By Gurudevi Nirmalananda

You need a body to be here in this world. This means your body is important.

The condition of your body affects your experience of life. You know this from having had a cold or the flu. Not able to do anything, you can’t even think. Your body’s condition affects your mind.

It works the other way around as well. Your body experiences your thoughts as real events. Thoughts, feelings, and beliefs create chemical and electrical activity in your brain, which directly affect your body. You can think yourself into a panic. You can think yourself into exhaustion.

Does this mean you can think yourself into bliss? And that you can heal your body by thinking different thoughts? Yes. Absolutely yes. This has been extensively researched in the last few decades, though yogis have been saying it for millennia.

The corollary is that you can use your body to change your thoughts. Every yoga class proves this. The changes in your body mean you have to adjust your rear-view mirror before driving home. Better yet, your attitude adjustment has already been accomplished. Your perspective on life is changed.

Exercise is proven to improve your physical health as well as your mental and emotional health. This is because breathing and moving is beneficial. It turns out that slow movement with breathing is better, proven in a recent Harvard Medical School study. Their focus on…