Practical Psychology is a weekly newspaper column I have been writing for over 20 years. It is designed to address psychological topics that are most useful to its readers. Please feel free to re-print any of them in any form you wish. I ask only that you give the information about how to subscribe and credit for authorship. Thanks.

PEACE OF MIND
By Lloyd J. Thomas, Ph.D.

A peaceful mind is absolutely essential to physical health. Mental health and physical health are inextricably bound together. You cannot have one without the other. When we are physically ill, we suffer mentally. When we are mentally disturbed, our bodies are always out of balance.

The demands of living in our society almost guarantee an imbalance in our mental and emotional life. War and violence, constant stress, unemployment, dysfunctional family relationships, environmental pollutants, pressure to perform, anxiety and depression, all seem to characterize our common lifestyles. How can we possibly take the time to have peace of mind? We often don't have the time to eat right, to exercise, or to take those actions "we know we should." How can we possibly have a healthy balance in our bodies?

Physician, Dean Ornish, most well-known for his research demonstrating that heart disease can not only be prevented, it can be reversed, has said, "...peace of mind is not something you get, it's something that you have already if you stop disturbing it. In general, poor health is not caused by something you don't have; it's caused by disturbing what you already have. Health is not something that you need to get, it's something you have already if you don't disturb it. So the goal is not to find the pill that's going to make you healthy or an operation you can undergo to feel better, rather the goal is to discover how you can identify what's disturbing your peace and your health and stop doing that."

How do we stop disturbing our natural state...a peaceful mind? It is not easy in today's world. Here are a few suggestions however.

First of all, learn non-reactivity. This means that you do not have to react to everything that happens around you. Even if someone asks you a direct question, you are not required to answer it directly. Politicians know that very well. When we are children, we often feel very anxious if we do not react to parents in the ways they want us to. We often grow up believing that we have to react to everything going on around us, especially when others ask us for a response.

We need to learn to respond from within and by conscious choice. When we orient our attention to what is happening inside our minds and bodies and respond to outside stimuli from within that inner awareness, our minds are not disturbed by events or conditions outside our skin. When we learn to respond from within rather than react to outside events, we are able to maintain our inner balance even when outside us chaos reigns.

A second skill useful in getting back to a balanced, therefore peaceful, state of mind, is to modify the content of that constant chatter within our minds. We are usually so used to mentally talking to ourselves, we rarely experience a moment of mental silence. Our minds are constantly engaged in thinking (non-vocal speech) or imaging (mental pictures without words). We never seem to give it a rest.

When we change our mental chatter to thinking and imagining pleasurable events, memories, positive self-talk, consideration of anticipated enjoyment, our bodies begin to respond to these mental activities. When the content of our thinking is peaceful, our bodies are much more likely to be peaceful.

Ornish gives an example of creating balance in our bodies when he writes: "You must give it a chance, but we often don't do that. Three or more times a day we eat more fat and cholesterol than our bodies can get rid of, so it tends to build up in the arteries. If you simply stop creating this excess, your body often has the capacity to begin healing itself.

Likewise, our natural peace of mind is loaded with excess. Too much disasterizing, too much worry, too much fear, too much negativity, too much criticism, too much angry thought, too much to think about, to much to respond to. And our minds become filled with unnecessary thought and ask our bodies to respond in kind. Perhaps what we need to do is some "mental housecleaning" in order to facilitate more peace in our minds. Practicing meditation is one great skill at emptying our minds of its usual clutter.

"Peace of mind"...that seemingly elusive state, is in fact, our natural state. Don't spend any time looking for it. Rather, spend some time identifying what you are doing to disturb it in the first place. Then develop your skill at stilling your mind, or filling it with content that is peaceful. Somehow, we seem to have a rather large capacity to disrupt and disturb our natural state both mentally and physically. I am sure we were born with peace of mind and body. Today, the trick is to discover our way back to our natural state. When we do this, peace of mind will be rediscovered.

Lloyd J. Thomas, Ph.D. has 30+ years experience as a Life Coach and Licensed Psychologist. He is available for coaching in any area presented in "Practical Psychology." Initial coaching sessions are free. Contact him: (970) 568-0173 or E-mail: DrLloyd@CreatingLeaders.com or LJTDAT@aol.com.

Dr. Thomas also serves on the faculty of the Institute For Life Coach Training and the International University of Professional Studies. He recently co-authored (with Patrick Williams) the book: *Total Life Coaching: 50+ Life Lessons, Skills and Techniques for Enhancing Your Practice*and Your Life!* (W.W. Norton 2005) available at your local bookstore or on Amazon.com.

Return to Article Index