Calm Your Body, Heal Your Mind

Who among us has not experienced periods of high anxiety, persistent stress, obsessive thoughts, dark ruminations, or recurrent intrusive thoughts? The longer these 'repetitive unpleasant thoughts' (RUTs) go untreated, the greater the intensity and number of associated painful symptoms, which can lead to more serious illness. According to Dr. Hanscom, the leading cause of chronic mental and physical disease is sustained exposure to real or perceived mental and physical threats. At the height of his career as a spine surgeon, Dr. Hanscom started to experience panic attacks along with more than seventeen symptoms of chronic mental and physical pain. This lasted for more than fifteen years. As he searched everywhere for solutions, by far the worst aspect of this experience for him as for the majority of patients he has treated for chronic pain was the mental distress. More than just a psychological state, this distress, Dr. Hanscom asserts, is a physiological reaction, or 'threat physiology.' When the flight-or-fight response is sustained over prolonged periods, mitochondrial dysfunction triggers inflammation in the brain and throughout the body, blood flow in the thinking areas of the brain decreases, and we fall prey to a host of symptoms and illnesses. Drawing from the fields of neurology, psychology, psychiatry, and medical science, he presents a unique four-part 'dynamic healing' program to achieve deep healing and pain relief: Separate from negative thoughts through mindfulness, meditation, and expressive writing. 'Turn down the heat' of anger, which is hyperactivated anxiety. Nurture creativity and joy (distinct from hedonistic escape) to rewire neural circuitry. Dissolve the ego and its cognitive distortions. Dr. Hanscom explains the science behind these interventions and goes into prescriptive detail for each step. This book offers practical tools and an integrated plan for rewiring the brain to relieve pain. Illustrating the science with case studies from his own practice, Calm Your Body, Heal Your Mind offers a program that puts healing into our own hands.