Letters: Feb. 10, 2003

How Your Mind Can Heal Your Body

There are so many studies confirming the health benefits of meditation that it's a wonder it isn't as universal as brushing our teeth. PHILIP ROSOFF-HORNE Carmichael, Calif.

In your articles about mind and body and the effect of one on the other [SPECIAL ISSUE, Jan. 20], I was intrigued by the evidence that depression can worsen pre-existing diseases and may be implicated in the onset of others. I don't know, however, if pursuing happiness is the antidote to the seemingly widespread depression of our times. Having a moral purpose, ethics and values is what gives life meaning. Such a life will not always be happy--whose is?--but it will be worthwhile. And I believe the immunity-boosting value of living a moral life can have disease-fighting effects. RAISY WIESEL Montreal

As a massage therapist, i have seen improvement in people's health when they commit to at least two massages a month. By allowing the body to rest, one finds the natural tools to heal. I am honored to be able to help people achieve a healthier life. NEUSA MARIA SILVA San Diego

Your excellent essays on links between mental and physical health brought to mind Maimonides, court physician to Sultan Saladin in the 12th century. Comparing Maimonides' approach with the more traditional one of the Greek physician Galen, a grateful patient wrote, "Galen's art heals only the body, but Maimonides' the body and soul." HENRY WINTERS Columbia, S.C.

I was frustrated by your easy dismissal of French philosopher Rene Descartes's theory of mind-body dualism. This brilliant man did not contend that the mind had no influence on the body, or the body on the mind. In letters to friends who were ill, he urged them to keep objects that they liked around them to raise their spirits. His argument held that the mind was simply a different substance from the body. Even as scientists identify the various electronic and chemical signals of the brain, they cannot say with certainty how the signals function. Descartes's theory of the brain could not fully explain how it worked either. RACHEL WALLACE Montgomery, Ala.

Alternative-medicine proponent Dr. Andrew Weil recommends breath work (breathing deeply, slowly, quietly) as the most powerful method he knows to reduce anxiety. I agree. I am a clinical psychologist who had practiced for 29 years before I ever encountered breath work. For the 25 years since then, I have limited my practice to teaching breathing exercises to those who come to me with psychological problems. In just a few breathing sessions, people can easily and comfortably transform their lives and learn a technique they can use to let go of negative feelings so they truly heal. Breath work does more than just stop panic. It enables a person to become free of confusing, static attachments to the past. We should be teaching breath work in grade school. EVE JONES Los Angeles