Mind Over Body:
How Talking To Your Body Can Enable Wellness
by Mary Morrissey

Over the past ten years, a great many studies have reported on the direct correlation between how our minds can control our physical well-being. From the Carnegie Mellon University study that shows the more negative emotional state a person is in the more likely that person is to catch a cold, to a series of Harvard studies that have shown that meditation can help lower high blood pressure, decrease the level of chronic pain and diminish nausea that accompanies chemotherapy. Finally, the power of the mind over the body is garnering significant scientific support.
But to effectively unleash and direct the power of our mind over our body we need to understand that it’s not just a matter of “willing” away a pain or ailment. It demands recognizing the symptom, determining the root, giving your subconscious “permission” to be involved and then tackling it head on.

Our Body The Car
Think of it this way. You’re driving down the road and you hear a funny noise in your car’s engine. You have two choices. Either take your car to a mechanic or turn up the radio. With this analogy, much of the medication we take can be viewed as a loud radio for our bodies.
When we take a pill, usually the pain goes away for a while just as an unwanted engine noise gets muffled when we crank up the dial. But what happens the next time we start our car? Will keeping the radio turned up magically fix the engine noise?  Eventually we will need to take our car to the mechanic who will determine the root cause of the problem, fix it, and we’re on our way.
However, mechanics are expensive and most of us don’t have the tools or skills to fix our own cars. But we do have the tools to impact physical stresses in our bodies. These tools can begin to be accessed by first creating a conversation with what ails us and then taking the steps to rectify the problem at the core.  And it all starts with a simple question:  What is my body saying to me?

Starting the Conversation By Being Receptive To The Dialogue
To start the conversation it’s important to allow your body to “talk” to you. Open yourself up to the idea that you are choosing to be receptive and really want to hear what your unconscious, the “knower” in you, wants to tell you. Once you feel receptive to your body’s message, take a pen and piece of paper and begin a written communication with your body. As an example, let’s say your shoulder has been giving you problems. It’s painful and is limiting your activity. So we start this conversation by physically writing our body a letter with something like, “Hello Mr. Shoulder. You’ve been talking to me and your message has mostly been pain.  So what do I need to know?”
This one, simple task can help unlock your subconscious by giving it permission to acknowledge what’s going on beneath the surface. This digging allows our subconscious to get to the root of the problem which, in turn, will impact the pain and discomfort we are feeling. 

Don’t Criticize
When having a dialogue with your body it’s a must to not fault yourself for the condition. Self-condemnation mutes your access to the higher power you are trying to reach.  So when you speak to your body, understand that while you may have a condition you are not defined by that condition. Our bodies are magnificent creations and will typically do what it thinks is in our best interest which is to provide optimum wellness given both the physical as well as metaphysical conditions.

Avoid Being A Saboteur
It’s unfortunate, but some of us just can’t acknowledge how truly wonderful we are. And with repetitive negative thoughts we begin to actualize this negativity which often shows up as physical discomfort. Even using common sayings like “He’s such a pain in the neck,” or “She makes my stomach turn” can lead to, you guessed it, painful necks and stomachs!
If given the choice, wouldn’t we all rather be pain-free and not use medication? Our bodies certainly don’t want to process most medications as evidenced by the laundry list of potential side effects that can take place. Of course, some medications are necessary given certain conditions but even there, our subconscious can perform remarkable acts that defy description. 
I myself overcame a potentially fatal kidney disease when I was 17 by instinctively looking inward, changing my thinking and trusting that my body would take care of me. This deep commitment to the power of the mind over the body proved to be a catalyst for what has been a three decade career encouraging individuals to create the life they would love living. And with the proper dialogue and being opened to the incredible power of the subconscious, you too can truly enjoy the feeling of being the ruler of your own domain.

As a globally in-demand speaker, best-selling author and consultant for more than three decades, Mary Morrissey has shared her powerful message of self-empowerment to millions throughout the world.The author of the best-selling books No Less Than Greatnessand Building Your Field of Dreams (which became a PBS special), Mary has also been featured in such films as The Moses Code and Beyond The Secret. She is the president and founder of LifeSOULutions, an international company dedicated to helping individuals turn their dreams into reality. www.marymorrissey.com