Free Pain Relief Newsletter  Click Here Pain Relief Articles - Heal With Your Mind Exercise:  A Natural Reliever For Chronic Low Back Pain 4 Natural Home Remedies to Ease the Pain of Sunburn Getting A Grip on Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Exercise Your Way To Pain Relief Benefits of Alternative Medicine Neck Pain Management Migraines - Food and Diet Tendonitis Pain Relief Treating Arthritis - Naturally Getting Well With Smell Guided Imagery - The Healing Power of Imagination The Healing Power of Food Healing With Herbs Healing With Movement Healing With Water Self-Healing With Homeopathy Laughter Is Good Medicine Treat Your Own Back Pain Healing With Your Mind Healing With Your Mind By Gerri Shapiro, MS Ed. "Expectation is a powerful thing. The more you believe you're going to benefit from a treatment, the more likely it is that you will experience a benefit.                                                                                       - Robert DeLap, M.D.   Did you know that your thoughts, beliefs, feelings and emotions influence the health and wellness of your physical body? Whatever your predominant thought is, your body will reflect that back to you in its state of health. If you believe your body is vulnerable, if you believe the least little germ or the latest epidemic is going to get you, then it probably will. If, on the other hand, you believe you are safe, your body is safe, your body is healthy and that its natural state is one of perfect balance, your body will probably reflect that back to you. Your Mind Is Like A Magnet Your subconscious mind has no discretionary powers. It accepts whatever is fed into it. It is like a magnet. Each word and each thought can attract associated events and circumstances. The net result is that you may get sick or continue to be sick. However, filling your subconscious mind with affirmations that you are healthy and happy can bring about positive results. The Power Of Your Mind A report in New Scientist (November 2001) revealed that just thinking about performing strenuous exercise can actually affect your body. A team led by Dr. Guang Yue, an exercise physiologist at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Ohio, studied 10 volunteers between the ages of 20 to 35 who were asked to imagine exercising one of their little fingers five times a week. After a few weeks, the strength in their fingers actually increased significantly! The Placebo Effect Studies have shown that thinking you are better can produce significant positive changes in recovery. This phenomenon of positive thinking is known as the placebo effect. Thus, a patient who takes a placebo (a substance containing no form of medication) may think they are going to improve because they believe the placebo is an actual drug. When you have confidence that a medical treatment is going to be successful, or that you are going to recover from an illness quickly, you are more likely to achieve these results. Many patients who receive placebos report an improvement in their medical condition, despite the fact that they didn't receive actual treatment or medication. One Harvard Medical School research study on the power of the mind in curing illness produced a wealth of scientific data, as well as anecdotes from patients, which established that "remembered wellness" (another term for the placebo effect) was a major factor in relieving serious medical conditions. Optimism and Healing An optimistic outlook can definitely be a factor in how well you heal from an injury, an illness or surgery. Those who maintain a positive outlook often enjoy life more than those who are negative-minded, but are they any healthier? For many people, the answer is "yes." Some Positive Healing Tips *  Create a mental image of your body mending and healing; *  Don't feel guilty about your health problems. (While there are some    diseases you can try to prevent through good nutrition and exercise,    others may develop and persist no matter what you do.    Send yourself a constant stream of affirmations about you good health.    (e.g., "I am getting stronger every day.")   *  Seek out your friends. (Friendships are an important factor in good health    and can lend support along the way.) *  Volunteer your time and energy. (Get outside your own troubles by    helping someone else). *  Get a pet or a plant. (Stroking an animal can lower your blood pressure    and slow down your heart rate. Both plants and animals require loving    care and can make you feel needed.) *  Laugh.  (Humor can help make life fee richer and healthier. Consider    putting together a "kit" of emergency laughter rations, containing things    like funny videos, joke books, cartoons and photographs.  Take this kit out    whenever you feel down. Positive Attitude and Wellness Your body can restore itself to health because you have encouraged and loved it back to its natural state of balance. When you truly look upon it as your friend and give it the same kind of love, caring and compassion you would bestow upon a beloved child, it may reward you beyond your wildest dreams.