I work with my patients on wellness and lifestyle choices which we like to call the 6 essentials: what and how we eat, drink, breathe, exercise, rest, and think. The important thing to remember is that, out of those 6 essentials, our thoughts and feelings have a more powerful effect on our body’s function than all the other 5 combined. That’s not to minimize the importance of eating right, drinking proper fluids, getting the rest and exercise you need, and breathing good air. But it is important to recognize that our thoughts have the most powerful influence on our health. As a society we understand more about the other lifestyle choices and influences on health but we’re just now starting to scratch the surface about how the mind and emotions stimulate changes in the nervous system and changes in the physiology of the body.
