The illusion of separation
How and why the mind split from the body. In today’s world, the human body is often treated like a machine broken into specialised parts. We are looking at our body through a microscope, ignoring the big picture.
This fragmentation persists despite growing evidence of interconnectedness between our mind and body. As physical and mental care operate in complete separate tracks, rooted in historical dualism that still shapes training and practice.
Mainstream media reinforces this divide, downplaying holistic approach to physical well-being and promoting isolated treatments like pills and other quick fixes.
This approach leaves gaps, ignoring the effect of chronic stress on our bodies, or how emotions influence immune responses. It’s a modern echo of an age-old split, one that thinkers have critiqued for centuries.
Socrates said it first
Two thousand-four hundred years ago in ancient Greece, philosophers highlighted a fundamental error in how we approach health. Socrates, as recorded in Plato’s Charmides, critiqued the physicians of his time:
“For this is the great error of our day in the treatment of the human body, that physicians separate the soul from the body.”
Aristotle built on this, seeing the body as the instrument through which the soul expresses itself. Their point? Healing demands wholeness. Treating parts in isolation ignores the deeper connection.
In the 18th century, enlightenment thinkers started prioritising rational thought over physical sensations. Advances followed dissections, early medical tools and deep research. Emotions and instincts became secondary, and treatment focused on isolated fixes rather than integrated care.
The bright and dark side of science
The 20th century took fragmentation further, creating a system of medical specialists. Cardiologists handle the heart, neurologists the brain, endocrinologists the hormones, psychiatrists peoples mental health – each expert focused on a narrow slice.
In today’s world this reductionist approach forms the foundation for exceptional care in acute moments. Life saving emergency surgeries, rapid responses to heart attacks or strokes, and advanced trauma protocols that pull people back from the brink of death.
It has also vastly deepened our understanding of the body’s intricate mechanisms, from cellular processes to organ functions, enabling targeted therapies that were once unimaginable.
Yet, this strength becomes a weakness when over applied. We’ve largely forgotten to treat the body as a unified whole, prioritising reactive fixes over holistic balance.
While it works great in bad scenarios like acute injuries, it sidelines prevention. Lifestyle changes, nutrition habits, stress management which could avert crises altogether. Few systems emphasise playing the long game, leaving chronic conditions to fester as we chase symptoms rather than roots.
While this narrative is promoted on every corner, we – the people are to blame for how it translates to our life. Choosing to take the “easy way out” is our choice, and the only thing we can do is educate ourselves on the matter and start changing our lifestyle.
Modern time
Today, research is bridging this gap. Thoughts and behaviours aren’t isolated in the mind. They’re influenced by hormones that run through our bodies. For example cortisol derived from stress doesn’t just affect the heart rate. In chronic instances it reshapes brain pathways, contributing to anxiety and eventually depression.
Oxytocin, released during connection, reduces fear and builds trust, shifting how we interact. This isn’t just abstract. It’s a biochemical dialogue, with gut signals and microbes influencing neural activity. Bonds that we make with friends, having good relationships in our family all affect this process.
Trauma illustrates this connection even further. It doesn’t stay locked in the mind, it’s actually embedded in the body. Bessel van der Kolk’s The Body Keeps the Score explains how trauma disrupts this unity, storing itself in the nervous system.
Research confirms this somatic storage, with studies showing trauma alters the biological stress response. It might even show up as pain in different parts of our body, since it is actually encoded in the nervous system and expressed through chronic tension in the myofascial system.
Trauma is not limited to major catastrophic events. It can arise from seemingly small, everyday experiences like emotional neglect or chronic stress, making it a near universal part of human existence on this planet.
Dealing with trauma
As Dr. Gabor Maté explains, trauma is defined not by the event itself but by its internal impact, and in our society, it affects virtually everyone through both “big T” and “little t” wounds that disrupt our ability to grow and connect.
“Little t” traumas such as ongoing emotional neglect, relational conflicts, or chronic stress often accumulate over time and can profoundly impact people’s lives in their 30s and 40s. Manifesting as mental health issues like anxiety, depression, or attachment difficulties, as well as physical conditions tied to long-term stress.
These subtle wounds, especially from childhood or adolescence, frequently contribute to relational patterns, self-sabotaging behaviours, or even chronic illnesses in mid adulthood if left unaddressed.
Talk therapy helps, but full healing often requires body-based approaches. We must feel the emotions, involving the body in the process. Doing yoga or any physical practice for that matter connects the body and mind deeper. In short, trauma demands we address the full self.
Yoga and similar mindful movement practices are among the best replicated body based interventions of the past 15 years. They work by improving vagal tone, boosting GABA, lowering inflammatory cytokines, reducing hyper arousal and startle responses.
Most importantly restoring accurate interoception, allowing people to feel safe inside their own bodies again.
Chemicals & hormones as drivers
Neurology adds more layers: chemicals like dopamine drive motivation, serotonin balances mood, and oxytocin fosters bonds. These aren’t just brain events, they ripple through the body, blurring old divisions.
Dr. Tara Swart, a neuroscientist, emphasizes how emotions manifest physically. As she notes, feelings aren’t intangible. They are somatic experiences, with nerves like the vagus carrying signals from brain to body. A “gut instinct” arises from adrenaline and neural pathways, shaping pre-conscious decisions.
Recent serotonin research highlights this link: only 10% is made in the brainstem for mood control, while 90% comes from the gut, affecting digestion, appetite, and emotions via the gut-brain axis. Gut serotonin can’t cross the blood-brain barrier, creating separate pools.
Yet they interact fluidly: bodily effects like nausea or calm feedback to the brain. This proves mind and body operate as one unified entity, impossible to divide. Her studies show stress hits the whole system.
Why is the mind – body connection important?
Centuries of separation have left us chasing fixes that miss the root. We’re not split entities, we are a unified system. What changes when you start treating yourself that way?
For one, it shifts focus to practices like daily movement, that honour this connection. Exercise isn’t just physical. It’s a bridge that rewires mind and body, enhancing every layer of well-being.
Movement impacts the entire system by boosting brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). That supports neuron growth and resilience, while releasing endorphins and serotonin to regulate mood and reduce inflammation.
It strengthens the gut-brain axis, improving digestion, immunity, and emotional stability. Daily activity, even 15-30 minutes of walking or any kind of moderate exercise instantly lowers stress hormones like cortisol, down regulating chronic issues like anxiety or depression.
We should do it daily because consistency builds these benefits cumulatively. Research shows regular movement, like aerobic and resistance training, elevates mood immediately and builds long-term stress resilience. Neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Huberman emphasises combining both types of exercise.
Aerobic training enhances mood, reduces anxiety, and builds stress resilience through improved blood flow and neurotransmitter boosts. Resistance training and adding jumping into our training sessions supports cognitive function and mental health via hormones like osteocalcin released from bones. This integrated approach treats movement as a unified tool for holistic well-being.
Movement
Daily movement, especially combined with novelty rewires the brain and body. Learning new moves amplifies our neuroplasticity, sharpening the brain’s adaptability and sparking new cell growth. This integration of variety in life, trying new exercises or skills also turns routine activity into a powerful tool for holistic brain health.
It promotes new neural connections, sharpens cognitive function, and adapts the nervous system for better emotional regulation. Essentially reprogramming how we respond to life’s demands, as well as improving thinking skills, memory, and slowing down age-related mental fog.
A single workout session can cut anxiety by up to 30% and lift daily spirits via chemical shifts. A short walk between our tasks can improve our creativity by 60%, according to a 2014 Stanford study by Marily Oppezzo and Daniel Schwartz.
Weekly accumulation compounds this, fostering stable weekly moods, better sleep, and reduced psychological distress over time
Feeling alive
Finally, it extends our lifespan & most importantly our health span. The years we actually feel alive, strong, and clear-headed. The difference is grand. One path leaves us fragile, medicated, and shrinking from life. The other lets us stay curious, capable, and fully present until the very end.
When the body is strong and the mind is sharp, challenges stop feeling like threats and start feeling like invitations. A tough conversation, a new skill, a cold morning run, a difficult truth we finally face, these are no longer things to avoid. They become the raw material for growth. We lean in instead of pulling back, say yes more often. We risk, create, love, and laugh with the full energy we were born with.
This is what a unified system gives us. Energy that doesn’t fade at 3 p.m., resilience that turns setbacks into stories, and the quiet confidence that comes from knowing our body and mind are on the same team. We stop surviving the days and start collecting them. Moments that feel vivid, relationships that run deep, adventures that still make us grin years later.
We have one body, one mind, one wild and infinite ride. Keep them connected, keep them moving, keep them challenged, and you don’t just add years to your life.
You add life to your years, until the very last one feels worth remembering.
