Consequences of taking  the wrong approach

         All addictions like alcohol, smoking, drugs including simple addictions like drinking tea or coffee start initially to overcome  the restless nature of the mind and finally end up as a habit. So, instead of  taking care of the restless mind, we look for instant solutions, which are temporary in nature. We prefer to divert our thoughts to physical pleasure seeking, and this leads to more problems than the help it offers. Later, then, we struggle to get rid of the addiction and also get treatment for the damage the addiction(s) did to our body.

          Alcohol addiction might be the physical cause of liver failure but the indirect reason was the mind. When we say that the mind caused a disease we  have to be clear that the mind was not the  immediate cause but it indirectly caused stress through which the disease manifested. To give another  example, if a person gets lung cancer, modern doctors would look for the genes that are mutated and would identify the chemicals in tobacco and link the disease with that. An Ayurvedic doctor would not deny these facts; however, the approach would be different. An Ayurvedic doctor would give herbs to combat the disease but would give more emphasis to the mind that let itself get addicted to the habit of using tobacco. According to Ayurveda, the root cause of the disease in this case would be the mind which was dissatisfied with  something in  life and looked for ways to fill the vacuum.

       There are several diseases that are directly caused by the influence of the mind. High blood pressure is a well known example of how the mind can influence the body. You will be amazed how your mind, when it is restless, can trigger a cascade of biochemical reactions that cause havoc to the body. This is called stress.

         Please understand the following fact. The mind is the link between our external environment and the internal environment of the body. Whatever happens outside is linked to the body through the mind. For example, the traffic jam outside arouses adrenalin in the body. Who commands the body to release it? It is the mind that links the outside with the internal body.

Continue to read how the mind triggers stress.

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