Mind matters

Your mindset can limit or expand your physical ability

- Anjana A. Karumathil

mana eva manusyāṇām kāraṇam bandhamokṣayoḥ [As the mind, so the person; bondage or liberation are in your mind] -Brahmabindupanishad

Can you trick your body into thinking itself younger and fitter? Harvard psychologist Prof Ellen Langer, also called 'mother of mindfulness', says absolutely! In The Mindful Body, she argues that mindless living causes most physical problems and that the right mental attitude can reverse illness. When we think we know ourselves, we sleepwalk through life, never learning anything new. Instead, she advises us to live mindfully, meaning that we pay attention to details in our body.