Let's learn about... mindfulness
Because, your thoughts and beliefs affect your health. For better or worse.
According to award-winning social psychologist Ellen Langer, mindfulness is the simple process of actively noticing things. As she puts it in her 2023 book, The Mindful Body: Thinking our Way to Lasting Health, “when mindful, we notice things we didn't notice before, and we come to see that we didn't know the things we thought we knew as well as we thought we knew them.” She also understands mindfulness as a condition of the body by, saying, “I believe our psychology may be the most important determinant of our health.” By this she means not just the mind/body connection as commonly understood, but that “every change in the human being is simultaneously a change at the level of the mind (that is a cognitive change) as well as the body (a hormonal, neural, and/or behavioural change). When we open our minds to this idea of mind-body unity, new possibilities for controlling our health become real.”
It’s an interesting concept. But what does she really mean? That I can think myself well? Or ill? I’m not sure I completely believe that, but let’s explore… I’m also cross referencing another fascinating book that I recently read called The Biology of Belief, essentially the science of how our thoughts control our life, written in 2005 by cell biologist Bruce H Lipton.
What is mind-body unity
Many research studies show that our thoughts initiate real physiological processes, think tears when we experience something as sad as the most obvious example, or the knots in our stomach if we feel scared. But here’s the thing… the overwhelming evidence is that it happens on an even deeper level too. Langer cites in her book many interesting examples of immune responses beginning in our brain; and how positive expectations can boost antibacterial and anti-tumour immunity. Research has even shown that when pleasure centres in the brain are stimulated, tumour growth slows.
As Langer says, “Mind-body unity means that everything we do, experience or think is relevant to our health.” Whether that’s fighting with a partner, or watching a funny movie. “Each of the activities are registered in our bodies, and they affect our health moment by moment, day in, day out. Small changes in living our life mindfully add up.”
Or as Biology of Belief author, Lipton puts it, “the character of our life is based upon how we perceive it.” In addition, the new science of epigenetics, literally ‘control above the genes’, has completely upended the conventional view that genes alone are responsible for our health destiny. “Epigenetics is the science of how environmental signals select, modify, and regulate gene activity. This new awareness reveals that the activity of our genes is constantly being modified in response to our life experiences.”
Also, with extreme relevance to our homes, the toxicity or otherwise of those surrounding environments, a subject this blog sets out to cover in a lot of detail.
Mind-body unity also calls to mind placebos, the giving of sugar pills instead of ‘real’ medication. Even sham surgery in place of actual interventions. Time and again it’s been shown that if you believe something will cure your ills, they will be cured, whether pain, fever, or arthritic knees! This surely is mind-body unity in action?
Equally, to my mind, it happens if you read the leaflets that come with many medications outlining possible side effects. Read them and you’re primed to be unnaturally alert for a reaction, potentially thus triggering such responses. But they are only possibilities, not inevitabilities, essentially manufacturers covering their liability. Personally, I say don’t read them and you’ll likely be just fine. Besides, if you’re unlucky enough to experience a genuine side effect, you’ll be well aware of the fact without needing to be told.
Of course, as Lipton states, “because we are not powerless biochemical machines, popping a pill every time we are mentally or physically out of tune is not the answer. Drugs and surgery are powerful tools when they are not overused, but the notion of simple drug fixes is flawed. Every time a drug is introduced into the body to correct function A, it inevitably throws off function B, C, or D.” Not to forget that “using prescription drugs to silence a body’s symptoms enables us to ignore personal involvement we may have with the onset of those symptoms.” As such most such drugs do little to address the cause of the problem.
The illusion of control
In terms of health, whether we have medical training or not, we cannot predict the future. Thus, our control over events can be thought of as an illusion. Nonetheless, believing we have an element of control over our lives is surely essential? It can help us to cope with uncertainty. More importantly it can ensure that we don’t underestimate our ability to influence events. Langer suggests that “we can experience the benefits of improved health and decreased stress by mindfully perceiving control. If we are diagnosed with a dread disease and assume we have no control, we become helpless, which in itself is bad for our health.”
Instead, we must focus on what we can control. After all, there is a scientific, if not medical, tendency to prejudge what is possible rather than keeping an open mind. Yet mindless acceptance of certainty robs us of the freedom of choice. All science can prove is that what was tried before didn't work at the time for the people on whom it was tried. But whether someone can be cured or not is impossible to say with certainty, which is quite different to stating that something is definitively incurable. “If the medical world accepted this, no matter what our conditions are or how old we may be, we would be treated with the expectation that we will heal.”
The illusion of rules
When it comes to diagnostics, being labelled could have a severely damaging effect. “The problem with these labels is that they sound like definitive diagnoses, which obscure their uncertainty and hide the human element. As a result, people accept them mindlessly. And that’s never good.” says Langer.
She gives an example of the difference between people measuring 5.6 and 5.7 on a blood sugar level test. Standard medical protocol is to call anyone with a level less than 5.7 as normal. However someone at 5.7 is considered pre-diabetic. A line has to be drawn somewhere, right? Even though endocrinologists agreed that the difference between the scores is medically insignificant. Except, when Langer compared the ensuing medical trajectories of such patients, those told they were on the verge of developing diabetes typically ended up with soaring blood sugar levels over time. In other words, the medical ‘scare’ did not improve behaviour, it became a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Langer makes the point that the language of illness is rooted in a biomedical model of the body which ignores the power of the mind. “As a result, people adopt stereotypical responses and behaviours that are in line with what they think they know, without questioning their diagnosis and acting differently.” She suggests that the key is to question those things we mindlessly accept, to mindfully interrogate all of the descriptions and diagnoses that can hold us back.
For example, if you take a sight test and score just under the threshold, vs someone who scored just on it, you now wear glasses and they don’t. As she says, “There are many temporary reasons why we may perform in a certain way on a given test and then end up being put in a category requiring permanent help.” When we recognise that cut-off points are in truth rather arbitrary, we give ourselves room to question things. “We expand our possibilities. This is true of our behaviour, but also of our health.”
In short, labels aren’t just labels, they can change how we behave, so we should be extremely mindful of which ones we accept as true. As well as recognising, if not expecting, that improvement might be possible, rather than blindly accepting any diagnosis.
Mindful optimism
Overall Langer suggests that we adopt a position of mindful optimism. In other words, we can worry or relax, and things will turn out the way they will, but from a place of fear, if everything’s fine we will have stressed ourselves unnecessarily, and if our fears are realised, we’ll be in no better place to address them.
“Your beliefs act like filters on a camera changing how you see the world. And your biology adapts to those beliefs” suggests Lipton, continuing, “When we truly recognise that our beliefs are that powerful, we hold the key to freedom. While we cannot readily change the codes of our genetic blueprints, we can change our minds and, in the process, switch the blueprints used to express our genetic potential.”
The hard truth is that most events cannot be predetermined as good or bad because we do not know the future. Thus, if we approach all things mindfully, ie moment by moment, perhaps emotions like stress and regret, as well as fear, could become less of an issue? We might then be able to ask ourselves if there was an opportunity for growth in the thing we think we do not want?
How to action ‘good’ mindfulness…
Practice gratitude before you fall asleep
Focus on what went right at the end of each day. I like to fall asleep thinking of ten things that I am grateful for. It is human nature to dwell on our mistakes and irritations, but this does not serve us well. Go to bed each night telling yourself what you have to be grateful for, and remind yourself of the day’s little wins (it could be having clean socks!) and you prime your mind, and therefore body, for positivity.
Nix the self-limiting beliefs…
Some of the beliefs propelling your life are likely to be untrue and self-limiting. Often acquired from other people, whether parents, teachers or peers, they may not support your conscious goals or desires. If we accept that our cells are capable of responding to our thoughts and perceptions, then the path to self-empowerment lies in truly recognising how we may be unwittingly sabotaging ourselves. Especially if we now understand that these limiting beliefs not only influence our behaviour, but they can also play a major role in determining our physiology and health. As Lipton notes, “As a society, we are too apt to wallow in guilt or scapegoat others for our problems. As we gain insights over a lifetime, we become better equipped to take charge of our lives.”
How to identify limiting beliefs?
Start by asking yourself a few questions: What am I doing that is not in alignment with my goals and values? What actions do I need to take to reach my goals or live with greater ease and purpose? What are my beliefs around these actions, and are they serving me?
In the words of Gandhi…
Your beliefs become your thoughts
Your thoughts become your words
Your words become your actions
Your actions become your habits
Your habits become your values
Your values become your destiny
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Interesting, well-researched article Michelle. Thank you.