The Mind-Body Connection Impacting How We Learn
The Mind-Body Connection Impacting How We Learn “Our bodies do not exist to carry our heads around,” said Dr. Candace Pert (Weiss, 2001, p.60). The mind-body concept is defined as the interaction that takes place between our thoughts, our body and our external world. In this essay I will be writing about the Mind-Body Connection and how it impacts how we learn. I will talk about what our brain needs to function properly, facts about our bodies, and how staying active will help learning.
“Although the notion of a mind-body connection is a far cry from traditional medicine, which views the mind and body in a dualistic dichotomy, it does not go quite far enough. Mind and body appear to be simply differing aspects of the same whole. As the head and tail of a coin are not separate, but differential points of the same coin, mind and body are thoroughly entwined and inseparable. Where one leaves off and the other starts is a consideration rooted in the outdated belief of cause and effect. If we could only see our fingers in their separation and had no vision of the hand that grounds the fingers, we might be speaking of the connection between our fingers, not understanding that they are all part of the same hand, no less the same body. “ (Carrosicia, 2000). The brain is the hungriest organ we have. Brains consume 25 percent of all of the glucose we absorb. Glucose is the form of sugar that travels in your bloodstream to fuel the mitochondrial furnaces that are responsible for your brain power. Glucose is the fuel used by brain cells. Because neurons cannot store glucose, they depend on the bloodstream to deliver a supply of this fuel. Our ability to generate new brain cells accounts for the brain's elasticity--its ability to continue to learn and update its database. Our bodies and minds work together to help us solve problems, pay attention, and