Despite that, many researchers and supporters have been trying to gain a deeper understanding of medical practices from around the world, and to incorporate them into our health care system. But despite its growing popularity, complementary and alternative medicine remains, for the most part, outside the Western medical mainstream - regarded by some as fringe, and by others as straight-up quackery. More than a third of Americans use complementary and alternative medicine, ranging from acupuncture to herbalism, Ayurveda to homeopathy.

When Healing Happens But We Don't Know Why We'll hear stories about how meditation is being used to treat long COVID, the burgeoning field of cardiac psychology, and harnessing our fight-or-flight response to treat PTSD. On this episode, we explore the mind-body connection. Increasingly, though, researchers are challenging that disconnect, and new treatments are exploring surprising ways in which the body helps heal the mind, and vice versa. But in medicine, there is still a firm line separating physical symptoms from thoughts and emotions, a barrier between physical and mental health. The mind and body form a powerful feedback loop - with each triggering processes in the other. Chronic pain, on the other hand, can cause anxiety, depression - even problems with memory and focus. When we experience pleasure, happy chemicals flood our brains, keeping us calm and relaxed.

Likewise, our bodies have a profound impact on our minds. Your heart rate increases your blood pressure rises maybe your palms feel sweaty, or your stomach feels tight.

We all know how stress - or anger, or pangs of anxiety - can affect the body.

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