Healthy mind, healthy body

Not about: Body image! If you’re unhappy with the way you look there might be a self-esteem issue underneath. some information about that topic on this website as well.
Here you will find answers to the following questions:
  • How body and mind work together
  • Your body is smart too!
  • Why a healthy body makes you happy
  • Important points for an overall healthy lifestyle
  • The role of the body in mental illness

How body and mind work together

What does “mind” mean here exactly? It basically stands for everything that’s going on inside of you, that is not directly visible from the outside – like your thoughts, feelings, sensations … which in turn can have a huge impact on the outside (what you show or how you behave).

The goal of the IMPROVA program is to help you stay happy and healthy. Your physical wellbeing is super important for that – let’s take a closer look.

Your body is smart, too!

A little “history lesson”: Mind and body – for a long time these were seen as two totally separate things, and many smart thinkers were convinced that the mind was in control of the body and kind of inferior. Nowadays, researchers agree that mind and body are a unity and your brain is part of the body. Thinking may be a specialty of the brain, but your body is smart, too. It’s working hard - sensing, digesting, orienting…giving your brain all the important information to make all the small and big decisions of your daily life.
So, the communication goes both ways: not only can your mind order your body to do things, but your body has an impact on your mind and mood as well.
Take this example

Your brain and all the other parts of your body are talking all the time and working together. Your body feels tired, the growling in your stomach is building up and at one point you think “Let’s check the clock, I want to know how much longer till the school bell rings”, after which you may feel even more tired (“What! Still 30 more minutes?!”) or thrilled, because it’s only 5 more minutes. This exchange is based on biological processes (e.g. nerve pathways or hormones) – and this goes on all the time all day long, often times without you even noticing.

Right now, there’s a ton of exciting research going on in the research of mind-body-fusion. These are just some popular examples:

There is a direct and strong link between emotions and your body. Just think about feeling happy versus angry or sad. Not only will you look totally different (facial expression, body posture, body signals), but there are different things going on inside your body that are supposed to prepare you for whatever the emotion brings about (arousal and stress if the situation needs to be dissolved).
The link is that strong, that sometimes the body brings about the emotion. Research has shown that riding a roller-coaster for example can make someone feel more “excited” about the person they’re riding it with – even though the “excitement” is rather caused by the rush/danger.

During puberty, the body is changing and hormones are running wild. Hair is growing all over the place, boys’ voices break and girls start getting their period. We know that this is a very vulnerable phase in life and it’s normal to feel overburdened sometimes. Maybe it consoles you a little to know that you are doing enough already by just standing it and that things will calm down again eventually.

This can be quite exciting, but also pretty unsettling. Therefore, it’s even more important to know what’s actually going on in the body and how the female cycle affects your mood.

Please note that the following graphic is an average and simplified version of what’s going on – to start with, not all women have a 28 day cycle… this is meant to give you an overview and starting point to do your own research:

During your period: Listen to your body! Maybe slow down a little and use the time to be extra-nice to yourself. However, you’re not sick and don’t need to hide behind walls. Some light exercising, healthy foods, enough sleep and avoiding high stress are helpful basics.
Media almost make you believe that women are controlled by hormones – which is kind of offensive and also not true. Observing your cycle can be a good way to get more in touch with your needs, minimize periodic problems and improve your overall performance and well-being.

Hormonal contraception can have an influence on your body or mood as well (especially when you start or stop using them). Talk to a doctor about these effects beforehand or if you experience any unwanted changes.

If you want to get more information, you can check out: loveline.de

Physical activity is essential for staying or getting healthy, not only regarding the body but also the mind. It’s also a key element in the treatment of mental illnesses like depression or anxiety. There is research showing that sport is good for your brain, too: it improves mental abilities like concentration, makes you more stress-resistant and pushes your self-esteem. This can protect you from getting sick. Quite impressive, right?

If you sometimes struggle to believe in yourself and your capabilities, check out our eSano module "How to strengthen your self-steem".

If you’re feeling very stressed and have the impression that your strengths are not sufficient to deal with the challenges you face, check out our eSano module "Stressed out – what now?".

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Why a healthy body makes you happy

As your brain is part of the body everything that is good for the body also benefits the brain and that is where your thoughts and emotions are localized. The biology behind it is super-complex, more like busy city traffic with lots of streets and intersections instead of a simple highway. Many things in a healthy body happen automatically and the effects are comparable to smoothly running traffic. This means you have more of energy free to use and can focus on what you like. If there is a jam however, it causes noise and takes up energy – not feeling well is a signal to go and fix it.
Now you may be wondering: Is my mind controlled by my body? Don’t be mistaken: Your mind is a powerful tool that not only gives your body instructions like going from A to B or making good decisions for a healthy lifestyle (see below). By redirecting your attention you can reduce your sensation of pain or by thinking happy thoughts you can make yourself calm down and relax.

What’s important for an overall healthy lifestyle

Knowing about the strong link between mind and body can help you becoming more aware, for once. If you’re feeling unhappy or moody, you may have other explanations and think of other ways to deal with that, like doing sports to blow of some steam or treat yourself with a healthy smoothie.
Creating healthy emotions: ABC, Health!

The acronym ABC HEALTH can be a reminder for adopting a lifestyle to boost your mental health.

If you want you can go through this like a checklist and try yourself in what’s a good influence on your overall wellbeing and what you can still improve:

Maybe start improving one thing after another and start with something that you believe is easy for you (that may be going to bed 1 hour early or doing a home work-out twice a week). This way you will experience benefits quickly and stay motivated. It can also help to keep track of changes and positive effects that you notice.

The importance of drinking enough and eating healthy is often underestimated. Researchers have shown that there is a connection between food and mood. Nutrition in general is an important factor in improving your physical and mental health.

A healthy way of eating (including wholegrains, fruits, vegetables and fish) showed to be beneficial for mental health and mood.

A study in Australia did check-ups with teenagers when they were 14 and when they were 17 years old. They looked at the influence of a so-called “Western diet”. Eating a lot of red meat, take-away foods and processed foods caused more body fat and was also connected to more mental health problems (like depressive symptoms). The opposite was found for a healthy eating style.

Taking it out on the body

Many psychological problems have a physical component and in some cases are the main issue (e.g. eating disorders, addiction, insomnia,…).

Sometimes the body shows that something is wrong within, like a mirror. Maybe it’s about controlling your body if you feel you can’t control anything else in your life or there is an underlying self-esteem issue. Knocking yourself out with alcohol or drugs to not feel these painful emotions can make your body addicted.

Since it has become a big problem amongst adolescents we want to give you some information and tips for yourself or if you want to know how to help someone you know:

Please check out our website chapter on substance use or go straight to eSano-Trainings module "Alcohol, tobacco, cannabis: What you should know".
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You can also be addicted to certain behaviours like gaming, watching porn or shopping.

What they all have in common is that you’re slowly losing control: You have to increase the “dosis”, show withdrawal symptoms (like getting irritated or jumpy) and neglect other important things (e.g. school or friends). The substance or behaviour usually helps you cope with a problem but doesn’t really dissolve it and quickly becomes an additional problem on top of the old one.

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Tip: Change the language settings to your home country to get a direct overview of the respective support contacts in your country on this site.

Many young people are not happy with their bodies and about one fifth is not eating normally. This can make them vulnerable for developing an eating disorders like anorexia, bulimia or binge eating (more girls than boys are affected) or other extreme behaviours (e.g. to build up muscle). This can have huge negative effects on the body like massive weight loss or gain. This can become dangerous very quickly and needs professional intervention.

Professional support

Click on the button to access an overview of different support contacts to find immediate help.

Get help

Tip: Change the language settings to your home country to get a direct overview of the respective support contacts in your country on this site.

Please check out our website chapter on sleep or go straight to eSano-Trainings module "Sleep well!".