Paterno and the Mind-Body Connection

I’m going to get woo-woo on you a bit. Although I don’t find many people who don’t see the connection between the performance of their mind and the health of their body, sometimes it is a stretch for some to acknowledge the connection.

For example, do you think there is a connection between how much energy you have and how easily and cleanly you express your emotions?

Do you think there is a connection between how rested you are and your emotional state?

Is there a connection between how you relate to your past experience (e.g., shutting out painful memories vs. moving toward them) and your physical health.

Does repressed anger cause depression? Heart conditions?

Does emotional trauma cause back problems?

You know where I am going with all this and your know my answers to all these questions. Stop looking for “research” to allow you to avoid holistic healing and healthy living. Pay attention to your thinking and your emotions as they affect your physical health.

I sense this Sandusky thing is extra-ordinarily painful for Joe Paterno. Not the firing and going out on a down note but the actual events, the impact on the young boys – this is what will hurt most.

Joe has not seemed to age. He is 85 – is that his real hair color? Probably not, but still, what a testament to how doing what you love can keep you young.

But now what? I hope I’m wrong, but the fact that he was diagnosed with lung cancer days after he was fired and earlier this week fell and broke his pelvis are not good signs about where his health is going.

And yet it is never too late and we are never too old to learn, to transform, to be humbled and to one day die complete.

Filed in: Personal Growth