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The following release is provided for our media friends. For additional information, email publicity@impactpublishers.com.
Vitamins for Your Mind?
"… always enjoy every single second of the present."
The advice may not be original, but it's especially powerful when it comes from a twelve-year-old. Getting acquainted with Mattie J.T. Stepanek, then International Ambassador for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, helped an Arizona physician and two therapists to recognize how vital emotional and spiritual well-being are to overall health.
"He was attached to a tube in his windpipe – a 'trach,' ventilator, oxygen – and of course he moved around by wheelchair. Yet this didn’t slow him down," notes psychologist Gary McKay, Ph.D. "His stunning personality and brilliant mind kept him going and inspiring others with his poems and interviews."
McKay and his colleagues, physician Wayne Peate, M.D., and counselor Erik Mansager, Ph.D., were inspired to discover what Mattie seemed to know that the rest of us miss. Their findings contradict popular wisdom about how the human organism works, and how we can keep it healthy.
"Body, mind, and spirit are not separate parts but integrated, interwoven dimensions – like a 'human quilt’ – that contribute to a healthy, satisfying life. The central driving force of all three dimensions is our marvelous human brain," says Dr. Peate. "As you learn to change your perceptions and thoughts about your life, you will affect your physical, psychological, and spiritual health. For example, deciding to exercise will increase your energy. An increase in energy will, in turn, affect your outlook on life."
McKay points out that, "deciding to let go of negative thoughts and concentrate on what you can change benefits your physical health."
Mansager weighs in as well: "Becoming involved in spiritual activities, such as prayer or nontheistic approaches to spirituality, will change the way you think and help you feel better physically and psychologically."
"He was attached to a tube in his windpipe – a 'trach,' ventilator, oxygen – and of course he moved around by wheelchair. Yet this didn’t slow him down," notes psychologist Gary McKay, Ph.D. "His stunning personality and brilliant mind kept him going and inspiring others with his poems and interviews."
McKay and his colleagues, physician Wayne Peate, M.D., and counselor Erik Mansager, Ph.D., were inspired to discover what Mattie seemed to know that the rest of us miss. Their findings contradict popular wisdom about how the human organism works, and how we can keep it healthy.
"Body, mind, and spirit are not separate parts but integrated, interwoven dimensions – like a 'human quilt’ – that contribute to a healthy, satisfying life. The central driving force of all three dimensions is our marvelous human brain," says Dr. Peate. "As you learn to change your perceptions and thoughts about your life, you will affect your physical, psychological, and spiritual health. For example, deciding to exercise will increase your energy. An increase in energy will, in turn, affect your outlook on life."
McKay points out that, "deciding to let go of negative thoughts and concentrate on what you can change benefits your physical health."
Mansager weighs in as well: "Becoming involved in spiritual activities, such as prayer or nontheistic approaches to spirituality, will change the way you think and help you feel better physically and psychologically."
McKay, Peate and Mansager have distilled their observations in their new book, Body, Mind, and Spirit: Vitamins for Your Whole Health (Impact Publishers, May 2009). The book adopts a "vitamins" metaphor to present an in-depth look at the three dimensions and how each contributes to "your whole health":
- how the health of the body affects mental health and spiritual health and how to take better care of the body;
- how the mind affects physical health and spiritual health and how to take care of the mind;
- the impact of beliefs about the meaning of life on body and mind and how to nurture spirituality.
The book addresses many common life issues, including stress, depression, aggression, addiction, chronic illness, and aging, and offers techniques to help manage these challenges. "You'll laugh and cry with the stories of unique people who’ve dealt with life’s obstacles," says McKay.
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Adapted from Body, Mind, and Spirit, by Gary D. McKay, Erik Mansager and W.F. Peate. Available at online and local bookstores or directly from Impact Publishers, PO Box 6016, Atascadero, CA 93423,www.impactpublishers.com or phone 1-800-246-7228.
