In 1637, French philosopher Renee Descartes famously wrote that “Je pense, donc je suis”, which translates to “I think, therefore I am.” This phrase, which was originally meant to highlight the importance of the thinking mind to human beings’ lives, has informed a widespread assumption, especially in Western cultures, that our minds and bodies are separate.
The result is that many of us think that our thoughts and feelings are only in our minds and have no effect on our bodies: in fact, the opposite is true! The way we think, the thoughts we have, and the feelings we engage with have a very real and tangible effect on our bodies. After all, the brain is part of the body!
Re-connecting the mind and the body is one of the most important ways to ensure not only good physical health but also good mental health; understanding how physical and mental well-being are inextricably linked is a key tool for healing.
Thoughts and Feelings Affect Biological Systems
The way you think and feel directly impacts various working biological systems across your body. The most obvious example, which many of us are already aware of, is the nervous system. This vast network of nerves connects our brains to every other part of the body and transmits neurons to and from the brain based on every sensory experience we have. And, just as touching something uncomfortable with your hand will result in a feeling of discomfort or pain in the brain, thinking about things that are painful or uncomfortable will send signals across the body. Because the nervous system regulates many of our involuntary physical processes like heartbeat, breathing, hormone release, and digestive system functionality, painful or upsetting thoughts will have a tangible effect on the physical functionality of the body.[1]
Over time, your thinking has a transformative effect on the various structures that transmit these neurons: these are not fixed pathways that we are born with, but rather complex and ever-changing networks that grow with us over the course of a lifetime. Research has shown that the way we think frequently, our habitual patterns of thought, can actually restructure the nervous system by reinforcing certain neural pathways over others. The way we feel in our bodies physically directly reflects the things we think about or experience in our minds, for better and for worse![2]
According to Andrea Bonoir, a teaching psychologist at Georgetown, repeatedly having negative thoughts has a pronounced effect on the amygdala, which is the threat detector in the brain that exists to activate the nervous system when there is a risk to our lives. Normally, once the risk has gone our parasympathetic system counteracts the signal from the amygdala and we become calm again. However, when the threat is coming from our negative thoughts and those thoughts are not stopping, the parasympathetic system gets exhausted and loses our ability to calm us down. The result is a runaway nervous system that causes us to feel constantly under attack through anxiety, stress, and even panic attacks.[3]
Using Meditation to Re-connect the Body and Brain
Fortunately for those of us who experience chronic anxiety, stress, and panic attacks, the mind-body connection works the other way, too. We can work with the physical matter of our bodies to directly influence our nervous systems in positive ways. This is easy to do once you know how, but centuries of science, which has worked on the assumption that mind and body are separate entities, have stigmatized the tools necessary for individuals to re-connect them: meditation, mindfulness, human intimacy, and community involvement.
In a recent article published in Biomedicines, the authors tested the usefulness of what they called the “ancient traditions” of mindfulness and meditation in regulating the nervous system. Reviewing nine international studies published in the last ten years, this research showed conclusively that regularly practicing mindfulness and meditation has a significant effect on the nervous system, helping to regulate emotional processing, improve psychological outcomes for anxiety and depression, and reduce physical pain.[4]
In other words, recent research tells us without a doubt that practicing mindfulness and meditation has a positive influence on the nervous system.
What’s more, because the parasympathetic system, which is responsible for calming the body, creating feelings of relaxation and safety, is triggered by touch, engaging in connection and intimacy with other people can also directly affect our minds. Even a gentle reassuring tap on the shoulder from a friend can have an overwhelmingly positive calming effect on the mind[5], and more intimate physical connections like hugs, holding hands, making positive prolonged eye contact, or even sitting side by side on the sofa can be an immediate salve for feelings of anxiety, fear, panic, or dread. Some research has even suggested that being part of a routinely familiar community, such as a group of friends or neighbors that you see everyday and would feel comfortable easily hugging or holding or laughing with, has an inverse relationship to depression in middle-aged adults in the United States.[6]
Knowing more about how your mind and body are connected is key to both mental and physical health, and countering stigma surrounding accessible and human tools for regulating the nervous system (meditation and mindfulness, but also human community and intimacy) can help all of us better manage our mind-body connection.
Sources:
[1] MedlinePlus. (2016). Neurosciences. Retrieved June 16, 2017, from https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/007456.htm
[2] Alexander, R., Aragón, O. R., Bookwala, J., Cherbuin, N., Gatt, J. M., Kahrilas, I. J., Kästner, N., Lawrence, A., Lowe, L., Morrison, R. G., Mueller, S. C., Nusslock, R., Papadelis, C., Polnaszek, K. L., Helene Richter, S., Silton, R. L., & Styliadis, C. (2021). The neuroscience of positive emotions and affect: Implications for cultivating happiness and wellbeing. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 121, 220–249. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.12.002
[3] Djajapranata, C. (2025, September 3). Overwhelmed by Negative Thoughts? Mental Health Tips From a Psychology Professor. Georgetown University. https://www.georgetown.edu/news/ask-a-professor-negative-thoughts-mental-health/
[4] Calderone, A., Latella, D., Impellizzeri, F., de Pasquale, P., Famà, F., Quartarone, A., & Calabrò, R. S. (2024). Neurobiological Changes Induced by Mindfulness and Meditation: A Systematic Review. Biomedicines, 12(11), 2613. https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines12112613
[5] Eckstein, M., Mamaev, I., Ditzen, B., & Sailer, U. (2020). Calming Effects of Touch in Human, Animal, and Robotic Interaction-Scientific State-of-the-Art and Technical Advances. Frontiers in psychiatry, 11, 555058. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.555058
[6] Rogers, B.J., Deng, Y., Moniruzzaman, M. et al. The Role of the Neighborhood Social Environment on Adulthood Depression: Insights from Midlife in the United States III.Community Ment Health J (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-025-01500-w
