Mind and Body Connections

Lately I have been thinking alot about how interconnected our minds and bodies are.  There are some very real connections that I always thought were there but recently being around alot of sick people (that time of year) and being able to fight through it and then falling to illness what is it that makes the difference for me.  All throughout school, I would never be sick until it was time to relax and unwind.  I thought this occurred because my body was in stress mode and fighting off everything and when my body relaxed like my mind then would over a break, my immune system would relax and inevitably I would get sick.  I have noticed lately that the more stressed I get at work, struggling with a difficult client or something like that, that those are the times that I typically get sick.  I work with drug addicts and my wife works with elementary school kids so between us there are alot of germs going around but I rarely do get sick.  Lately I have noticed that difference within myself of when I feel that my body is frustrated with something that is going on.  It's really quite interesting when you pay attention to what the headaches, aches, and pains mean...your body will let you know where your mind is at.  Since I don't use any sort of chemicals or medicine until I am sick I am becoming more aware of these connections.  I was aware that some of my struggles at work where having an affect on my body, that feeling of being drained.
Think of how it feels when you are happy--there is a feeling in your body that starts with your mind and it's the same as when you are sad about something-you can feel the pain in your heart and stomach.  Are those imagined? Or are they real?  I have been reading about how when a person is depressed they can get comfortable with that feeling and actually crave it, hence alcoholics.  As alcohol is a depressant the body creates cells to adapt to that feeling of depression, eventually what happens when there is no more alcohol to support those depressed cells is that your body then craves alcohol, not just your mind.  It's kind of like the old adage about what you put in will come out.  If you hang around sad people all the time you eventually will become sad, misery loves company.  This is the same with happiness, people are attracted to it because people want to feel that way and they look for it in so many places within so many things but really it's some where else.  Everyone of us has the ability to be happy if we choose to happy.  Today I choose to feed my mind as many positive things as I can and to have fun with simple things because my job is one of hearing some of people's horrible experiences and working with them to overcome these difficulties.  The reward on the other side is amazing.  To see someone change.  One of the first things they will always tell you is that physically they feel better.  Stress on the mind is relieved in the body just like you can think with your body your mind can feel.  Next time you have an ache or a pain maybe question what is going on in your life that could be connected.  We have all seen somebody and thought man they look rough, they have been through it, and that is what stress and problems can do to us physically.  If you notice your body falling apart it may be time to see if your mind is falling apart, some of this of course happens with age but I don't know too much about that yet.  Anyway, this is some of what I am trying to process lately, think with your body......