Adopting a psycho-emotional approach to achieve wellness

The physical symptoms are my mind and body’s way of telling me to calm down. — 123rf.com

It has always bothered me to see how, in the pursuit of health and wellness, the majority of us consider the mind and the body to be separate entities that exist independently of each other. This mind-body dualism has greatly coloured our beliefs on health and illness.

When I say mind, I refer to the thoughts, belief systems and emotions we carry within us. In her book, Switch on Your Brain, cognitive scientist Dr Caroline Leaf states that our minds are designed to control the body and not the other way around. “Matter doesn’t control us, we control matter, ” she explains.