More News on Placebos
They were the “no option” patients, people with advanced heart disease who had used up all their bypass surgeries and who were running out of ways to stay alive. But when they joined a study testing laser surgery and a heart drug that grows new blood vessels, remarkable things happened. Their crippling chest pain improved. They had fewer angina attacks. They were able to exercise longer during a stress test on a treadmill. Sophisticated nuclear scans showed an improvement in blood flow to their hearts and heart function. And they didn’t improve for just a week or two weeks or [...]
How the Mind Helps to Heal the Body
In her office in Little Rock, Arkansas, a thirty-nine-year-old woman sits deep in meditation. A regular meditator, she has been practicing for almost nine years and invariably finds it helps her relax. Today, however, her practice will take on a new twist. Using a simple visualization technique she will attempt to control her immune system under the watchful eyes of several researchers from the University of Arkansas Medical faculty. It’s part of an experiment to further understand the remarkable mind/body connection. The team is headed by psychiatrist G. Richard Smith, who wants to see if the woman can turn her [...]
Imagery Can Help You Recover from Injuries and Illness
That professional athletes use guided visualization and other Mind Power techniques to increase their level of performance is nothing new. In a previous Topic of the Month (see index) I wrote about basketball legend Michael Jordan’s method. He claims he spent as much time off court practicing making shots in his mind as he did on court. “I practice in my mind being in a pressured situation and making the game winning shot,” he said after winning game one of the NBA finals several years with ago, with a brilliant shot with less than ten seconds left in the game. [...]
The Laughing Doctor
Out of nowhere they appear, hoisting a banner that proudly displays their name in neatly embroidered letters, "Juhu Laughter Club," and below that their slogan: HO-HO, HA-HA - LAUGHING IS THE BEST MEDICINE I'm in Bombay and the sun has not yet risen on Juhu Beach. I have come to see firsthand the work, or rather should I say play, of a most unusual doctor. Each morning forty or fifty men, women and children come to the beach for their daily dose of laughter. These people are members of one of India's almost 500 "laughter clubs"; groups which hold [...]
The Subconscious Mind – A Powerful Ally
Heidi Sorenson, a former Playboy Playmate, has a unique and interesting perspective on healing cancer. Not surprisingly, since she successfully healed herself of breast cancer. What is unique is her very strong belief in the power of the mind and the way she managed her own thoughts during her ordeal. Speaking to her, you soon learn that remission is a four-letter word to her, as is the word survivor. “Survivor suggests the cancer has the power,” she asserts. As for remission, Heidi is equally adamant, “It’s dangerous for women with breast cancer to think of their recovery in terms of [...]
Body Wisdom: What Is It and How Do We Connect to It?
The body has its own wisdom and ways of knowing, separate and distinct from that of the mind. The mind thinks while the body feels. From each of these ways of knowing we get valuable information. Just as seeing and hearing are two totally distinct senses that supply us with discrete sensations, so too the body gives us different feedback than the mind. Our bodies have a special and unique relationship with the vibrating matrix of our reality, one which we can learn to tap into and learn from. Table of Contents Why Is It So Hard to Listen [...]