Q. What I think about does not impact my body. Right?

History on Planet Earth indicates that the prevailing belief for perhaps hundreds of years was that the mind and the body were two distinct entities. Many cultures ascribed thinking to the physical heart. So, what was the brain for? To keep your ears apart and provide a home for the eyes? By the mid-19th century, it is said that some were promoting the idea that both internal and external factors impacted the health of the brain and the body and that, indeed, they worked together. No one knows everything, however, and some of what we take for granted in today’s world was completely unknown until the recent past—especially with the advent of brain imaging research. It is now established, for example, that the heart and the brain communicate continually via an unmediated channel.

The brain and body continually communicate with each other. What happens in the brain affects the body—and vice versa. You can choose to think a specific thought or replace it with a different thought. Peter McWilliams, author of You Can’t Afford the Luxury of a Single Negative Thought, wrote that a negative mindset is the precursor of all life-threatening illnesses. Negative thinking (e.g., unresolved anger, fear, sadness) may be a key contributor to one’s level of health and wellness. You have the power to choose the thoughts you hang on to and ponder.

What you think about in your brain (mindset) does impact your body and vice versa. Negative thinking and distress in the brain has been found to impact energy in the body—decreasing it. You know how you feel mentally when your body is in distress. Positive thinking and outlook on life has been found to increase energy in the body. Jon Gordon, author of books such as Energy Addict and The Energy Bus, has pointed out that whenyou think positively about the day ahead, you increase the levels of both your mental and physical energy.