The James Granstrom Podcast - Super Soul Model series
Have you been questioning how to live your dreams and enjoy greater happiness, health, and wellbeing? I'm James Granstrom, male model turned international speaker and wellbeing teacher. Join me every other week for new lessons, tips, and conversations on personal growth, health, healing and spirituality with my inspiring guests or straight talk from myself. I'm here to guide you to become your best self and enrich your life, so you can tune and tap into your own natural state of wellbeing.
The James Granstrom Podcast - Super Soul Model series
Healing from Within: How the Mind-Body Connection Transforms Chronic Conditions
If you’ve been struggling with your health—whether it’s chronic pain, inflammation, fatigue, or an ongoing condition—you’re not alone. But here’s the truth: your body is not your enemy. It’s your messenger.
What if your symptoms weren’t just problems to fix but signals guiding you toward deeper healing?
Science now confirms what ancient wisdom has long known—your thoughts, emotions, and beliefs shape your physical health. Stress, fear, and negativity create inflammation and weaken the immune system, while peace, gratitude, and self-love can activate the body’s natural ability to heal.
🌱 Here’s the hope: If stress can create illness, then inner peace can create wellness.
In this episode, we’ll explore:
💡 The hidden connection between your thoughts and your health
💡 How stress, anxiety, and negative emotions fuel chronic conditions
💡 Simple, powerful techniques to help your body heal
💡 The role of gratitude, meditation, and visualization in restoring balance
✨ You are not broken. Your body is always working to heal. ✨
By shifting your mindset and emotional state, you can create profound changes—not just in how you feel, but in your overall well-being. Your journey to healing starts from within, and it’s never too late to begin.
Listen in, and if this resonates with you, share it with someone who needs hope today. Together, we can transform the way we approach health, happiness, and healing.
What if I told you that the way you think and the way that you feel could be just as powerful as any medicine you get over the counter or from a doctor. If you've ever experienced any pain, stress or past trauma any of these chronic conditions that may seem to present themselves to you in some form of physical ailment it can be alleviated when you understand how the mind and body work together. In this episode of the Super Soul Model series, what I'm going to do is I'm going to dive into the science and the mind-body connection and how you can heal and help yourself enjoy greater health, greater well-being and greater ease inside of your body. Anything that's stubborn is stuck in the mind, because the mind not at ease creates a body with disease, and when your mind begins to find ease again, the body follows suit. So if you're looking to heal any situation that you may have inside of your body, if you've felt way too much stress in your life and you're looking to find this greatest state of well-being, then this episode is for you.
Speaker 1:Before Jim Carrey became famous, he was a broke and struggling actor and back in the year 1990, when he was on the comedy circuits around LA trying to make it big, trying to make a buck or two and become famous. He had a clear and definite goal he wanted to be a movie star. And the story continues is that he wrote himself a check and post-dated it Thanksgiving 1995, for 10 million dollars for acting services rendered. And the story continues because he kept it in his wallet and it just kind of started to disintegrate over time. But what's really interesting about Jim's story is that for most of those evenings after his gigs he would go and sit underneath the Hollywood sign in Mulholland Drive and he'd drive up there in his old banger of a car but he would sit underneath there, sometimes smoking cigarettes, but trying to imagine that his life was amazing, that he'd been given big movie parts, that he was starring in fantastic movies, that big directors had come to him asking him to star in movies. And the story continues because in 1995, he starred in a film and that's exactly what he was paid. He was paid 10 million to star in Dumb and Dumber and it came in at Thanksgiving 1995.
Speaker 1:So what's this story got to do with healing? It's got nothing to do with healing, but it has got to do with one thing the power of visualization, the power of the mind, the power of a clear and concise goal. Now, when it comes to healing, we don't understand the power of the mind because we're not really taught it in school. But these stories that we can relate to, with case studies of people that we may know or have heard of, make us understand that it's possible, and that's what I want you to understand in this episode that things are possible when you understand yourself and how it works and how you work. Another story is about Dr Joe Dispenza. Dr Joe Dispenza has written several books on the mind-body connection and his own experience was a very challenging one. Before he started writing all these books, he became a chiropractor and then went into neuroscience and he had a very critical bike injury that left him crushing his spine and having severe spinal injuries. And his story continues because he went to go on to heal himself using the power of visualization and meditation. And now Dr Joe Dispenza is helping millions of people understand this mind-body connection.
Speaker 1:So how do your thoughts and emotions shape your health? Well, the brain and the immune system are constantly talking to one another and, whilst you can't see that with your own eyes, it's happening inside of your body through frequency, through vibration and when you recognize that you're feeling stress or getting a stress response to a certain situation, what's actually happening is the chemical cortisol is rushing through the system, actually creating a reduction in your immune system and causing more inflammation in your system. And studies have shown that between 75 and 90 percent in america and between 70 and 90 percent in the uk all doctors call outs are stress related pretty much between 70 and 90 percent. This means that inflammation is one of the major causes of disease inside of the human body and as human beings in society. Inflammation is one of the major causes of disease inside of the human body and as human beings in society. Inflammation is one of the number one causes of problems that we find. And when there's a lot of inflammation going on in the system, what that means? There's a lot of cortisol running through the system. So this is how we are constantly responding and reacting to the challenges that we face on a day-to-day basis. So if we're able to regulate that, that means we're able to regulate the amount of cortisol we experience, reducing inflammation, keeping the body healthier and in a greater state of well-being more of the time.
Speaker 1:There are many different types of chronic conditions that people suffer from, but there are four that I'm going to talk about today, and the first one is the autoimmune disease, and this might relate to something like lupus, ruminoid arthritis or even Hashimoto's. But what they've found is which is really fascinating in this study called the psychoneuro which is really fascinating in this study called the psychoneuroendocrinology, is that a lot of autoimmune system diseases that people tend to suffer from are related to childhood traumas of some sort. And there's an interesting case study about Venus Williams, a very famous tennis player I'm sure you've heard of, but she suffered with an autoimmune disease called Sjogren's, and that is when the eyes become very dry and the lips become very dry and the skin becomes very brittle as well, and she found that, with the help of changing her diet, by having more mindfulness practices and visualization and meditation, this autoimmune system began to become at bay and not affect, and she's gone on and went on to become one of the most famous tennis players of all time. So it's amazing to see how things that we can implement can change the challenges and chronic conditions one may be facing.
Speaker 1:The next chronic conditions that people can suffer from is like chronic pain and chronic pain. One of my clients had lots of migraines and after working with me for a few sessions that pain subsided because we began to reorientate the way we thought about certain situations and those migraines have subsided and after a short period of time, maybe about six months, they completely went. And this is all heightened because of negative emotion. Every challenge that we have for one reason or another is because we're thinking negatively, and if we don't think differently about the situation, that pain becomes bigger, first in the mind before it enters the body. And in a journal of neuroscience they found that watching someone in pain created internal pain for the observer this is called the observer effect and simultaneously, on the other end of this, they found that someone showing a kind act to somebody else also created the chemical of serotonin and oxytocin inside of the body of the observer. So when we're watching someone in pain we can feel their pain, and when we're watching someone in a kind act of love or compassion we can also feel that. And this is so interesting as human beings because we're all connected. So chronic pain is really heightened by negative emotion.
Speaker 1:And there's a really interesting book called Healing Back Pain by Dr John Sarno that talks about how he's helped so many people with chronic back pain just by understanding and healing the emotions within. When I've noticed some of my own experiences, when I've got myself a little bit out of my center, within a day or two I found myself coming back. When I adjust my thinking and adjust my eating and spend more time in deeper meditation and in nature, I've noticed that I can bounce back so quickly these days when I've had any little pocket of resistance that I like to call it. But this takes habit. This is a habit of success and you can do it too. And if you're experiencing way more chronic challenges and chronic pain and chronic problems chronic just means practiced and healing can be chronic as well well-being can be chronic. It's just often used in a negative sense.
Speaker 1:So the next thing that causes a lot of people of chronic conditions is digestive issues. Digestive issues it's really related to your inability to digest new information that's coming through or what's happening in your life. This may seem quite a bold statement, but bear with me. Your gut is called your second brain and the reason why it's called your second brain is because it's got 100 million neurons and it's constantly responding to stress the whole time. So if you've ever had IBS or challenge in your cramp inside of your stomach, it's often because it's stress related and when that's happening, it's because you're trying to digest what's going on in life and sometimes stress is so overpowering that it causes those types of digestive issues. In its medical journal, which is one of the greatest hospitals in the United States, did a study and they said that within 24 hours the gut bacteria can change just on the reduction of stress alone. So that's a huge point. And last but not least, a lot of people face heart disease and hypertension. There's a study by the American Heart Association that people with chronic stress about 27% more likely to develop heart disease. So that plays such a huge part. So our ability to find solutions to reducing stress in our life can actually create far more well-being.
Speaker 1:So, with stress playing such a major part and inflammation playing such a major part on some of the chronic conditions that you may be facing or people you love may be facing, then we need to look at perhaps some mindset shifts and some healing practices allows you to flow out emotions that you might be holding on to and when you release the emotions you'll feel free, and that kind of acts like letting go of lead weights inside of the body. It's natural for your body to feel light and feel good and be radiant and be full of energy, and anything less than that is about you coming back into balance with your thinking first, so that your body can follow suit. Because, remember, a mind at ease creates a body at ease. Try journaling with the prompt what emotions am I holding on to that I could let go of now that don't serve me? Maybe it's anger, maybe it's resentment, and sometimes, by journaling the emotion that you're feeling, you're able to accept that emotion, understand that it's been present with you for a while and say hey, listen, I don't want to hold on to you anymore because it's weighing me down. So journaling can be very powerful and very healing.
Speaker 1:The second healing practice you could begin to employ is something like breath work or meditation. For me, I've always talked about meditation because it's been the very thing that has actually healed me from addiction. Meditation, because it's been the very thing that has actually healed me from addiction and it actually even helped me heal from a chronic dry scalp that I had for years where I was using steroids, and within a few weeks of meditating, I never needed to use that steroid cream ever again and the condition never returned. So I was fascinated by that. But what breath work and meditation does? And it's actually found in a study that within eight weeks of practicing breath work or meditation particularly meditation in my case, because that's my experience if they found that cortisol is reduced so significantly from the body and for me, I've been well for such a long period of time that I think it's been almost six or seven years since I actually went to go and see a doctor and that was just for a checkup. So is that irresponsible? No, it's just.
Speaker 1:I'm naturally well, I'm naturally vital and if there's something wrong, I know that there's something in my body. And that is definitely due to over 20 years plus of meditation, daily meditation. I'm fully aware of what's going on in my body because I know that when I'm meditating, my energy is hitting this natural high and anytime I feel resistance, I either need to sleep, I need to eat, I need to drink something or meditate, and I find that my body just naturally sits at this higher frequency of vitality and energy. My exercise regime has been incredible because of such high levels of energy. I feel that that is what my body creates, and meditation and breath work will give you greater energy if you're feeling sluggish or any fatigue. Breath work will give you greater energy if you're feeling sluggish or any fatigue.
Speaker 1:The next healing tip that you could begin to employ is visualization and guided imagery, and the New England Journal of Medicine discovered that people increased muscle strength by 13.5% just by imagining this alone. I mean, this is incredible, and it goes back to Jim Carrey's story that we talked about, about the power of visualization and Dr Joe's journey of coming back to full health. So how would you use the visualization and guided imagery to affect any chronic condition? Well, you just need to imagine yourself as if you've got the vitality and the health and the well-being that you want, or, if it's for someone you love, imagine them in great health and vitality. But you have to do it when you are at your most relaxed state, because if you're still concerned or still worried, what you're actually doing is bringing the wrong energetic fuel into the imagery. It's really important that you get very clear about what your outcome is and try and do it from a very relaxed state.
Speaker 1:For me, one of the best things that I've found that's very powerful is scripting things out as if they're already done and reading it just before I fall asleep at night. And if it was a health condition, I would say I'm so happy and grateful now that I'm in perfect health. I've just been on this holiday. We enjoyed this amazing vacation and I've just been able to walk around the island and enjoy the sights and tried on some clothes and we ate some beautiful food and I slept incredibly well. It feels so great to be in this good feeling body. Something simple like a script can change the mind, and when you repeat that script, even though it's not done, but as if it's done, you're using visualization very, very powerfully. This is what actors do, and if you love going to the movies, you're just watching them follow a script and embodying it. You, too, need to behave like the actor of your own life. In truth, you're both the actor and director of your own life and even if your conditions aren't conducive to health and wellbeing right now, recognize you can change the script at any time, but do it and write it as if it's already done and in a way that you actually makes you feel good. This is the most important thing.
Speaker 1:The fourth healing tip that people could incorporate is gratitude. I have this thing that I've coined a phrase called the art of extreme gratitude. The art of extreme gratitude is being thankful for everything that happens all day long, whether it's good or a challenge. Being thankful for everything in my life, from the lights to the water running, to the food you eat, to the bed you sleep on, to the car that you drive, to the people that are helping you, to the people you eat, to the bed you sleep on, to the car that you drive, to the people that are helping you, to the people you work with, to the money that comes in, to the money that goes out. I think of literally everything to be grateful for.
Speaker 1:And if you've got a chronic condition of anything right now, it's because you've got chronic negativity that somehow found its way into your life, either by your doing or by something you've picked up somehow in some way, perhaps by your parents, but either way, it's time to take charge by being grateful for what you have. This is so powerful, and if you've got someone in your life that's going through something really difficult, you need to be so grateful that your good feeling actually begins to affect them. This is real healing at work, so gratitude has the ability to turn any difficult situations around. Uc Berkeley did a study and 90% of people noted that journaling with gratitude transformed their life. If they had anxiety or depression or any difficulty, 90% of those students noticed a turnaround. This is phenomenal, and one of the best ways you can do this is just before bed and when you wake up, write 10 things you're grateful for.
Speaker 1:But don't just write what you're grateful for, write why you're also grateful for them. So thank you, thank you. Thank you for this, because this helps you get to that emotion that produces the serotonin, that produces the oxytocin which reduces the cortisol. This is the biology where the body begins to change and starts to heal, because the more serotonin, the more oxytocin, the more healthier the body is. This is what's happening in meditation You're releasing the thought or any negative thought it releases, and up goes the oxytocin, up goes the serotonin. This is what keeps the body healthy and well. Happy people tend to remain well. This is just like how the body goes, because it's all the chemicals we're producing in the body.
Speaker 1:So there's a few little tips that you can do right away. You can begin to start your day with a two to three minute gratitude journal. You could say it out loud. Number two you could do some box breathing, which is breathe in for four, hold for four, exhale for four. If you do this for a few minutes, this can be really powerful and producing more oxygen inside of the body. This begins to recalibrate the body to a better feeling. The next thing you can do if you're looking to recalibrate your energy and enjoy greater health and well-being is just by starting a five-minute meditation.
Speaker 1:Find something on youtube. I've got a 12-minute guided meditation that you can do. That is scientifically proven to increase better oxygen in your system and increase well-being because it's done with the four by four breathing. This is about seven and a half to eight breaths a minute. It slows your breathing down and increases your vibration and will definitely increase your well-being. So if you want to try that, I'll put that in the link of this podcast and you can listen to it. I started doing it on myself just as a case study and I noticed that so many people absolutely love it. Try it. It's for free and it's on YouTube and if it helps you, at least it's going to improve the quality of your well-being.
Speaker 1:And last but not least, it's managing your self-talk. Your self-talk has the ability to turn things around like nothing else I've ever encountered. If you were to get 10 comments and nine of them were positive and one of them was negative, you'd spend more time on that negative than the nine that are positive. It's amazing how the mind is constantly wired to flip to the negative. It's so important that you get in charge of your mind, and by asking better questions, because most people don't ask great questions, which is why am I still in this situation? The reason why you're still in the situation is because you're perpetuating it with that question. You need to interrupt the pattern in order for you to get new results, because the mind is just going to keep going back to the default setting and until you ask a better question, you're only ever going to get the same results you've always been getting. So one of the thoughts that you need to begin to interrupt your self-talk is what if this is all going to work out? What if my body is designed to heal? What if everything will eventually be okay?
Speaker 1:Asking these types of questions begins to interrupt the negative chronic conditions that have prevented you from enjoying greater health and well-being, I often love to use a gratitude which is thank you, thank you. Thank you for the healing of my body, thank you, thank you, thank you for my health and well-being and, even if that's not your experience yet, thank you, thank you, thank you that my body knows what to do to heal itself. If it can heal a a cut, what if it can heal this? So these types of what if? Questions and wouldn't it be nice questions interrupt where you're at and that begins a healing process. And then, when you have gratitude on top of that, thank you, thank you, thank you for my healing, thank you, thank you, thank you for this. All working out as if it's done already starts to create the belief, because what you need in order for things to change is belief. And if these other people before us, who we've looked into some of the case studies, have spoken about some of these things I've shared with you today, then if it can work for them, it can sure work for you, but you need to begin to interrupt the chronic conditions that have prevented you from enjoying a return to wellness in order for your condition to change.
Speaker 1:Healing isn't about medicine. It's about the astonishing power of your own emotions and the thinking associated with it. When you think and you feel, you emote with it when you think and you feel you emote. Emotion means energy in motion. So when you think better, you begin to feel better, and gratitude makes the body feel better. And asking better questions makes the body feel better. It makes it feel more hopeful, makes it feel more empowered. This is so powerful. There's such a difference between asking a negative question and an empowering question. Try and ask the empowering questions and let your mind come up with the answers.
Speaker 1:One of the things I'd like to leave you on is ask yourself this question on a moment-to-moment basis what would the healthy version of myself think and do right now? And then follow through with the action that you get. Because when you ask that question, you're now jumping to an identity of the version of you that's healthy. This identity, in time, becomes a shift and you start to operate like the healthy version of yourself. Most people have an identity that they're not well, or they don't have that physical prowess or they've got too much weight or whatever. Identify with the version of yourself by asking the question what does the healthy version of myself do? And then follow through and maybe within about six months to a year, you might notice something profound within you that by asking a better question and following through with the action, you changed your physical reality, but you did it first by asking better questions. So today we explored some powerful strategies to go from chronic illness to well-being, which resonated with you the most.
Speaker 1:Healing isn't just about medication. Healing is about your thoughts and feelings being in alignment, being in harmony with well-being, and your emotions are feedback indicators, recognizing and telling you where you're at, and the better you feel, the more green lights that you'll get. But you may have accidentally, unbeknownst to you, practiced more chronic conditions of negativity than positivity. Now, I'm not asking you to go to positivity all in one go, because that's really difficult. That's like trying to push a boulder, but we can do one thing at a time.
Speaker 1:So what strategies have you heard today that you could begin to implement immediately? Because that's what's important. Just one at a time creates a momentum and that becomes powerful. If you've enjoyed this episode, who can you share it with? Because this is a really profound question. If something in here has resonated with you, just think what it could do if you share it with another person. You could change your life and that's really powerful. We work well as a team, and that's what this is all about. Until the next time, I wish you a wonderful week ahead and green lights all the way.