Let's talk about physical healing?

[themaster]

Theories, ideas, overcoming beliefs.. who's got info?

[Daffy Duck]

I have a theory these work well:

[Wax Frog]

Wasn't that a Marvin Gaye song?

[Dreamline]

Physical healing? I think your topic is vague. Do you mean our ability to heal our physical selves with our mind?

Physical healing just happens, most often with no intervention on our parts. Occasionally an injury is not amenable to any healing, mental or physical. Bummer about that.

More info please.

Jennifer

[minjung]

Originally Posted by Daffy Duck

I have a theory these work well:

Not at all. The Bandaid doesn't do the healing. It's the body that does it. The bandaid is just a piece of fabric some people slap on to their cuts.

[Daffy Duck]

No... actually. The band-aids have magical healing properties. The ointment embedded in them was passed down by Masters from the Himalayan mountains and they eventually shared it with Johnson & Johnson who applied the knowledge to the fabric known as band-aids.

Or maybe the band-aids just help keep the wound clean, which helps healing.

[Acting Like Godot]

Harvard Medical School has done research to show that patients who are given hypnotic suggestions that their wounds are healing rapidly, will indeed heal more rapidly. The experiments were done in relation to broken ankles, as well as surgical wounds following breast cancer surgery.

Harvard Gazette: Hypnosis helps healing

Last year, hypnotherapist Alex Lenkei gave a startling demonstration of the uses of hypnosis in controlling pain. In hospital he underwent a one-hour major surgery on his hand with any form of anaesthesia at all.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/e...ex/7355523.stm

There are plenty of interesting studies on how hypnosis may be used to control pain, eg in cancer patients.

[Daffy Duck]

That's cool. It's good that it comes from Harvard... I mean, what more respectable of a school can you ask for? That article dates back to 2003. I wonder if they've done more studies?

I found out on my own when I was much younger that I could make a headache disappear within seconds by imagining myself taking some medicine for it. Even though it was a physical pain, I thought it was all "in my head" and thus I could remove the pain with thoughts. To see increased healing in other parts of the body, just by controlling our thoughts, is very exciting.

[Acting Like Godot]

This year, I discovered that like the yogis of India, I can control my own heartbeat. Well, sorta.

I bought some additional health insurance this year. As I was born with a certain heart condition (minor, it doesn't really affect me), the insurance company insisted that I had to go for a heart check-up first.

So I went. And they did an ECG on me. Basically this is a machine that pretty much detects everything going on in and around your heart and records it on a computer

So I was lying down, with this lady pressing a little device to my chest, and there's this little computer screen, with black-&-white images of my heart, plus all kinds of data that the device is picking up. Technical medical stuff.

And I noticed that there was a little corner of the screen, that was recording my heart-rate. At first it was around 70+ per minute.

So I decided to try to lower it.

I relaxed, went to alpha and kinda mentally directed my heart to slow down. Down, down, down, it went. 75, 72, 71 ... 69 .... 66 .... 64 ... 63 ... 60 .... 59 ... 57 ... 56 .... 54 ... 51.

When I lost concentration and got distracted by the woman talking to me, the heart rate went back up to 70+.

I focused again and down, down, down it went. Back down to 51 or so.

Did it a couple of times.

I was wondering if the woman would notice, but she didn't. She was more focused on my heart valves.

[TonyToneTone]

Originally Posted by Acting Like Godot

Harvard Medical School has done research to show that patients who are given hypnotic suggestions that their wounds are healing rapidly, will indeed heal more rapidly. The experiments were done in relation to broken ankles, as well as surgical wounds following breast cancer surgery.

Harvard Gazette: Hypnosis helps healing

Last year, hypnotherapist Alex Lenkei gave a startling demonstration of the uses of hypnosis in controlling pain. In hospital he underwent a one-hour major surgery on his hand with any form of anaesthesia at all.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/e...ex/7355523.stm

There are plenty of interesting studies on how hypnosis may be used to control pain, eg in cancer patients.

This reminds me of a demonstration I once had done to me. I was at a seminar and the lecturer hypnotized me and told me that my arm was now completely numb. He then went out to say that he was going to stick a needle through the skin of my arm and there would be no after affect and no blood (forgot the exact mantra he used).

Sure enough, he did just that. I didn't feel anything (aside from my arm being numbed) and there was no blood or after effect.

My friend's wife also hypnotized herself prior to going into labor and their daughter was born in an amazingly short period of time. I don't know the exact amount of time but it had to be like less then ten minutes and they did all of this with a midwife at their house. My friend and I were on the phone talking, he told me he had to call me back because his wife just went into labor, and then maybe ten minutes or so later he told me his daughter had been born.

[minjung]

In medical studies, it's protocol to have a control group due to the placebo effect. Even the most rational and close-minded scientist can't deny the power of the mind over the human body.

Originally Posted by Acting Like Godot

Harvard Medical School has done research to show that patients who are given hypnotic suggestions that their wounds are healing rapidly, will indeed heal more rapidly. The experiments were done in relation to broken ankles, as well as surgical wounds following breast cancer surgery.

Harvard Gazette: Hypnosis helps healing

Last year, hypnotherapist Alex Lenkei gave a startling demonstration of the uses of hypnosis in controlling pain. In hospital he underwent a one-hour major surgery on his hand with any form of anaesthesia at all.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/e...ex/7355523.stm

There are plenty of interesting studies on how hypnosis may be used to control pain, eg in cancer patients.

This is off-topic, but ALG, are you ever going to open your blog to the public again? I've always enjoyed reading your LoA adventures

[themaster]

Originally Posted by Dreamline

Physical healing? I think your topic is vague. Do you mean our ability to heal our physical selves with our mind?

Then I specify.. methods of mind over matter or accelerated healing.. (because your right the body does heal on its own) as I see some examples have been given..

[gigij]

Originally Posted by Acting Like Godot

This year, I discovered that like the yogis of India, I can control my own heartbeat. Well, sorta.

.

It's probably one of the easiest things to do through meditation - I mean its something you can see happening right away. You can also lower your blood pressure the same way.

[Angela]

Originally Posted by gigij

It's probably one of the easiest things to do through meditation - I mean its something you can see happening right away.

It's REALLY easy to get it to the other direction with deliberate thought.

[gigij]

Originally Posted by Angela

It's REALLY easy to get it to the other direction with deliberate thought.

Well yes - and of course there are more fun things to acheive through meditation and self hypnosis
Works for women anyway - not sure about the men ....

[Daffy Duck]

Referring to orgasm, I imagine?

My mind-body has shown in the past to be good at doing that in my sleep. Especially when I was a teenager, geez. But when I'm awake, I most certainly need something physical. My imagination's not strong enough to do that on its own.

[gigij]

Ahh - perhaps it's just a girl thing then ....

[Wax Frog]

Originally Posted by gigij

Ahh - perhaps it's just a girl thing then ....

Umm... I have a vivid imagination... umm... Does that make me an Honorary Girly Man?

[Daffy Duck]

Yes it does.

[marinik]

Originally Posted by gigij

Ahh - perhaps it's just a girl thing then ....

It's good that Wax didn't ask what she was eating - When Harry Met Sally - the fake orgasm scene

Meg Ryan -Fake orgasm

[Wax Frog]

Originally Posted by Daffy Duck

Yes it does.

Now, don't be shy, tell us all what you really think

Waxy has met neither Harry nor Sally, and doesn't wish to! Does that restore my "guy cred"?

[marinik]

Originally Posted by Wax Frog

Waxy has met neither Harry nor Sally, and doesn't wish to! Does that restore my "guy cred"?

Yes Wax it has! And it was pure irony pointed at DD.

[Tanemon]

One of the inroads to experiencing something of the "spirit over matter" type of physical healing is Reiki.

I got attuned to Reiki - which means being empowered for it or initiated to it - some years ago. Physical benefits have been part of the outcome, though for me as a Reiki-ist (if I want to apply that term to myself) the psychological and energetic benefits have been more startling. When I say "energetic" I mean aura stuff. When I say "psychological," I don't mean placebo effects or anything like that. I mean deep psychological healing, astonishing really. Result has been much greater ease and joy in everyday life, and increased self-confidence.

But the physical effects have been real, too. I experienced a resolution to a skin irritation issue on my eyelids that I'd had since I was about five... it just disappeared, without y even giving it a thought. I've experienced greater physical energy during the day, probably something like a 20% increase. I've gone from an average of three or four colds or flu per year, to an average of less than one such incident per year.

Now having said all the above, I can also say that the field of spiritual or energetic healing of the physical body seems to be vast. Reiki - or what I personally have so far experienced of Reiki - is only a part of it, an introduction to it. Some truly amazing healers have existed in both ancient and modern times.

Maybe we can attract a really good group of experts to the Pavlina forums, and we can all discuss this topic and learn a lot about it. I'd be up for that! Good topic.

[Wax Frog]

Originally Posted by Tanemon

Maybe we can attract a really good group of experts to the Pavlina forums, and we can all discuss this topic and learn a lot about it. I'd be up for that! Good topic.

I'm up for a free seminar!

[Daffy Duck]

It's funny you guys mentioned Meg Ryan. I watched Sleepless in Seattle for the first time earlier this week. She's hot stuff!

[StacyT]

Ok, I'm going to talk about my ovaries now, so cover your eyes if you're squeamish!

For about 2 years I had a painful cyst on my right ovary that was quite persistent. The darn thing would not go away! The Dr. said that the only way to get rid of it was through surgery, and even then it might come back after the surgery. Surgery did not sound like a good option to me, even though the pain was really awful at times.

SO, I repeated to myself a few times every night and every morning: "My ovaries are healthy", and I pictured my ovaries all pink and healthy.

And now, a few months later, I have no more pain. I went to the Dr. last month and the cyst is gone. I do think the mind/body connection is powerful and can be used in healing.

[Daffy Duck]

Congrats, Stacy!

When you say every night and every morning, do you mean right before bed and right after waking up?

I've heard a lot of stories like that. When "miraculous" healing happens so often, it becomes harder and harder to associate it with pure coincidence.

[marinik]

Originally Posted by StacyT

Ok, I'm going to talk about my ovaries now, so cover your eyes if you're squeamish!

For about 2 years I had a painful cyst on my right ovary that was quite persistent. The darn thing would not go away! The Dr. said that the only way to get rid of it was through surgery, and even then it might come back after the surgery. Surgery did not sound like a good option to me, even though the pain was really awful at times.

SO, I repeated to myself a few times every night and every morning: "My ovaries are healthy", and I pictured my ovaries all pink and healthy.

And now, a few months later, I have no more pain. I went to the Dr. last month and the cyst is gone. I do think the mind/body connection is powerful and can be used in healing.

Go girl!!! I did this with my spine for moths and it was fine, I even had it as a screen saver - a perfect spine! Then I stopped, don't know why!? You reminded me now. I have to do it again! Thank you Stacy!!!!!

[Wax Frog]

More seminars, less ovaries

[StacyT]

Originally Posted by Daffy Duck

When you say every night and every morning, do you mean right before bed and right after waking up?

Yes, exactly - the pain was bad at these times, so it was a good reminder...I wonder if it worked because of my alpha waves during waking/sleep?