another sort of example i can give. from way back, could always feel my stomach get all gurgling from stress; that old butterflies in the stomach feeling before giving an important lecture, job interview, you know, the typical stuff. well also noticed that when my gastritis was really bad, it would wake me up at like 5 am and make me feel nervous and very wide awake. but if i took mylanta to calm my stomach, it would also calm the way i felt. just thought it very interesting that not only does nerves churn the stomach, but a stomach that is already churning will make one feel nervous. and how easy it was to put an end to both of those things with something as simple as mylanta.
i know you are talking about how the brain can make one feel pain, but i've also noticed how pain can affect the brain. and how treating the physical problem doesn't just make the body feel better, but changes the emotions, feelings, thoughts as well. think i've noticed that connection because of how quickly it can happen, like putting an ice pack on something extremely painful relaxes me, allows me to fall to sleep when i couldn't before, etc.
so think there are many approaches to attacking the problem, and the more tools we have in our tool box, the better.
think we can affect our body with mental tools (like deep breathing, relaxation techniques, etc), but can also affect our brains and emotions with physical tools like the examples i gave, if that makes sense, at least that's what i've found to be true.
think that while its hard for people to accept that the brain can affect the body, think its equally hard for people to accept that the body can affect the brain as well. think it goes both ways.
