Читать книгу Fire Up Your Brain! - Larry Iverson - Страница 2

The mind-body connection is a new concept for many people. But is it really new? It’s actually been around for millennia.

In ancient Egypt, Greece and Persia there were sleep temples. Sleep temples were places where people would go to assist themselves in handling illnesses, adjust their attitudes, build stronger relationships between them and their religious figures of authority, to help them move into better athletic performance or work.

The description of a sleep temple in ancient Egypt was that it was a darkened temple where you would recline on large floor pillows. In one corner of the room they would have a flute or a lute playing.

While that very light music was being played in the background, someone would enter and sit beside you. They would ask, “What do you want to do? What do you want to change?” They would then talk to you about healing your physical illness, performing better at your sport, having a better relationship with your wife or husband, having a better child birth, feeling more at ease—whatever issue needed change or enhancement.

In ancient Greece this same practice was most commonly used with women prior to a birthing experience. They would begin this process as soon as they knew they were pregnant, and would spend time lying in these sleep temples with a midwife telling them how the baby was going to be beautiful and healthy. That the experience was going to be easy and that they would feel in control throughout it. They would tell the expectant mother that the birth would happen quickly. And so on.

The application of the mind-body connection—of using your brain to affect your physiology and your performance, began thousands of years ago in the ancient sleep temples.