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Sunday, July 14, 2013

The Healing Power of the Mind

Our minds possess a phenomenal energy that empowers us to heal ourselves and overcome great obstacles. Qualities, such as hope, faith, love or grace, hold significant physiological power. Over the past 100 years, study after study has supported how they actually change the body’s chemistry. More and more, the medical profession is recognizing how strong the mind-body connection really is. More than 60 American medical colleges now offer courses on health, religion and spirituality. Polls indicate that most Americans think that faith and prayer benefit health and that doctors should address the connection. Since it is true that what we do not know or understand, we tend to reject, The Medical College of Ohio at Toledo offers classes and courses to enable students to be open to and accepting of complementary – alternative or integrative – medicine. According to Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Robert Harmon, M.D., who teaches aspects of alternative medicine, when the body has experienced great trauma, “Anything we do in terms of treatment must take into account the total mind-body connection. The healer is within us.” Herbert Benson, M.D., the director of the Mind-Body Medical Institute at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, says that spirituality promotes health in two direct ways. Research has shown that the belief in the effectiveness of a placebo or “sugar pill” does in fact relieve illness. Therefore, the reasoning goes faith in any healing resource the patient chooses to believe in works. Also, some spiritual practices actually do have measurable metabolic effects. The “relaxation response,” according to Dr. Benson, whether brought about by Zen breathing, Jewish davening or reciting the rosary, can lower the heart and respiration rates and slow the brain waves. Most all the illnesses that drive people to seek medical attention are stress-related. In response to stress, people abuse food, alcohol, tobacco or other drugs. These unhealthy reactions then cause diseases of the heart, liver and lungs. Another physiological effect of stress is the weakening of our immune systems. So, if negative thoughts and emotions produce positive chemical changes, it stands to reason that positive thoughts and emotions will produce the opposite ones. In 1964, Norman Cousins, senior lecturer at the School of Medicine UCLA and editor of “Man and Medicine,” was struck down with a crippling disease called ankylosing spondylitis, from which his doctors thought he would never recover. He decided he would not let the disease beat him He believed totally that the will to live is not a theoretical abstraction but a physical reality with therapeutic characteristics. According to Mr. Cousins, “The power of positive thinking produces the vital brain impulses that stimulate the pituitary gland, triggering effects on the pineal gland and the whole endocrine system.” With this firmly in mind, he consulted with his physician and watched funny movies and had visitors tell him jokes. He felt that laughter was a very strong antidote to pain by releasing endorphins. Since then scientists have proven that laughter does indeed boost the immune system. Cousins called it “internal jogging.” Mr. Cousins beat the odds and made a full recovery. More and more evidence indicates that psychological influences, such as a positive attitude, affect the body’s ability to control the symptoms of, and even survive, life-threatening illness. This has also been shown with cancer victims. For example, studies indicate that women with breast cancer who participate in group therapy as part of their treatment live longer. This, along with guided imagery, written release and yoga complement traditional medicine.

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