I am one of the blessed ones—a physician who is still evolving towards the better. Practising medicine is not merely a profession for me but a platform that has brought me closer to humanity. With time, my approach towards health has changed: the vision towards illness and health is getting wider day by day. I have realized that illnesses don’t come to us, but that it is we who create an encouraging environment for them. We all participate in our health. Everything contributes to our health—our work, our activities, what and how we eat, how we think, our emotions and relationships, and our attitude towards life.

What we see and perceive is the physical evidence of something actually happening deeper inside

As a practising physician, when I saw people whose health did not improve despite taking medicines, watching their diet, exercising and doing the things one normally does during an illness, I started to realize that we doctors were not really justifying our identity as healers. We prescribe medicines that can reduce the symptoms superficially or maybe modulate the disease. We have no control over the side effects of medicines nor do we have any real answers to why these diseases occur. How can we then talk of curing someone?

My own affliction—psoriasis, a chronic, nagging, stubborn skin disease—was an eye-opener. I came to realize that looking at the site of the disease, such as, lungs for asthma, joints for arthritis, and skin for psoriasis, is quite superficial. What we see and perceive is only the physical evidence of something actually happening deeper inside.

To truly cure a disease, one has to go deeper

What we see and treat in mainstream medicine is just the tip of the iceberg, assuming it to be the site of the disease, mutually exclusive from the rest of our body and completely disconnected from the mind. We chip away vigorously at the tip with medicines, but naturally, the iceberg never disappears. As long as the giant remains hidden, it will continue to exist. The constituents of this giant—repressed and suppressed thoughts, strong grudges we keep holding, and unresolved emotions like fear, doubt and attachment—all end in a vicious cycle of events that not only initiates but also perpetuates the disease.

The Mind-Body Connection: It’s a chemical thing

Each thought, each experience of life, creates chemicals in the body corresponding to the type of thought. Without mind- management, no medicines, no exercise, and no diet will yield lasting, real results. Mind-body management is the crux of health management. All said and done, 75 per cent of today’s ailments originate in the mind, and we really have no medicines that will work on the mind. We have to learn how to work with our psyche to influence our health positively. If we want to get any chronic ailment cured, we need a master key that can break both the tip and the larger submerged part of the iceberg.

Heal your mind to heal your body

The powerful words of Shushruta, one of the strong pillars of Ayurveda, further enlightened me:

‘We don’t believe that we have changed. We carry the same mental frame despite body changes. That mental frame retains the disease. We don’t let go off that frame and we don’t let go off that disease.’

The truth of the matter is this:  If we can program our mind to believe and be in a state of good health and wellness, our body will accept the call and follow suit. This is wisdom, intelligence, and not just information. Actually, it’s all conditioned by the mind.

How to heal with your powerful mind-body connection?

I am one of those blessed ones who can confidently claim that I am healed: I am cured of a problem that was stubborn, distressing and incapacitating. Having crossed the bridge, I feel it my moral duty to share my healing journey with as many people as possible. Only then shall I justify my identity as a doctor.

Through this blog, I will present practical techniques of Yoga and Breath Therapy, Pain Management, Nutrition and Lifestyle Modifications that can be followed by one and all. These simple, scientific and effective approaches work intrinsically not just on the body but also on the mind to enable us to truly experience holistic health. I would also like to tell my readers that my approach to health and wellness is as preventive as it is palliative. These genuinely path-breaking methods and therapies are as much for people in good health as they are for those suffering from ailments.  Why should we resort to them only when we fall sick? Why not right now so that we can be healthier and happier?

‘The time is always right to do anything that is right.’ – Martin Luther King, Jr.

Today, my dear reader, I want you to believe with all your might, that it IS possible to uproot and eradicate any chronic disease from the deepest layers of our being and reclaim our rightful place as masters of our own health, with a strong body and a peaceful mind. This is not an injunction to stop medicines because they too, have their own place where required. The aim should be to get actively involved in our own health rather than only depending on our doctor. So let us together embark on this marvellous journey to discover an ocean of knowledge and wisdom wherein lies the one true key to a healthy, happy body, mind and life.

Wishing my readers the best of health,

Dr. Renu Mahtani, M.D.

Dr. Renu Mahtani is a practicing physician and the author of medically acclaimed bestsellers - “Power Pranayama” and “The Power of Posture” that have changed people’s lives. In her books, she explains her holistic approach towards health and lifestyle and provides her readers with simple, lucid, customized Breath Therapy, Yoga and Pilates techniques, not just for aches and pains but also for chronic diseases, low immune conditions, anxiety and depression. Order your copies and begin an exciting new journey towards good health!