Enpsychlical

                 We tend to think of our minds and our bodies as separate entities, with our mind serving as a pilot that controls what our body does while remaining relatively independent from it. While this perspective is understandable given how unconscious we are of how the body influences the mind, it is, in fact, a fallacy.  The mind is a product of the brain, which is closely connected to and influenced by other systems in the body.  Understanding these interactions between body and mind is vital to understanding the nature of stress and how we can deal with it.  Imagine you’re out hiking somewhere in the wilderness when suddenly, you see a grizzly bear lumbering down the trail towards you. Before you are even consciously aware that a deadly predator is blocking your path, your body has already activated your sympathetic nervous system, which is your flight, fight,  or freeze module. It makes your heart rate in...

  Most people don’t retain many vivid memories of experiences they had as three-year-olds . Neither do I. However , I do have one—if you can describe it as one . It’s full of blotches and gaps like an ancient, damaged reel of film, but there are a few scattered images that stand out as being sharper than the rest . The first image is this: my sister, two of my brothers and I are wrestling in the living room. One of my brothers is on his knees with his back towards me. He seems like a giant. I say something I think is cool and defiant. I don’t remember what it was, but I remember being confident. I kick at him. He grabs my leg and twists it. I have no memory of falling down, though I must have. The next image I have is of me lying on my back on one of the living room sofas, crying. My mom is examining my leg. As she tries to bend it, I remember being convulsed with a fresh torrent of wails. I have no memory of the severity of the pain, but I do remember the sound I made, the f...