Sharada is 65 years old. She underwent surgery four weeks ago. She had a remarkably upbeat attitude towards her treatment. She has come for her first checkup following her surgery. She appears healthy, cheerful and enters the consulting room with a sprightly walk. Shraddha is much younger and had surgery around the same time. She was terrified and anxious at the prospect of surgery and expected the worst. She has come in for her postoperative checkup, walking slowly, with a stoop, and complaining of various aches and pains. Why is there such a qualitative difference in these two women’s response to their surgery?

The way an individual deals with ill-health and recovers, has much to do with her attitude and her mind’s perception of her condition. The influence of the mind in healing has been addressed in virtually every medical tradition, from the ancient teachings of Ayurveda to modern allopathy. Dr Herbert Benson and his colleagues at Harvard Medical School were pioneers in delineating the mind-body connection, in recent times. Modern medicine depends on drugs and surgery to bring about healing but the importance of integrating mind-body medicine is becoming more and more apparent.

Our body is capable of an incredible amount of healing. An intense belief in our body’s inherent ability to heal, will unleash positive energy which will lead to restoration of health. For many of us, this ability remains largely untapped because we have forgotten how to listen to the healing messages our body gives us. By learning to reconnect with these messages from our body, we can awaken a sense of wholeness which will activate our immune system and promote healing.

The relaxation response

It was in 1974 that Dr Herbert Benson described the relaxation response. In people who practiced stress reduction techniques like transcendental meditation, they were able to demonstrate a very beneficial state, which reduced blood pressure, the heart rate, sweating and muscle tension. The relaxation response has also been found to enhance the effectiveness of the body's defenses and self-repair mechanisms

Mind-body communication

The brain reaches into the body via the nervous system. A complex network of nerves allows the brain to send nerve impulses into all the body's tissues and influence their behaviour. Most importantly, the brain can affect the behaviour of the immune system which is what protects our body from invasion by bacteria and viruses and helps us combat conditions like cancer.

Depression, low self-esteem, an inability to express one’s emotions and the failure to have healthy relationships are all signs of poor emotional health which interferes with healing. People with good emotional health are aware of their thoughts, feelings and behaviour. They have learned healthy ways to cope with the stress and problems that are a normal part of life. They feel good about themselves and have better mechanisms to combat illness.