Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Power of the Mind
The connection between body and mind is very fascinating and has always intrigued me. The more I read about it, the more I am convinced that in our efforts to lead healthy lives the power of the mind must be part of the picture.
            Take for example placebos which have health benefits in spite of having no scientific merit. Some people have seen symptoms disappear when taking sugar pills simply because they had been told that they would be cured. And the mind believed it.
            I read recently about a man who was taking part in a trial for a new antidepressant. After a fight with his girlfriend he decided to kill himself and took all the pills he had been given. Soon feeling ill he was taken to the hospital where he collapsed. All tests proved negative, and when doctors contacted the organizers of the study it turned out that the man had attempted to kill himself with sugar pills. Of course the man recovered rapidly.
            A very strong case for the power of the mind is certainly voodoo. Some people who believe in the power of voodoo have been known to die because they were certain that they had been cursed. Powerful, wouldn’t you agree?
            The subconscious mind accepts what the conscious assumes is true. To me that means that we are in control and that we can choose how we react in all aspects of our lives. We can overcome fear by affirming the good which the mind will accept as truth. When faced with health challenges, we can certainly lead our subconscious mind to expect a positive outcome.
            I believe that in many ways we are masters of our own fate. We can make up our minds to be powerless or we can make positive thinking a habit, it’s that simple. The mind will accept whatever message we sent its way.