For decades we’ve heard about the mind-body connection, how our thoughts affect our bodies. The Bio-Feedback field was perhaps the first to tell us. Norman Cousins reported that laughter heals. The New Thought churches all tell us our thoughts direct our experiences.

It’s easier to accept the “fact” that nearly half of all disease is caused by stress. But the notion that we’re responsible for our own physical well-being– much less our lives!– that’s a tough bite to swallow!

Now scientists have developed the technology to measure the body’s responses to our thoughts, and, indeed, our thoughts do affect our body. And Norman Cousins was correct: laughter causes blood vessels to expand which improves circulation and thereby aids healing.

At a recent visit with a nutritionist an electronic device was used to measure the energy at particular meridian points (energy lines) on my hand and foot. The device measured whether my body’s energy was balanced, fatigued, or stressed by each of the supplements and herbs I was using at the time. This was interesting, but the process really became intriguing when 30 minutes later the practitioner elicited from me the emotions I was dealing with.

“Now I want you to imagine yourself feeling safe, secure, and surrounded with serenity, and we’ll re-measure your energy with the supplements,” she said. SURPRISE! All the readings were different—when I felt safe and serene I didn’t need supplements developed for stress. To confirm that this was, indeed, “all in my head” we tested the energy meridians again while in my mind’s eye I “stewed” in anxiety and frustration—and the Vitamin B-Stress tabs were necessary again for balanced energy!

Later this year a study will be published in the journal Psychological Science that measures the effects of a loving touch upon activity in the brain. Neuroscientists from the universities of Wisconsin and Virginia recruited 16 married couples to participate, seemingly, in a study of pain responses. Each couple first undertook an in-depth study about their coping styles, intimacy, and mutual interests to rate how happy the marriage was.

Told they would periodically receive a mild electric shock to an ankle, the women lying in an M.R.I. scanning machine were measurably apprehensive. Brain images showed peaks of activity in regions involved in anticipating pain, heightening physical arousal, and regulating negative emotions. But when her loving husband reached into the machine and touched her, the woman’s activity level plunged in all the regions revved up for the threat. A stranger’s hand also provided some comfort but less so.

All those love songs about the ecstasy and agony of love have it right. Now we can measure it! The findings of this study also help explain a long-standing puzzle in social science: why married men and women are healthier on average than their peers. It also explains why one partner in a long-term marriage will often die within a few months of their spouse.

While this study focused on the positive responses in loving relationships, the body responds to negative emotions as well, which surely causes dis-ease.

Technology is advancing now so that scientists can gather “objective, measurable data” that demonstrates (to them) the proof that mystics have known forever: our life’s experiences (physical and otherwise) are the manifestation of our thoughts; we are the co-creator with the Divine in guiding our lives. It’s a huge responsibility—and a grand opportunity!