The mind and body are not connected; they are one.

Wow, do I get this one. This one just feels so deeply true. I know this. I hope you do too 😊. I can feel this in my bones (and my mind as well). This may seem like an insignificant distinction to draw, but realizing that the mind and body are just one big system and not two separate integrated systems is freeing, powerful, and, well, just correct!

There are so many little lessons wrapped up in this “larger” lesson, duality is a mirage, for one. Treating the mind and the body as separate things just doesn’t work (I’m talking to you Western medicine and health insurance companies!) If you want to make your arthritis feel better go for a walk, or read a book, or pet a dog. If you want to relieve your anxiety or depression, go for a walk, or read a book, or pet a dog! I guess the universe is built entirely of turmeric!

We have a bunch of changes going on in the lives of our family members right now, and the weather has been offering no rain and nearly only smoke for weeks now, and the end of the non-rain period of time here in the Pacific Northwest is at foot, and there is a mid-term election around the corner, and a bunch of other things.

I literally cannot tell where my body ends and my mind begins. Some of my personal challenges with mind (anxiety and depression) and body (sinuses, digestive, respiratory) are just a big stew of feedback loops right now. I cannot tell if my stomach ache is mostly driven by what I’ve eaten and or an ulcer acting up or if it is nearly entirely driven by my challenges in not worrying about things (like my stomach ache!) My recent periods of mood challenges could similarly be essentially driven by the breathing challenges in this poor air quality as well as a sinus infection that feels like it is hiding in one of my tiny sinus cavities. Round and round she goes!

I do have a kick-butt tool kit of course, and the single largest most powerful implement in that hinged container is “presence”. Meditation. Sitting and gently lovingly nudging my monkey brain to just take a break for a while. Or, walking, walking does so much good. Left hemisphere right hemisphere stimulation is well known to help with so many things (the basis of many therapies). Can’t walk? Then just tapping your left shoulder and right shoulder as you hug yourself does the trick. Breathing fresh air helps (okay bad example right now!)

Of course, this is a blessing and a curse, can’t have Yin without Yang. Once one aspect of my mind-body-enivronment (did you see what I did there?) is out of whack a bit all the other aspects of this living breathing system wobble a bit as well. But, thankfully the converse is also true, once through hard work, luck, or just serendipity one of those components gets healthier, gets closer to its true identity, gets more present the others follow suit. It is like a spinning top, if it ain’t wobbling all those complex forces hold it in a state of apparent control, but once something is off a bit the wobbling grows more and more violent. But….after this period it finds a new stable quiet state (rest).

Time to revisit that sneaky insertion of the word “environment” in the preceding paragraph. My mind/body is connected to your mind/body and this couch’s mind/body that I am sitting upon. It’s all connected. The smoke in the air, my sinuses, your arthritis, all the distracting gyrations of celebrities, my long-deceased dog (I still talk to her and can see her when I close my eyes….is she really dead then?) It is all one giant wave-function or all God or all an illusion or all of this or none of this.

The sun has been rising as I type this. I can see that the air quality is improved since yesterday. My stomach ache is less noticeable as compared to when I awoke ninety minutes ago. I can breathe more easily. I feel calm. I’m just going to go with that!