Five Pillars of Health: (defined by Sue Staropoli) |
HEALTHY MIND
As previously mentioned, many illnesses are stress-related and therefore preventable. Stress comes in many forms, but is fundamentally the result of the way we think and experience life. Our outlook on life is a significant factor in our well-being. Peace of mind is greatly enhanced when we are grounded in a spiritual life that brings perspective and meaning to the challenges of life. A positive attitude of gratitude reduces stress, while a negative attitude of worry and fear creates tension and dis-ease. This is at the heart of Brickey's research in Defy Aging, along with his finding that optimism and a positive attitude greatly diminish the incidence of depression and its devastating effects of impairing sleep, appetite, energy levels, the immune system and the capacity to enjoy life.
Just as the food we eat (and absorb) determines the health of our cells, so what we feed our mind determines our mental well-being. We "carry our issues in our tissues," so the emotional baggage and the mental attitude we are carrying significantly affect the health of our body.
An excellent resource on this topic is MindBody Medicine: How to Use Your Mind for Better Health, a collection of articles "By Leading Authorities from the Nation's Top Medical Centers," edited by Daniel Goleman, Ph.D., and Joel Gurin.
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