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Women Living Well: Mind/Body Connection - 2002
Student Papers
On Serendip
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.
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