Mind and Body Connections to Help You Grow

Western culture has long considered the mind and body as separate entities, one from the other. In medicine, for example, mental illness has long been considered separate and different from physical illness; many aspects of care, insurance coverage, and chronicity reflect this. In one of the most widely watched TED talks of all time, Sir Ken Robinson, a highly respected educator, described an academic as an individual who employs the body to move their head from one meeting to another.

On the one hand, we are contemplative, cognitive, spiritual, moral selves; on the other we are our oriented, balancing, turning, stretching, physical selves. Two sides of the same coin, we are each and we are both.

Partners for life, minds and bodies lie not in conflict but rather in combination, in equilibrium, in balance. The mind monitors, directs, and influences the body’s every movement as the body moves, nourishes and protects the mind’s every moment. This dance of mind and body orients me to the space I inhabit, to the mirror in which my image is reflected, to my home and family, to the community in which I reside. 

The introduction to the first edition of Our Bodies, Ourselves (1973) contains a foundational text for not only the women’s movement, but for the self-help and personal health movements as well: “Our bodies are the physical bases from which we move out into the world; ignorance, uncertainty – even, at worst, shame – about our physical selves creates in us an alienation that keeps us from being the whole people we could be.”

The body itself has a major influence on what we believe about it. It is fascinating to me that we generalize what we believe about our bodies to what we believe about our entire self:
“My shape is inadequate, so I am inadequate.”
“My looks are a liability.”
And, of course, the converse is also true:
“I am comfortable in my own skin.”
“I am strong and healthy.” 

A person’s posture and movement often communicate — or betray — what they believe about themselves. So a child tries to protect himself by lowering his head and shrinking into his shoulders, a woman’s collarbones appear to curve out and around to defend her heart, a young man pushes out his lower jaw to appear tougher. After significant weight loss, and despite the fact that her body is now much smaller, a woman still scissors her arms far out from her torso as she walks because, astonishingly, her brain does not seem to know how much the physical dimensions of her body have changed. 

The word tensile, as in tensile strength, comes from the Latin tensere, meaning “to stretch.” Tensile strength is an engineering term that describes the ability of a material to stretch in accommodation of a force, and then to return to its original shape without having been permanently distorted or disfigured. Steel is employed to build bridges and skyscrapers because of its tensile strength. Whereas the occasional gale-force winds that come whipping down the river valley will sometimes bend a bridge in accommodation of those forces, the steel from which it is built can also be expected to return to its original shape once the winds pass. Tensile strength is about bending without breaking. 

Can we use this knowledge to enhance the mind-body connection and to enhance emotional and physical resilience? I believe we can. One way of thinking about yoga is that it is a way of learning to relax in the setting of mild discomfort. When I first began to practice yoga, I felt it in my knees. Later, I began to feel it it in my heart. 

Although thinking is not visible to the naked eye, it is still associated with real changes in the brain. And although reframing a problem is not measurable by current technologies, it is still often the first step to change. Seeing things differently is often the first step to changing behaviors, choices, movements and patterns. Let’s call this mind-first change. Then there is body-first change. People in recovery programs say: “It’s easier to act your way into a new way of thinking than to think your way into a new way of acting.” 

I’ve also heard it said like this:
“Fake it ‘til you make it.”
“Smile until you feel better.”
“It’s not what you say that counts; it’s what you do.”
“Your day will generally go in the same direction that the corners of your mouth point.”

Recognizing the mind as an inextricable component of the body and, vice versa, the body as an extension of the mind itself, is a viable strategy for developing resilience, naming one’s goals, becoming one’s best self, taking first steps, more completely occupying oneself.

Has Descartes’s mind-body dichotomy outlived its usefulness? We can mine the dynamic connection between mind and body to grow in ways we did not know were possible. For a long time, I told my patients that “the head bone’s connected to the knee bone.” Everything is connected. 

Many thanks, once again, to Ellen Shaw of New York City for having provided the seed for this post.


YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Roasted Tomato Soup

Do you know that feeling when you have a dozen gorgeous tomatoes on the counter and you go grocery shopping, and you forget, and you come home with another eight gorgeous tomatoes? Yes, of course you do. 

This week, I decided to make fresh tomato soup, which I had never made before. I have loved tomato soup since I was a kid. I especially loved my friend Mendy’s tomato soup when we were in graduate school, which was half a lifetime ago. I added white beans to this recipe, but no one will know unless you tell them. Continue reading


YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Roasted Cauliflower & Tahini

In 2020, during the pandemic and lockdown, my newly married daughter and son-in-law discovered that they could reduce their grocery shopping frequency from once a week to once every other week by thinking of their produce as “first week” items, which were likely to go bad quickly (e.g., berries and spinach) and “second week” items, with a longer shelf life (e.g., cabbage and apples).  Continue reading


The Esselstyns & Plant-Based Eating

Going on ten years ago now, I had the pleasure of seeing Dr. Caldwell and Anne Esselstyn present on plant-based eating. The plant-based diet, which they began many decades ago, means eating only those items that belong to the category of “intact” carbohydrates, i.e., carbs with an intact fiber matrix. The plant-based diet is similar to the vegan diet, with several exceptions as enumerated below. Continue reading


YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Lisa’s Date-Nut-Chocolate Bars

My friend, Lisa, brought these date pecan chocolate bars to book club once and OMG they were pretty wonderful. Technically they are intended for dessert, but honestly there is no reason they wouldn’t be great for breakfast, too. Dates, nuts, dark chocolate. Why not? Frankly, they have a lot more nutrition and a lot less sugar than the standard American breakfast. So, yes, I would go for it. Continue reading


Mindfulness for All

A few words today on the “rest and relaxation” pillar, encouraging you to be mindful, to care for yourself, to be kind to yourself, and to help yourself remain centered, especially in the spinning vortex of ceaseless activity that continues to characterize recent weeks of change and chaos.

My word of the year is mindfulness. It’s the exact opposite of multi-tasking, which is not at all what it sounds like. To multi-task is not to get a whole bunch of different things done all at once, but rather to switch your attention incessantly from one project to another, giving none your full consideration. To multi-task is to invest heavily in attention-switching at the expense of your focus and goals. All told, it is a supreme waste of your precious energy.  Continue reading


YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Chicken with Split-Pea Gravy

This recipe inspires an entirely new approach to gravy. It’s extremely flavorful, the texture is spot-on perfect, and it is impossible to mess up. You should consider it when cooking for company, Friday nights or Sunday dinners, Thanksgiving and other holidays, or any time you want something rich, flavorful, creamy, and cozy, with leftovers guaranteed to keep you satisfied. When my children were elementary school age, it was one of their favorite dinners. Continue reading


Scoop at the Coop: First Eggs! 2025

When our most recent flock of chicks was brand new this past August, we kept them under a heat lamp to maintain their body heat. We were able to wean them from the heat lamp by the time they were about 6 weeks old. But in January, during the recent nationwide cold snap, we made a decision to turn the heat lamp back on. I think it was the low of minus six degrees that did it. 

The girls stayed close together, cuddling and fluffing up their feathers to insulate themselves and conserve energy. I could also see that they were eating more food than usual.  Continue reading


Is Cinnamon Still Safe?

Recent Awareness of Cinnamon Contamination  

A few weeks ago a reader wrote in to ask specifically about whether it is still safe, in light of recent events, to eat cinnamon. I spent some time researching the issue.

In October 2023, lead and chromium poisoning was diagnosed in 519 children. It was traced to consumption of specific brands of cinnamon apple puree and applesauce, and a major recall was initiated. The cases were traced to the cinnamon, which was found to have originated in Ecuador, from where it had been supplied to the apple puree and applesauce manufacturer. Continue reading


Is That Soup Healthy? Or is it Nourishing?

Today I’d like to talk about just one thing, and that is the difference between healthy and nourishing. In 2017, Michael Ruhlman, the noted chef and writer, published a book called Grocery*, in which he reflected on a great many aspects of supermarkets and grocery stores. As part of his endeavor, he asked me to meet with him and share my perspective. Continue reading