Mind-Body Medicine: The New Science of Optimal Health - Course Guidebook

In recent decades, science has revealed that the mind and body are intimately connected in ways we haven't previously realized—and this field of knowledge is now changing our understanding of health and disease. While it's easy to see that stress affects health and well-being, or that your blood pressure rises when you're angry, cutting-edge research shows that the mind-body connection goes much further.

Numerous studies on the brain's interaction with the body demonstrate that health is directly affected by our social environments, socioeconomic status, culture, behaviors, relationships, psychological states, and habits of mind, among many factors.

Current mind-body science reveals facts such as these:

• As few as eight weeks of mindfulness meditation can meaningfully boost your immune system.


• Extreme stress and low social support increase the risk of breast cancer by a factor of 9.


• Contact with nature is correlated with numerous positive health outcomes, including improved attention for children, reduced stress, and enhanced work performance.


• Chronic hostility portends calcification of the coronary arteries, even in young people.


• Expressive writing by patients is correlated with improved outcomes for both asthma and rheumatoid arthritis.