The placebo effect is thus one of the purest forms of mind over matter.
The placebo effect is the response to a sham procedure or an inert substance, such as a sugar pill, that suggests our minds have the power to relieve physical symptoms or even cure disease. The placebo does not actually cause the effect—it is the patient’s belief that they have received a medicine or procedure that leads toward healing. In some cases, the effect is related to the practitioner’s belief in the healing method.
Results suggest that something fascinating is at play and, considering the side effects that sometimes come with conventional treatments, that our research dollars might be better spent on honing the potential therapeutic effects from the power of our minds to accomplish healing.
We know from documented medical trials that a wide variety of illnesses have benefited from the placebo effect, including chronic pain, asthma, depression, infertility, colitis, headaches, ulcers, high blood pressure, warts, and more. Likewise, there are some cases where patients who, after being told they had just months to live based on initial testing, have died at the exact time predicted, even though an autopsy later revealed no sign of the diagnosed condition.
Successful healing might be related to the relaxation response, a lowering of stress that activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which is related to the body’s natural ability to heal itself. Many factors facilitate this relaxation response, including nurturing care, work-life balance, positive emotions, spiritual connection, community support, relationships, creative expression, and financial health.
A regular habit of meditation also contributes significantly to overall relaxation and a reduction of stress. Ultimately, all healing might be attributable to the mind, whether through conventional Western medicine or through alternative approaches.
PRACTICE
To maintain full health, in addition to following any traditional treatments prescribed by your personal physician, ensure that you are giving full attention to your spiritual health. With mind and heart, give attention to relationships, seek and offer community support and follow your personal passions.
RESOURCES
Mind Over Medicine by Lissa Rankin, MD
Fulfilled by Anna Yusim
Spontaneous Remission – Institute of Noetic Sciences
Placebo Effect – National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health
The power of (correctly done) affirmations has proven the placebo effect millions of times. Nearly every Olympic medal winner admits to utilizing visualizations of perfection. Conversely, negativity creates more negativity. Poverty consciousness creates more poverty. Self-pity only creates more self-pity. Many people over the age of 80 choose when they will drop their body. EFT or Tapping is a perfect proveable application of mind over matter. (If you have pain/illness and have not used Tapping, you are missing out big time. Look up Nick Ortner on Youtube.)
And the ironic part is that our parental and social conditioning are prima facie proof of mind over matter.
The GREAT NEWS is that what is conditioned in can be conditioned out, including reversing cancer…heart disease…and aging.
True* belief is one of the most powerful forces in the universe.
*Not just lip service.
I think placebo is even more powerful than we think, from a mathematical perspective: the placebo effect is calculated as an AVERAGE regardless of whether the test subjects believed they received a drug or if they believed they received the placebo. So it would make sense to assume (and would be interesting to test scientifically) that for those that did believe they received the drug, the placebo effect was greater than for those who did not believe, and therefore greater than the average.
Anecdote from Wikipedia: The Hawthorne effect is supposed to refer to a type of reactivity in which individuals modify an aspect of their behavior in response to their awareness of being observed.[1][2] Descriptions of the well-known and remarkable effect, which was discovered in the context of research conducted at the Hawthorne Western Electric plant, turned out to be fictional.[3]
The original research involved workers who made electrical relays at the Hawthorne Works, a Western Electric plant in Cicero, Illinois. Between 1924 and 1927 the famous lighting study was conducted. Workers experienced a series of lighting changes in which productivity was said to increase with almost any change in the lighting. This turned out not to be true.[3] In the study that was associated with Elton Mayo, which ran from 1928 to 1932, a series of changes in work structure were implemented (e.g., changes in rest periods) in a group of five women. But this was a methodologically poor, uncontrolled study that did not permit any firm conclusions to be drawn.[4]
Later interpretations such as Landsberger’s[5] suggested that the novelty of being research subjects and the increased attention from such could lead to temporary increases in workers’ productivity. This interpretation was dubbed “the Hawthorne effect,” although the data does not support that view.
Hi everyone, “You are the Placebo” by Joe Dispenza goes into this topic with remarkable case studies .A proponent of marrying thoughts and intentions with elevated emotions to help rewire your brain etc.
I am very grateful to Eben and Karen for gifting this course and helping me re-establish a meditation habit!.
I dont understand how a connection can be made between “spiritual” and realtionships, community support, or personal passions.
That seems a contradiction in itself as the spiritual is inside and the others our outside or directed outward.
In this case, it helps to expand the definition of spirituality. We define spirituality as our connection to one shared mind (a higher power) and a sense of meaning and purpose to our existence. Yes, this represents our “inner world” but our personal passions are related to meaning and purpose and connections in the physical realm (our relationships) often serve as mirrors for our limiting beliefs and emotional issues, that keep us blocked from finding inner peace. All of it is related and thus challenging to discuss as separate aspects.
One of my most remarkable experiences w/ the placebo effect came about in Texas. A married Mexican woman who knew my girlfriend at the time was always frowning, bitterly quiet, & really unpleasant to be around for very long. I was told she had all kinds of pains, nervous exhaustion, & other ailments. A self-professed healer from Mexico came through Arlington & gave her a treatment involving prayer & passing a chicken’s egg over her body. At the end, he cracked open the egg & spilled out the contents on a plate. A large part of the internal contents were black as ink! The best part of this story was the complete change in the woman’s face, attitude, health, & probably any other aspect you wish to mention. I almost didn’t recognize her the next time I saw her! I later learned the blackened egg is an old trick which involves carefully injecting ink into the egg before the healing is done. Trickery, yes, but undeniably effective.
Hi Dr. Alexander, why don’t we have a movie about your book/NDE??? Not a low budget, scary movie but a big eye-opening production?
I think you should go for Steven Spielberg. And show the skeptics attacks too. In fact, I think we should have many NDE movies going on in theaters all the time to educate people.
At least Netflix like The Secret or People v. The State of Illusion and E-motion. Pleaaaase!
I would buy it 🙂
Dear Suzy,
I think that’s a wonderful idea! I watched Dr. Strange again last night, & I bet the people at Marvel could do wonders w/ CGI. I imagine they would love the challenge to attempt producing effects that are described by NDErs.
“Placebo” comes from the Latin and is translated as “I shall please.” I please myself by seeing beauty, appreciating kindness, being aware of endless opportunity. The placebo is a pleasing effect, pleasing ourselves and others with encouragement and genuine vision of possibilities. Cultivating contentment, as in astanga yoga.
I think many people are aware that the mind and body are functionally inseparable, whatever affects one will affect the other either way around, therefore to visualise vitality and good health would have an effect at a cellular level to a certain degree.
have a wonderful day to all.
True…
Great job, Margaret, Keep it up….talking to your body is the same as talking to God. You are a God Spark, as everyone is, he loves you and if you are willing to talk to him (as your body) he will listen and return the love, joy and happiness you show toward yourself. Placebo effect is said to be mind over matter, The heart actually controls the mind so the love you give yourself will bring great pleasure and health. Just remember to love yourself as God loves you and know you can be healthy and you will see the glorious Light. Blessings love and light to all. Thank you everyone, and thank you and gratitude Karen and Eben.
Her, She, OR She/He – God is not a man.
I have been practising as an osteopath and traditional acupuncturist since 1981. For many years I have been thinking about and consciously using the placebo effect in my treatment room. In recent years I have gone as far as to feel that virtually the whole of energetic/natural medicine and spiritual healing is actually due to interpretations of the placebo effect working powerfully on different levels. This does not mean that natural healers are conmen, far from it. The skill of the natural healer lies in simply being able to compassionately touch and communicate with the deepest level of the patents’ being/energy/spirit with his or her heart centre – when this happens, spontaneous healing occurs almost of itself, the process is quite miraculous and many “miracles” do indeed happen within the natural healing world. Even if nothing is said, the patients “knows” that their spirit has been touched and the cause of their distress/discomfort or illness simply seems to bubble to the surface and release. Physical healing usually (but not always) follows. The practitioner normally intuitively understands before this point where the imbalance came from initially and the patient either understands then too or begins to over time. None of this is arises through the ego or conscious effort though and one cannot predict when and with which patient this magic will happen….all healing ultimately comes from God or “Higher Consciousness”.
I have been involved with a genuine spiritual path (Sufism) even longer than with natural healing so most people would probably assume I have had an illness free life and that everything has flowed quite beautifully and naturally for me – far from it! Paradoxically I have been saved from physical death 4 times, not by natural or spiritual healers, but each time by conventional medical doctors and nurses in regular hospitals! In each case the cure was either surgical or chemical (intravenous antibiotics) and there was definitely no placebo effect involved on any of the 4 occasions since I didn’t believe in that sort of medicine at all at the various times…….. but I do now! On a material level modern doctors are indeed miracle workers and although they are not very good at figuring out where the diseases actually come from in the first place, I still salute them with great admiration and respect.
Deep reflection and meditation has shown me quite clearly where all of my own illnesses and medical traumas originated but it took each of my own 4 dramatic “near death experiences” to make me look inwards and then to begin drastically to change my own false and imbalanced beliefs and behaviour patterns. Its an ongoing process though, as long as there is life on this plain, consciousness will continue to expand and try to understand things. However, we humans are a stubborn and arrogant lot and sometimes need harsh lessons to help us see Reality.
In my new viewpoint on life, All (with a capital ‘A’) illness, diseases, accidents, traumas etc start out as an imbalance on the spiritual level because of wrongly held and imbalanced beliefs and from these come misplaced desires and deeply ingrained unconscious emotional and instinctive habit patterns that we have leant from our parents or society at large and most of which will inevitably lead us down negative and destructive pathways unless we begin face them and deal appropriately with each one. Until we can become One with God (ie fully Conscious) with every breath, we will continue to attract and give out suffering in this world.
CNN is “Constant Negative News”. Yes, turn off the TV, radio and don’t read the newspapers either. Just be quiet and go within. As to mind over matter, it’s really Mind (God) over the belief that we live in a material world. We are SPIRITUAL BEINGS!
I don’t believe CNN fits your description. That sounds like a 45 sound bite.
So helpful this holistic lesson:
Being Whole
Nurturing Care
Work-Life Balance
Positive Emotions
Spiritual Connection
Community Support
Relationships
Creative Expression
Financial Health
Swami Sivananda, a medical doctor who became a Swami, stated that all disease comes from the mind. How can that be when you see young children with terminal illnesses? They didn’t cause the sickness they are battling…
Imagine dealing with disease, syndromes, with the belief that with God anything is possible. The God within us and that is us… treating people with the knowledge that we are eternal spirits and that we aren’t our bodies…
Letting go of things that don’t serve the whole feels good…
Applying today’s lesson, I’m going to let go of CNN news (however little I watch it, it affects me and the whole) and fill my mind with positive uplifting experiences and serve others with joy.
The Placebo effect is such an important concept to understand. I literally have hundreds of examples during my life of this working and mind over matter.
Thank you for the reference books on each topic. Intention, belief and one’s power within are power attributes. Enjoying each days message.
i continue to look fwd to each days message.. even though i am quite familiar with most of the messages.it is an affirmation ..that i am following
a path of love an light …THANK YOU KAREN AN EBEN … ps have ordered the book .. have read the others .. .
I continue to appreciate, and look forward to, each day’s lesson/topic. Thank you, Eben and Karen, for sharing your exciting and creative work with us.
again thank you ! New for me, but learning a lot! Practising the idea of talking to myself is a something new to me!
again thank you ! New for me, but learning a lot!
Meditating with Heart recording, asking “Who am I in the Bible?” I saw the face (the left profile) of a young boy 10-12 years old. Shaved head, hazel eye, very humble and innocent. The face was surrounded by a few layers of vibrating and transparent waves. “Jesus” that was the first thing that came to my mind” Then I heard the word not with my ear “generations”. I began to cry.
Just like Karen said “do not analyze”. That’s the only reason I’m posting it. I can’t and I won’t think about it.
Now while reviewing the face I saw the right profile not the left.
I talk to my body every day. My body has to put up with a lot of discomfort. I developed arthritis in my mid twenties, which was aggravated by carrying six babies and then bodily shifting elderly bodies in and out of a chair or a bed etc. So I try to take care of myself, by avoiding deadly nightshade foods, walking a bit every day, using complementary support systems. Medicines from the doctor cause me to pass out! Plus, talking to myself, if someone was listening in on the sly, they would have carted me off long before now. But it works, my body does listen to me and very often abides by instruction and affirmations. So even though I have limitations, my feel good factor supports me very well. Love to all, Margaret.
Such courage, Margaret! I was listening to a podcast on Skeptico about suicide & then read about the discussion of it further on the Skeptico forum; there was some talk about assisted suicide or mercy killing. I truly admire a person who has withstood such suffering & remains among us.