The Science to the Mind-Body Connection

Michelle Lusson, author of Creative Wellness, was one of the first theorists to describe how personality affects health. Aided by many doctors of kinesiology and psychology, this program was developed to balance mind, body and spirit based on whichever gland is the weakest.

The focus is on the endocrine system, one of the principal bridges between mind and body.  It is made up of ductless glands that produce and regulate hormones to keep the body healthy and fully functional.  If any of the endocrine glands over or under produce, the physical body suffers. Mental outlook and emotional reactions can become negative, confused, or even out of control.

An individual’s thoughts and emotional reactions to the environment directly affect the functioning of the endocrine system. Your thoughts and feelings impact your health. Messenger cells relay from the brain to the body, via the central nervous system.  When you are focused on the negative or stressed, the endocrine system, in turn, responds by over or under producing hormones.  Therefore, an individual with chronic stress is likely to have glandular imbalance, which may surface as physical or psychological illness.

Messenger cells transport the personality’s thoughts and feelings to the endocrine system, influencing glandular performance and affecting health.

Rooted in research that began in 1980, Creative Wellness identifies corresponding personality traits with the function of each of these major glands. The three major glands most affected by stress are the thyroid gland, the adrenal glands, and the pancreas gland. Each gland plays a critical role in an individual’s physical growth and health maintenance.

Thyroid

Regulate metabolism and cellular development

Self-control    

Adrenal 

Body’s defense and mobility

Self-protection    

Pancreas

Digestion and energy production

Self-maintenance    

This correlation between the structure of the personality and the physical functioning of the endocrine glands is facilitated by the work of the messenger cells.  As stated earlier, every thought and feeling is converted into a “message” that is transported instantaneously, via messenger cells, to all parts of the body.  Creative Wellness research, and subsequent confirmation of this mind-body connection, led first to the creation of the personality taxonomy, and later to the establishment of the Creative Wellness lifestyle program. 

The resulting Creative Wellness personality taxonomy directly reflects the link between dominant personality trait and each of the three major endocrine glands. It was developed by Michelle Lusson, founder of Creative Wellness, in collaboration with a group of professionals in complementary medicine. This highly qualified team assessed subjects’ responses to stress using a non-invasive technique called Applied Kinesiology.  The technique, originally discovered by George J. Goodheart, Jr., D.C., involves testing neurological responses by interpreting autonomic muscle reflexes. 

Each endocrine gland has a focal point on the skin’s surface containing the nerve cells responsible for passing messages from the brain to the gland.  By simply testing these glandular points, through muscle responses, the researchers discovered that all of their subjects showed inherent weaknesses in at least one of the major glands (thyroid, adrenals, or pancreas).  Testing also revealed that subjects’ muscle responses weakened whenever they were under stress, even when they only remembered a stressful event.

known as Behavioral Kinesiology, to assess the impact of feelings on the thymus gland of the body. He concluded that the environment, and an individual’s feelings in relationship to his or her environment, indeed affected the overall health of the body.

When both Dr. Goodheart’s and Dr. Diamond’s methods of testing were brought together and applied to the personality taxonomy being developed by the Lusson-led team, amazing results began to surface.  Individuals with certain glandular vulnerabilities (whose muscle responses at a particular glandular focal point tested weak when under stress) appeared to have common inherent personality weaknesses. 

Michelle Lusson, DD, as the primary researcher, went on to further develop this innovative personality theory, complete with (1) a structure of personality, (2) a framework for the development of personality, and (3) clinical recommendations.  She defined individualized personality profiles, which include character strengths and weaknesses, and an explanation of how the personality undermines health.  And, since the mind-body connection formed the basis for her theory, her clinical recommendations included natural therapies that promote the healthy functioning of both mind and body.  As a result, Michelle Lusson is .