Use All the Tools at your Disposal - Not Just One

Body. Mind. Heart. Soul.

Most everyone agrees, these days, that these elements are intricately intertwined and each is essential to our overall well-being - and yet, most healing programs still focus on only one aspect — mind OR body OR heart OR soul.

And yet - if they are truly interconnected, couldn't we impact each one, not only directly through itself, but also indirectly through the others? Couldn’t we, say, support our minds through the mind AND body AND heart, and even the soul? Wouldn’t that support and lift our mind much more powerfully and efficiently than just working from one direction and hoping the others eventually follow?

It seems one could put out a fire a lot faster by having many fire hoses dousing the flames, than with just one jet of water.

But what exactly would that mean? Where does the mind end and the body begin, or the heart begin? There are no easy answers - philosophers have been pondering these questions for centuries, and there are likely as many answers as there are thinking minds. But just for fun, let's entertain a little thought experiment and dive into 'wholeness'.  Indulge me a few paragraphs of philosophizing before we get to the action, or feel free to skip straight down to the juicy parts.

Drawing inspiration from many different wisdom and spiritual traditions from across time and space, we see that almost all ancient and modern spirituality assumes the existence of a part of each of us that is eternal - our 'essence', if you will. This has been referred to by diverse names such as Spirit, the superconsciousness, Universal consciousness, and more, and it transcends the physical realm. It is the part of us that is connected with the higher reality, by whatever name you call it: the Universe, God, Creator, Nature. Of its many names, here I refer to our essence as ‘Spirit’.

Our Spirit is here to have a human experience in the physical world. It is infinite and eternal and exists far beyond the physical world – and yet, it must somehow live within the bounds of the physical world. The conjoining of the two energies of creation - of the manifesting and the life liberating energies - shapes the physical matter within which our Spirit exists and through which it experiences the world.

Our Spirit, existing beyond the confines of physicality, relies on an intermediary to engage with the physical world; an adapter, if you will, of Spirit to material reality. This adapter is the soul - intimately connected with Spirit and yet somehow, something slightly different. It is the same concept that Freud called the ego. The soul, or ego, is the part of us that keeps our Spirit existing in the physical world and is responsible for keeping us on the path of our highest purpose. It can be directly influenced by bringing our being more in resonance with our Spirit. The soul, this adapter, refracts the essence of our Spirit through subtle energy centers in a completely unique pattern - akin to a fingerprint – which reflect our life experiences and highest purpose.

Combining the unique energy signatures of these centers, our physical body, mind, and heart emerge. The physical body is, perhaps, the most concrete and obvious of all; the mind refers to the things we actively think and things that are impressed upon us from our intuition. The heart embodies our subconscious motivations and interactions with the external world (including our own selves), which we experience as the emotional realm and it informs social connections. Although there are nuanced differences between the two, the words 'heart' and 'subconscious' can be used almost interchangeably.

And this is where it gets good - because once we understand our body, mind, heart, and soul in these respects, we are able to see how each individual part can be recruited to support the others, and the system as a whole.

If we are working on an unsupportive pattern in our heart or subconscious, we can address it through techniques of not only the heart, but of the body, mind, and soul, too. And when there is an issue in your body? You can support it through not only physical interventions, but also through your mind, subconscious, and soul.

Let's dive into an example. 

Say you want to support your mind – maybe lately, your incessant thoughts leave you feeling anxious, and it doesn’t feel good. You determine that the issue is an unsupportive pattern of the mind that is resulting in an overactive mind, and you want to address it. You know you need to support your mind in order to feel less anxiety and worry and to feel more peace in the present moment.

We can address the mind through the mind directly. Patterns of thought create default brain patterns. By interrupting default thought patterns and re-routing them to new ones that we consciously choose, we can, over time, change the default of our thought patterns.

And here is the exciting part – you can also support the mind indirectly, through the body, the heart, and the soul.

In the body, the default neural pathways are not just reflected in our minds - they are actual physical synaptic connections between neurons. Research has shown that certain types of exercise, and certain foods and/or vitamins, increase cofactors in the brain required to form new neurological pathways. We can recruit and implement this information to support the mental work of forming new neurological pathways.

You can also support the mind through the heart, or subconscious, which is the seat of our emotions. By recognizing that emotions are thoughts that we feel in our bodies, we understand that thoughts in our minds affects our emotions, and vice versa. We can consciously assess the emotions that arise from our thoughts of anxiety and worry, and go directly to the emotional level of these experiences to address them subconsciously.

You can reach your soul directly by making time for activities or reflections that bring you closer to resonance with your Spirit; with your highest purpose. Anything that makes you feel in awe is bringing you closer to this place.

By supporting the mind and its anxiety through all of these areas – mind, body, heart, and soul - through various modalities, you can unlock lasting empowerment and serenity and be able to embrace your joy.

If you want to experience this indirect support in action, one great example of a technique that reaches your mind through your subconscious (or heart) is yoga nidra. Yoga nidra is guided yogic meditation that brings your consciousness through all layers of your being, down to your subconscious. By bringing conscious awareness to your subconscious conditioning and patterning, you can start to understand and integrate your being back to wholeness. Whether seeking deep relaxation or gentle introspective exploration, yoga nidra offers a potent vehicle for wholeness and healing. You can seek out gentle yoga nidra at a local yoga studio, or practice in the comfort of your own home. Yoga nidra practices can also be conducted one on one with a qualified practitioner, where the practice is customized to your specific condition and becomes a powerful tool to help move you towards your goals.