The Ripples

Interconnectedness

Runners! Ready! Set…Go! The shot fires and four runners immediately take off activating their sympathetic nervous system to dilate their pupils and blood vessels and…TAKE OFF. Rein focuses her energy to control her breathing. She takes the swift turn completing her first 100 meters and silently and inwardly hums a memorized John Coltrane- Spiritual as she sweeps past the runners in lane 2…4.. and finally neck and neck with the runner in lane one. Pumping her arms furiously Reins strains to regain control of her breathing while surrendering to the sweet pain in her quadriceps and hamstrings. She nears the final one hundred meter mark. She mistakenly looks up to watch the timer slowly change…52, 53, 54..55..56..57 Rein sweeps passed the finish line. This race evokes her capacity to harmony that which was broken…t-o-r-n from a place deep within her physically and mentally. This was her first race back after ten grueling yet liberating months of physical therapy from a torn anterior crucial ligament. The hostility, the amount of bitterness and self defeat she carried dripped ever so slowly from her body in the form of sweat and radiated through her in the form of heat. The joy of reconciliation was made possible on that gray and cloudy March day.

The theory of the unrelated link of the mind and body is quickly fading. Health experts are currently delving into the parallel of the brain and body and the interconnectedness of the physical and mental realm. There is a vulnerability patients suffering with psychological illnesses seem to have in regards to physical disorders. And the opposite is also true- a healthy mind can make for a healthier body.

The ripple effect involving the physical and mental realm illustrates that one begets the other. One particular link health experts are investigating involves the C Reactive Protein. “Researchers at Duke University Medical Center have discovered that otherwise healthy people who are prone to anger, hostility and mild to moderate depressive symptoms produce higher levels of a substance that promotes cardiovascular disease and stroke. The Duke study is the first to link this combination of negative psychological attributes with higher levels of CRP in people without traditional risk factors for heart disease, said Edward Suarez, Ph.D., associate professor in the Duke Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.”

The C Reactive Protein is produced in the liver as a response to inflammation. Upon bodily injury the body reacts and subsequently inflammation will occur and the liver will produce CRP. Research has shown inflammation underlies the plaques that form in arteries as they clog along with a study that found individuals suffering from depression also having elevated levels of CRP.

CRP links the mental and physical realm. Research shows CRP may be a link between heart disease and depression.

Meditation may help to positively revert an unhealthy mental realm This mind and body study led by John Hopkins found that 8 weeks of mindful meditation proved to be as effective as medication in treating depression, anxiety and pain.

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