The body-mind-spirit connection is a popular call to self care. The interpretation of these aspects are subjective and at times hazy. Because the spirit and mind are often considered synonymous, understanding their physics respectively opens an opportunity to look at the source of fundamental healing. The idea of self-healing is no stranger to Eastern philosophy as contemporary neurobiology weighs in on the macro and micro events that make us human.

According to Stanford University, the evolution of natural philosophy into modern physics once was a combined discipline. The word physics is Greek, meaning nature and the study of nature that encompassed many fields. They included astronomy, biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, and medicine. The last few centuries have resulted in specialization and the branching into separate fields. Modern physics was transformed in the 20th century consisting of two basic theories, classical and quantum mechanics. As of the last fifty years, studies of matter, energy and beyond the space-time continuum of the universe has found equal relevance up close and personal.

Body and Mind

Dr. Ralph Lewis, MD, identifies the body and the mind as biologically driven. He says, “The mind is a kind of map. The brain and its functional product the mind, reflects the body’s relation to its external environment.” Thoughts represent things that the brain either perceives by the senses, feels with emotion, or forms as an action. Electrochemically mediated, they are all physical processes. Memories are also physical representations or maps, imprinted by the nervous system.

Spirit

When the subject of “spirit” is discussed,  the words “consciousness” and “awareness” are interchangeable. Qualities like attention, intension, and mindfulness are actions directed by conscious awareness and are considered non-linear fields that affect the body and the mind.

India’s ancient Vedic scholars professed mastery over natural forces as early as 400 BCE. The Sage Patanjali, (~200-150 BCE) synthesized a methodical approach to higher states of consciousness from older traditions with remarkable results. Advancing his work from the shelves of metaphysics to a practical science has been slow, but scientific paradigms are changing. The late Swami Rama was pivotal in leading the cause in a unique laboratory experiment.

In1969, Rama took part in a study at The Menninger Foundation in Kansas City. It investigated voluntary mastery of psychophysiological processes and how the power of consciousness could be documented in a carefully monitored lab environment. Of his own volition, Rama stopped his heart for several minutes and later by his own choosing, went into alpha, theta, and delta brain states. He also generated (and doused) inflammatory skin reactions in the form of cysts. At the time, Rama’s experiment did not gain the attention it deserved, but since 2015, the Centre for Neural Dynamics in Ottawa has shown evidence of neural networks influenced by non-linearities such as consciousness.

The Quantum Connection

Niels Bohr and Max Planck discovered quantum mechanics in 1913. Superpositioning, entanglement, and tunneling are terms associated with quantum physics and basically mean that subatomic particles can occupy two places at once, they can pass through and even overlap physical barriers. Deepak Chopra’s 1989 book, Quantum Healing, explored consciousness and its restorative viability as a quantum event. His project was ground breaking, but his use of scientific nomenclature on the subject received controversial reviews. An endocrinologist and practitioner of Ayurveda, Chopra was criticized as a pseudo-scientist. He argued his references to consciousness and quantum physics was meant to link modern thought with ancient wisdom. 

Chopra was not the first to do so. Fritjof Capra, Ph.D., a physicist and author of The Tao of Physics and Web of Life, brought subatomic language to popularity in 1975. More recently, Quantum Enigma by Bruce Rosenblum & Fred Kuttner, both with backgrounds in physics, offered a solid debate as to why consciousness should enter into the discussion of physics. 

Many physicists believe the subject of consciousness does not belong in hard physics; others think you cannot describe the quantum theory without making mention of it. Dr. Franz Klaus Janson, researcher of quantum physics, free will, and bio-psychology says, “Superposition is an essential function of consciousness.”

Historically, the power of consciousness to manifest healing was relegated to mystics. Now the atomic and subatomic dynamics of human functionality broken down into the material and nonmaterial planes is a beautiful unified dichotomy that science must reconcile. It is what we innately know to be true about consciousness and mysteriously, simply by being conscious. As Capra says, “Physicists do not need mysticism and mystics do not need physics, but humanity needs both.”

Note: Body-mind-spirit healing depends on the ability of the individual taking part in the practice. It does not dismiss established medical treatment and at this time, there is no concrete evidence self-healing cures terminal diseases and mental illness. Always consult with your health care providers.

Published: Yoga+Life Co., The Renewal Issue, p. 63, Fall 2022