious has triggered the onset. I know to visit a specialist rather than my family doctor.
A lecture that I found helpful was Earl Thomas' on anxiety. Anxiety, about social situations and also about my schoolwork, is something I deal with everyday. A point the lecture stressed continually was the need to see a doctor for help with the problem. Medication was made to seem a very viable means of getting rid of anxiety. I feel that the lecturer should have mentioned possible long-term effects on the brain of anti-anxiety and anti-depression drugs. The lecturer did mention the unfortunate tendency of doctors to over-prescribe anti-anxiety medications. It would have been nice to find out exactly why everyone should not be taking Paxil et al.
Thank you very much for this informative lecture series! Being geared toward women, it has helped me learn a lot about which habits I should avoid.
| Mind and Body Connection Name: Sherolyn O Date: 2002-05-03 15:21:41 Link to this Comment: 2054 |
The mind and body are both things that we deal with everyday, but not every often do we consider the connection between them. Attending this seminar helped me to become very aware of these things. I think for myself, awareness is something that I am lacking in a lot of things, especially here at Bryn Mawr. They call campus life here as being in a "Bryn Mawr Bubble". Not only is it difficult to keep up with the events of the world and the community, but ironically it is so easy to become unaware of our own bodies. Especially in the area of sleep deprivation and exercise, I have come to realize how much I was lacking in actively thinking about these things.
Attending the seminars and talking about the mind/body connection helps me to realize the importance of improving my life style habits, practices, choices, etc to function more effectively and productively. For example, eating breakfast or getting enough sleep is something that is compromised many times for things that seem more pressing at the time, such as going to class or studying for an exam. Incidentally, my outlook and perspectives on how to improve my study habits were changed. There is no purpose in studying and studying if I am undermining the study hours by depriving my body of sleep, or suffering from effects of depression or mood changes due to simply physiological things. I've learned to improve habits and make my studying hours most efficient.
Your mind and body must work together in order for you to be a whole, productive person. There is no purpose in denying either or mind or body for the benefits of the other, because this is a practice that is ineffective. My hope is that I will be able to take these lessons with me as I prepare to leave Bryn Mawr and join the ranks of the working. Millions of Americans suffer from mind and body diseases and problems, things that could have been prevented with knowledge and a little bit of care. The lessons I've learned are not things that I SHOULD do (eat right, exercised, learn to listen to your body), but things that I've done that I should no longer do. I think also that having this knowledge of topics such as addiction and depression, while it does not affect me directly now, will help me better to understand and deal with people that I come in contact with that do face these problems.
| Thoughts on Mind Body Wellness Name: Sara Press Date: 2002-05-03 15:27:14 Link to this Comment: 2055 |
Talking about the mind and body as inter-related helps women to think about
lifestyle habits and choices by seeing how it effects all aspects of their life. During this
series we saw the causes of headaches, stress, anxiety, depression, sleep deprivation and
many other things. Besides learning about how they work and what they do to women we
also looked at how they effect all aspects of women's life. For instance, if you do not get
enough sleep, Dr. Grace Pien showed us many studies that are being done about how you
are very likely to remember less and be dangerous when driving. Beyond the simple
explanations it is also clear that if you haven't slept you do not feel up to many things that
normally seem like no big deal, such as working out or just enjoying your day. (This is a
hard thing to hear during finals when none of us sleep.) In general the series helped to
show how everything is inter-related and why women should try to get enough sleep, eat
well, exercise and take care of themselves.
We also discussed depression and addiction, which can have a clear and horrible
effect on women's life. These are two very important topics since it appears that many
young women are coming out finally and admitting their depression, it effects a large
percentage of our population. Also, addiction can be seen with tons of women, just go to
Starbucks or Xandos and listen to all of us joke about how we 'need' that latte, chai, or
some other form of coffee. This is not mentioning smoking and the drugs that are
becoming more prevalent, even on Bryn Mawr's campus.
At Bryn Mawr many of my personal healthy habits do not seem to fit into my life.
Due to the fact that I have to cook for myself now that I am off campus, I have a tendency
to not get three full meals a day, but this is the opposite problem from having the cafeteria
where we all seemed to eat much more than we needed or wanted. Many of us try to
workout regularly, but unless involved in a sport, it is rare that we can keep up any type
of schedule for too long. Also, at Bryn Mawr sleep is irregular at best and this can be a huge problem. So just these aspects alone make it hard to treat our bodies as a temple, and we notice the mind body connection way too frequently because we often do not feel as good as we would like to feel.
This series helped to remind me of this connection and I have been making
attempts to eat better, sleep more, and continue a workout schedule. And although I
probably do drink too much coffee at times, after listening to Karen Levin's talk about
Women and Addiction, I am glad that that is my only vice. Many college students fall
into a trap of feeling like they need to stay up constantly and end up with an addiction to speed, coke, or one of the many methamphetamines (sp?). This is not even mentioning the constant alcohol abuse that occurs on college campuses. Even if it is not addiction, over drinking frequently is a good way to hurt your body and mind. So now when I go out to a bar with friends I can look around and remind myself that I don't want to hurt my body by getting drunk. Once drunk, it can have a bad effect on a few days and hurt your liver.
The next day you will probably not feel like working out, and will not be friendly or as
happy as you would have been had you not drank the night before. Many people wake up
and immediately take a few Aleve, and as Dr. Larry Kerson reminded us, many times if
we use pills such as Aleve as crutches, it makes the headaches worse and really is
pointless.
It should be clear that the mind and body are not distinct aspects of human
experience, because they have huge effects on each other, this has been shown over and
over again in current research. Even now doctors are telling their patients about visualization. This is because your mind and body are connected and if you think and act healthily, you will probably remain healthy.
| Seminar in Review Name: Diana La F Date: 2002-05-03 15:27:45 Link to this Comment: 2056 |
If there's one thing I've learned from this seminar it's that I know my body better than I thought I did. While going through the different topics, I realized that I knew most of the material, I just couldn't explain it. To me, though, this is all tacit knowledge.
I know when I'm getting a headache. I can feel it coming on, and I usually know why I'm getting one. Usually, I have stress and strain headaches, and they're not usually bad. I also know when I need to close my eyes to relieve it or when I have to get a drink of water, run around, etc. I also know that certain things we learned in the seminar that caused headaches, such as chocolate, do not give me headaches. Just looking at the list, I knew this. But I don't know how I know this.
With anxiety, I know how I deal with it. In fact, I know that I need it. I wouldn't have motivation to get things done, such as the papers I need to finish before the end of next week. Anxiety really does help me, it gives me a rush, and while it might frustrate me, I know it's essential to me living well. There are times, however, when I feel anxious in a bad way. These times are different than the other periods of anxiety I have. It might be because there's nothing for me to feel anxious about, or the anxiety is hindering me instead of helping me. Once the anxiety gets uncomfortable, I know something's wrong. It isn't natural for me to be like that, and I know during those times that I have to figure out what is wrong. It's like an internal button that clicks on.
I've known forever that I feel better after I take a walk. I feel more energetic, rested, and happier with myself. I enjoy doing physical activities, but I never knew about the other benefits. Since that seminar I've been trying to walk more, walking to Haverford instead of taking the Blue Bus (which is sometimes necessary due to the fact that I miss the bus more than I should).
Depression is a topic that I know has affected me greatly. Due to certain circumstances, I have seen the horrors of depression and what it can do to someone's family and friends. I've even done research on the topic, to better acquaint myself with the problem so I can have a better understanding of it. It is debilitating, and nothing anyone should be ashamed of. Unfortunutly, in today's society, people with depression are looked down upon, and no matter how much you tell a person that they shouldn't be ashamed of their moods it is still a fact that it is not a favorable thing to admit. That in itself adds to the depression. I believe that this seminar touched on the main topic that keeps women from living well. Problems with headaches, anxiety, exercise, sleep, and addiction can all stem from depression more so, I believe, than depression can spring for them. This is because any depression coming from these things, a lack of them or too much, will be alleviated after you get more sleep or exercise. Depression in itself is something I don't believe you ever truly get over.
Addiction is an interesting topic. I believe, though, that it is an individual topic, because addiction depends on the individual. It can definitely get in the way of a woman's life, and I thankfully have never had to deal with it.
Ah, sleep...how I miss it. This week has been the subject of sleep deprivation. Two hours of sleep one night, three of another, and I'm still going. I will, however, crash. I know this, I can only hope it waits until I'm home to hit me. In college, sleep deprivation is a way of life. There's no getting around it. And if one more professor tells me to get more sleep, I'm going to tell them to stop giving me work. As insolent as that might be, right now I'm irritable enough to say it. Anyway, isn't it insolent of them to tell me to get sleep, and then in the same breath tell me I have three projects due the next day...SURPRISE!!! Because, as the world knows, I just love doing tedious work when I could be resting! (like I said, sleep deprivation...remember, I'm writing this paper as if I'm drunk right now. Please take that into consideration).
In conclusion, I would just like to say that this seminar taught me many things. Most of them, however, are useless, and this is a good thing. They are useless because I know they won't work for me, it's just the way I am. I know my body, and before this seminar I didn't know how well I understood it. I can now trust myself more, which I think is a great step in the direction to living well.
| Mind and Body Name: Sarah G. K Date: 2002-05-03 15:32:29 Link to this Comment: 2057 |
The connection between mind and body is something that has been baffling scholars for as long as the human mind has been actively considering metaphysical concerns, as well as its applications. I remember learning about the mind/body connection (or lack thereof) in philosophy class. The main discussion revolved around whether the mind was based within the 'brain' or some other component that made up the 'mind', something that existed completely independently from the physical body (even the gray matter of the brain). However, for the sake of this class, these concerns were not important or relative. The mind-body connection that did interest us during the course of this Women Living Well seminar was the fact that the way we perceive ourselves, and our bodies is crucial in both mental and physical health. No one denies that there is SOME kind of connection, and this is a matter that even philosophists would not contend. Human beings are not mere machines that will continue to run if given the necessary factors, such as food, rest, etc. It is clear, particularly from the mental health/depression seminar that our mental outlook affects our attitudes, lifestyles, and ultimately general-well being.
Although the idea of being well is defined in many ways, it is obvious that there is more entailed than just being healthy. As with all living things (and not just human beings), interactions with others and our environments are critical in developing a overall sense of well-being, the very thing that enriches our lives and sets us apart from inanimate things, or things with no souls. Thinking of the mind and body as interrelated encouraged me to think more concretely in matters of practice-things that seemed like it would not matter much, but in fact make a very big difference in my health and happiness. Especially in the area of study and our habits that make up about 50% of what we spend our time on, it is important to do it the right way! My mother always warned me to take breaks, to stretch, get exercise and eat properly to be the most effective student I could be. She also urged me to go and have fun sometimes, and this was the mental factor that we talked about. If I were to forgo exercise, eating properly and having some kind of outlet for stress, and denying all kinds of leisure, I might be a 4.0 student, but soon that could very well be affected by a unsatisfaction that has nothing to do with my body, but with my mind. If I forget WHY I am to study, and why I am to strive to do these things, then it becomes unimportant and no matter how much I do study, it is fruitless.
It is much harder to put these ideas to practice. When push comes to shove, it is so easy to neglect things that seem to be unimportant at the time. As I leave Bryn Mawr, I would like to become more long termed in my thinking, and my choices. I want to very conscious and aware of my body, and my mental state.
| Women Living Well Name: Erin Daly Date: 2002-05-03 16:33:40 Link to this Comment: 2058 |
Discussing the mind and the body as significantly inter-related aids in a better understanding of personal health and how to maintain that personal health. Without knowledge that everything you do has an effect, and each action is not individual and separate, makes you more cautious and more protective and makes you behave in a safer way. For example, knowing that losing sleep can cause anxiety and anxiety can cause depression and depression can cause stress makes it more obvious that you should get more sleep and put a stop to the sordid train of events before they even begin. If you thought that losing sleep was just losing sleep and nothing else, you'd lose sight of the fact that losing sleep can have greater negative effects that could spin out of control.
The choices you make have an impact that goes far beyond the one seemingly simple decision at the beginning. If you decide to drink, you can become addicted, and once you've acquired the addiction, you can suffer depression and stress over it. The choices you make have an impact that may not necessarily be thought of when going about everyday habits, but it becomes glaringly clear after it's occurred, and the consequences have settled.
By participating in the Women Living Well seminar, and going through the six weeks of discourse about women's health care and wellness issues, I learned a great deal about how to take care of myself. As a woman, in a stressful single-sex environment, I have to realize that everything I do can have an affect on my health. The topics we went over- migraines and stress, anxiety, exercise and mental health, depression, women and addiction, and sleep deprivation and performance- are all connected, and if you tamper with one, you set off a stream of events relating to the others. I honestly didn't know how much each one affected the other, and now that I know, I can use that information to be more aware of how I treat myself and the choices I make regarding my lifestyle. In the larger world, I have to pay attention to my interactions and decisions, and now that I've learned that within the community of Bryn Mawr, I can be better prepared to take care of myself within the larger world.
| Philosophy of the mind Name: Kristina E Date: 2002-05-03 17:06:27 Link to this Comment: 2060 |
Kristina Davis
Women Living Well Series
May 2 2002
The mind-body dichotomy has been exculpated from philosophy within the last century, and one of the last major philosophers to believe that there was a difference between the mind and body was Descartes. His maxim, "I think, therefore, I am" is still discussed and considered important despite being uniformly rejected by the philosophical community. And yet, many people still divorce the mind from the body, and I think that science especially is guilty of this philosophical crime. What is the body without a mind? What is the mind without a body? Nothing, and it is ridiculous to continue to commit such a fallacy. It is interesting that in the discussion about depression and anxiety, exercise was consistently noted for its ability to affect the mood. Exercise helps every part of the body, including the mind. It was previously unclear to me that exercise could have such a positive influence upon the mental states. Exercise seems to promote a positive outlook on life, because you are setting and achieving goals. The foods that you eat, and the brain chemicals that are active due to outside factors on our body affect depression affect migraines. The rest of the body is connected together and it is important to not compartmentalize the different aspects from each other.
The body is usually viewed as the "evil" or "dirty" entity of our body, and this thought prevents people from encompassing the totality of the whole body when treating a problem. I used to take sinus pills anytime I felt a sinus headache coming on, and instead of asking myself why I would be having a headache I would turn to medicine first. There are a variety of external sinus factors that may indicate what is actually wrong, such as a lack of sleep or infection. When the mind and body are divorced, then each part is considered to be a cog without relation to the whole.
The sleep deprivation lecture was the most interesting connection because it is the one that women at Bryn Mawr experience the most. Between class and homework, there does not see to be much time for sleep and we suffer for it. I think it is harder on the seniors who have difficult workloads as it is, and then they have to worry about getting jobs as well. When is there time to sleep let alone have human interactions? I think that Bryn Mawr students are the most sleep-deprived group of individuals that I have ever met. We are constantly pushing our bodies to go beyond their limits so that our minds can absorb more than it is reasonable to expect. Stanford University has a sleep clinic and I think that it would be a good idea for Bryn Mawr to study the effects of sleepiness on performance as well. The deans wonder about how to improve the social life, but I think that it is not until our students can do all their work without sacrificing sleep that we should consider this question.
The Women Living Well lecture series has given the participants a pragmatic basis for the philosophical concept of the mind-body dichotomy. No matter how we were taught to loathe our bodies-church, fashion models, TV-it is important to not lose sight of the fact that the body is a whole entity and not made up of separate parts. In order for us to understand one part we must look at the other. The mind-body relationship is very important for our well-being and without this perspective then we will not be able to overcome our illnesses or problems as quickly.
| Conscious mind, happy body Name: Alice Guge Date: 2002-05-03 18:32:49 Link to this Comment: 2061 |
My experience in the Women Living Well Seminar this semester has effectively demonstrated the connection between my body and mind during my three years at Bryn Mawr College. As a young, still maturing women going through a vigorous curriculum and a new social atmosphere, my mental and physical health has fluctuated between highs and lows. Thrust into a social atmosphere where one is constantly demanded to develop, reevaluate and strengthen ones views on everything from the existentialist philosophy of Nietzche to the nutritious manna provided by Bryn Mawr Dining Services, I have often taxed my mind and exposed it to the negative, physically straining effects of anxiety and depression, usually self-imposed in reaction to the ugly interloper of peer pressure. The resulting malaise was often manifested physically as headaches and lack of motivation to exercise, which profoundly affected my ability to sleep soundly and increased my levels of stress, anxiety and depression, sending my being in a downward spiral.
With the information that I was exposed to and assimilated in the seminar, I can now actively identify and correct the causes of my low moods and antipathy when they happen to occur. Similarly, when I am riding on a tide of soma-like serotonin and dopamine, I can prolong my natural high with the same methods. These simple steps can mean a world of difference to my well being and in my success as a woman. My mind and body can and will benefit from my appreciation of sleep, implementation of exercise and increased level of mental awareness and control.
