Thinking yourself well?

chic

chic

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Do you feel that how we think can cure us of disease/injury? Have you ever done this successfully or know someone who has? I find this concept interesting. It's gaining popularity but I have never seen it happen. I do believe our thoughts can impact our health for better or worse, usually when followed by action. What do you think about it?

PS. good health to everyone.
 

No, sorry, don't agree with. What I do agree with is this by one of my favorite writers:

"…I have never admired the 'natural' or believed in the 'wisdom of the body.' Death is as 'natural' as anything gets, and the body has always seemed to me like a retarded Siamese twin dragging along behind me, a hysteric really, dangerously overreacting, in my case, to everyday allergens…I put my faith in science.

…In the last few years…the advice to at least act in a positive way has taken on a harsher edge. The penalty for nonconformity is going up, from the possibility of job loss and failure to social shunning and complete isolation.

If you follow the advice of 'positive thinking' advocates and purge everyone who 'brings you down,'…you risk being very lonely or, what is worse, cut off from reality. The challenge of family…or group life of any kind, is to keep gauging the moods of others, accommodating to their insights, and offering comfort when needed."

~~from Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking has Undermined America by Barbara Ehrenreich
 

I think I've read of studies where people can be trained to slightly increase blood flow to their hands through thinking about it, or slow their heart rate a little, etc. But, on the other hand, even those meditation type people grow old and die of various causes like the rest of us. So, I guess if a person's body was almost but not quite able to recover from something, then maybe the extra push from mental effort might tip toward recovery.
Probably it could be taken too far by trying to just think ourselves well and put off seeing a doctor until it is too late.
 
chic said:
Do you feel that how we think can cure us of disease/injury? Have you ever done this successfully or know someone who has? I find this concept interesting. It's gaining popularity but I have never seen it happen. I do believe our thoughts can impact our health for better or worse, usually when followed by action. What do you think about it?

PS. good health to everyone.
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I doubt that we can think away a disease or serious illness. I do believe that establishing a habit of finding good in daily life and practicing being grateful for that good can affect our enjoyment of our lives all the time.

On the other hand a negative outlook surely must influence our body in negative ways, thinking BP, heart rate, digestion, etc.
 
Yes, I think a positive outlook, while not curing cancer or re-setting a broken bone for instance, could possibly help in making the sick person easier to spend time with and therefore helping their loneliness.
 
"Thinking yourself well" definitely boosts your immune system.

Some researchers did an observational study on this several years ago. I'm sorry, I don't remember the name of the study or the names of the doctors/scientists involved, but I remember it was conducted at a university and I'm almost certain it was Harvard.

My personal experience is that people who feel themselves unwell usually have all kind of symptoms; joint pain, stomach aches and headaches, all-over weakness, etc., and they come down with the flu every flu season whether they get vaccinated or not.

Stands to reason it works both ways. (imo)
 
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Often some health issues (high blood pressure, depression, diabetes) could be minimized with proper diet, exercise and life style changes.

I was diagnosed with "type 1 diabetes" at age 19. It was a "wake-up" call - no junk food, no "sugar", more greens, proper meals, daily exercise (which lessen anxieties). I was able to control the diabetes for 45 years (except during pregnancies) - H1AC was in the "normal range" - controlled by proper diet. Eventually, it was pills, now daily insulin injections.
 
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Alligatorob said:
Norman Cousins believed it cured him.

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Yes, I believe it too but he took mega doses of vitamin C to help him also as well as the laughter. In those days doctors still listened to their patients. I think they were more open minded and therefore helpful.
 
Murrmurr said:
"Thinking yourself well" definitely boosts your immune system.

Some researchers did an observational study on this several years ago. I'm sorry, I don't remember the name of the study or the names of the doctors/scientists involved, but I remember it was conducted at a university and I'm almost certain it was Harvard.

My personal experience is that people who feel themselves unwell usually have all kind of symptoms; joint pain, stomach aches and headaches, all-over weakness, etc., and they come down with the flu every flu season whether they get vaccinated or not.

Stand to reason it works both ways. (imo)
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I agree. And people who never get sick have that going in their favor. If they do catch anything they have the right attitude, like..."I can't be sick, I never get sick." So they recover more quickly than others do.
 
chic said:
I agree. And people who never get sick have that going in their favor. If they do catch anything they have the right attitude, like..."I can't be sick, I never get sick." So they recover more quickly than others do.
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That's been my experience. I haven't had a cold or flu since I was in my late 30s, after a major surgery. And maybe I do actually have a strong immune system, but I think the most important thing is that I believe I do.
 
I advise to get yourself checked out first. When I had cancer the first time I, and my friends, thought I was making myself sick from a bad attitude about moving back to nyc, as I hated the idea of coming back. We all thought it was my frame of mind that was causing my physical distress. I wasted a lot of time blaming myself before I finally went to a new nyc doctor, who got on it right away and saved my life.
 
My father was the ornery I-refuse-to-get-sick type. He was discharged from the army because he had a large tumor in his chest. He ignored it, and a few years later it was gone.

I'm pretty much the same. Works for me.

My sister had health problems since birth, but did amazing things anyway. She trained herself to never get upset (to avoid heart attacks).

Of course there's a limit. I do get sick, but rarely. You can only push your luck so far, especially if you abuse your body. And then we die.
 
Maybe not to cure but being positive can help with your outlook on how you views things. I was told by my audiologist that the replacement surgery on my cochlear implant would require weeks of learning to hear again. I had already learned to hear on the phone and I did not want to wait weeks and weeks after the surgery to learn it all over again so I said that it wasn't acceptable and that I would 'hear' on the phone again within a few weeks. I did!
 
Murrmurr said:
That's been my experience. I haven't had a cold or flu since I was in my late 30s, after a major surgery. And maybe I do actually have a strong immune system, but I think the most important thing is that I believe I do.
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That's pretty awesome. I don't get sick much at all but sometimes get injured. I feel like my immune system is really good too. Attitude does help when combating illness.
 
I ask my angels to help if something like this occurs.
They have healed me so many times, I have felt their physical
strong hands healing me. I've even watched them heal me.
I've felt the immediate before and after differences.
I know you guys are laughing at me, but it's true.

They have not only kept me from harm; they have HEALED
me countless times. They know what's wrong before I do.
When an angel touches you, it's like swimming in an ocean
of pure joy. it's unmanifest, undiminishable.
I close my eyes and feel the healing; then I give thanks.
it's being saturated with pure glorified love.

All the things mentioned, diet, exercise, meditation, Yoga,
laughter, a good mental attitude, peacefulness, solitude;
all play a part in one's health. Even death is a wonderful,
natural movement of the soul. And about THOUGHT;
It's incredibly more powerful than you can IMAGINE!
Absolutely, one can heal himself through thought!
 

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