Whole Health (24 page)

In
The Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter, and Miracles
, author Bruce Lipton writes about a British physician named Albert Mason. Back in 1952, Dr. Mason tried hypnosis to treat a fifteen-year-old boy who was afflicted by what was believed to be a severe case of warts.

Dr. Mason's initial session with the boy focused on one arm. Mason put the boy into a trance and told the boy that the skin on that arm would heal and turn healthy. Two weeks later, when the boy returned for his follow-up appointment, Dr. Mason was thrilled to see that the arm had drastically improved. But soon, Dr. Mason brought the boy to the referring surgeon, only to learn from the surgeon that what he was suffering from wasn't warts at all, but a potentially lethal congenital condition called ichthyosis. By attaining the miraculous results with hypnosis alone, Mason and the boy had done something that had never been done before. The hypnosis treatments continued until the boy's skin completely healed. Soon thereafter, Mason wrote about his treatment experience in the
British Medical Journal
.

His article created such a stir that patients from all over the world who were suffering from the disease descended upon him in search of his miraculous treatment. But Dr. Mason was never again able to reproduce the same results. When questioned about it some years later he said that, after learning of the mistake in diagnosis, he
lost confidence in the plausibility of the treatment. As a classically trained physician, he was willing to accept the possibility that hypnosis might help cure a rash, but he didn't believe that it could treat such a radical condition—even though it
had
.

You may recall the “biology of belief” story briefly mentioned earlier in the book, about the art teacher who beat cancer by refusing to give in mentally. As I see it, she strengthened her body's immune system with the power of her mind.

Over three decades, I have learned from so many of my “patient teachers” that there is an unlimited power within us all, which is waiting to be channeled from spirit to mind to brain to body, and all activated by mere thought.

HIGHER MIND OVER MATTER

The mid seventies was a very transformational time for many of us. My brother's near-death experience set me on a new life path and inspired me on a search for deeper meaning. Enter spiritual study, meditation, and yoga.

Before too long, my study, meditation, and yoga had started to expand my higher consciousness. They were taking me to places in my mind that I'd likely been to many times before, only now I had a far greater awareness about where I was than ever before.

Each time I closed my eyes and went deeper within, I'd arrive at the inevitable question “Who am I?” You can only close your eyes so many times before your inner vision makes you wonder about the distinction between self that is
seen
and self that is
seer
.

I was awakening to a whole new perspective. After years of focusing on the outside world, I was beginning to discover an infinite world within. The concept of “self” was taking on an expanded meaning. There, within the universe of self, I was beginning to discover a silence flowing with information, a darkness radiant with light, and an emptiness filled with meaning.

Spiritual study, meditation, and yoga were becoming much more than mere exercises to lower my stress hormone levels. They were sparking a new interest in previously unexplored domains of higher consciousness.

I immediately began tapping into the infinite potentials of spirit within mind. I also had the good fortune at that time to study with some very special teachers who taught me how to master the greater power within. It was during this time, with their assistance, that I first came to understand the contribution such mastery could make to the prospect of doctoring.

It has always amazed me how profoundly we influence one another with the power of our intentions, thoughts, and words. Mere words alone can, in fact, inspire life or death. I point to a famous nocebo story that reportedly took place at a Catholic hospital in Washington, D.C., some years ago. As the story goes, a priest gave the wrong man, who happened to be healthy at the time, his last rites. A few moments later, the man died.

This “voodoo effect” often makes me wonder about the potential nocebo power of the physician's negative bedside manner. What about the power of a doctor's words, and the effects those words could have on their patients? Can a doctor's negative expectations be felt and absorbed by the patient in a way that affects their health? And can a doctor's disturbing words have the voodoo-like effect of a death sentence? How much dis-ease is caused by unconscious doctoring?

Spiritual study, meditation, and yoga had dramatically altered my sensitivity to consciousness doctoring. Never before had intentions, words, and actions meant so much. Suddenly I found myself paying very close, conscious attention to thoughts, dialogue, and choice of words. It had become very clear to me that the way I talk to patients might indeed make a significant difference in the outcome of their recoveries. I also began listening much more closely to patient dialogue. Were they thinking and speaking in terms of
ease or dis-ease? Ease and dis-ease are born within the spirit of the mind, and they are reflected in the expression of every thought, word, and way.

I once received a very meaningful secondhand compliment from a patient. He told me that the associate of a very dear friend of mine, a Chinese healing master, was overheard talking to the master. He said, “Master, I am convinced that one of the reasons why so many of Mark Mincolla's very ill patients experience such great recoveries is that he is so positive, they can't bear the thought of disappointing him.”

THOUGHT POWER

The brain is a biological organ. Each area of the human brain is highly specialized. The amygdala and hippocampus contain the circuitry that transmits anger, anxiety, and fear. The left prefrontal cortex is the area of the brain designed to facilitate logic and positive belief. The striatum is the processing center that mediates between these two divergent centers. As powerful as all this specialized machinery is, scientists have long wondered whether it's the actual machinery or the intricate programming that ultimately determines our positive or negative tendencies.

Researchers know that brain circuits can rewire themselves in order to adapt to new thought patterns, in essence rewiring new “happy” circuits in areas previously wired for “sadness.” Our thoughts and, more specifically, our internal dialogue determine our wiring.

Recent neurological studies have shown that every thought produces a matching chemistry, and that each thought carries with it the capability to alter the brain and body. In a number of these studies, scientists have wired subjects to brain scanning devices to get a brain wave baseline. Those with very little “positive” left-brain prefrontal wave activity are instructed to repeat positive mantras
such as “I am healthy, I am happy, and I love my life,” ten minutes a day for twelve to sixteen weeks. At the conclusion, they are rewired. As you might expect, most of them rewired the “positive” left prefrontal area of their brains. Whether they're true or not and whether we believe them or not, our thoughts produce matching chemistries. Science has confirmed that if our dialogue is positive, then our brain will wire positively, and if our dialogue is negative, our brain will wire negatively. Our ability to wire our minds and brains for positive outcomes is without limitation.

I remember my dear friend Master Tom Tam once telling me that it was his common practice to balance the energy (Qigong) in the room he was about to present in, while en route to a seminar. Energy is everywhere, even a seminar room full of patrons. He'd project the mental intention to balance out negative attitudes, distractions, and bad energy that might be in the room where he was scheduled to appear. That way, the ch'i in the room would be favorably balanced out long before he arrived. Clearly this is one good reason why Tom's events always turn out to be so upbeat and successful. My seminars and media presentations have greatly benefited from his advice ever since.

Once while driving to the Fox 25 studios in Boston to appear on my weekly television segment, I decided to make my arduous morning commute a bit more productive by engaging in a simple but powerful neuroplasticity exercise. I repeated my own positive mantra for one solid hour. The mantra I opted for was one that was both very positive as well as a little shocking to the nervous system. I wanted to make sure my mantra really got my brain's attention. The mantra I chose was “I am the master of the Universe!” Remember, mantras needn't be accurate or truthful. They must, however, be positive and shocking in order to be neurologically attention-getting. It's all about generating powerful energy with word power, and I surely generated an hour of power!

As I entered the studio, the first thing I noticed was that the
entire crew was significantly more energized than usual. There was a very playful spirit that one couldn't help but notice among the news anchor, the weather guy, and even the camera crew. Could the energy that I generated on the drive have really made a difference? One thing is for sure—I felt great! I also did the best segment I could ever remember.

My sister routinely views my weekly segment, so I typically call her immediately after it airs, as I can always trust her honest opinion and constructive criticism. Following this particular segment she remarked on how uncommonly spirited we all were. It seems my Qigong had indeed had a powerful effect!

Intentional thought patterns program the unconscious mind to invoke its power over certain levels of brain specialization, chemistry, and ultimately our perceptions. Willful energy can clearly alter material reality.

Master Mantak Chia teaches an ancient energy healing technique called Smiling into the Organs. It is exactly what it sounds like. The practitioner of this healing exercise closes their eyes and visualizes a smile in their mind's eye. Once clearly envisioned, the smile is then transmitted through the mind's intent to each vital organ, one at a time—to the liver, the heart, and all of the other vital organs, until the entire organ system has received “smile energy.” This exercise goes back thousands of years and has truly remarkable powers capable of changing the landscape of one's day-to-day reality.

Several years ago, I was asked to deliver some public addresses in Palm Springs, California. I was listening to an NPR radio broadcast while driving to the auditorium and happened to catch a report on a study of the ancient Chinese smiling exercise. Sure enough, researchers from California had studied the effects of the exercise and discovered that the exercise had produced demonstrable health effects on subjects over a mere sixteen-week period.

Research such as this has helped us better understand the flow pattern of energy in the form of thought as it transits from spirit to mind, brain, and body. And when speaking about the human spirit, mind, and brain, we must not forget about the human heart.

THOUGHTS FROM THE HEART

The mind, brain, and heart are constantly in dialogue, paving the way for both miracle and disaster. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that 90 percent of all annual doctor visits are stress related. The St. Louis Behavioral Medical Institute says that 43 percent of all adults suffer adverse health effects from stress. By adverse effects, they are referring to heart attack, stroke, asthma, irritable bowel syndrome, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and the common cold, to name just a few. Thoughts and emotions are powerful energies that assert a great force on the human body.

With a vision of helping the world to better understand the mind/body connection to stress, Doc Childre founded the HeartMath Institute in Boulder Creek, California, in 1991. HeartMath has since grown into an internationally recognized research and education organization dedicated to helping people reduce stress.

HeartMath researchers have discovered that the heart is an electromagnetic powerhouse, producing the strongest electromagnetic field in the body. They've found that the heart's field is 100 times more electrically powerful and 5,000 times more magnetically powerful than the respective fields of the brain. Over the years their studies have established that, when healthy and in balance, the human heart is electrically “coherent.” Cardiac coherency is described as a state of rhythmic equilibrium generated by positive emotions. In other words, positive thoughts and emotions balance heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration rate. When stress
generates negative emotions, the electromagnetic field of the heart loses coherency, and health is diminished.

HeartMath studies have determined that the heart is an intelligent, thinking organ. They have discovered that the heart has a “little brain,” or cardiac intrinsic ganglia, that can think and communicate with the big brain. The heart not only knows what's going on—it tells the big brain what's going on. It sends messages to the brain about quality of life, happiness, contentment, and stress. The big brain then relays these messages to the body's global physiology. The heart is the central synchronizing mechanism in the human body.

Stress produces an energetic ripple effect from the inside out, from the mind's thoughts to the heart's little brain, to the big brain, and to the body. It begins as an event, or perceived event. I say “perceived event” because as we have seen, all you have to do is think about, or dream about, something stressful to engage the mind/body stress machinery. Once the mind registers and reacts to the prospect of getting fired from the job, crashing into the car in front of you, or running from an angry dog, stress becomes physiologically engaged via the mind, the heart's brain (intrinsic cardiac ganglia), the big brain, the nervous system, and finally the entire physiology, where health is then affected. This transmission of force from the mind's thoughts and emotions to the body's cells is engaged by highly charged bioelectricity, which generates an equally charged electromagnetic field. This is when you can actually feel your hair stand on end, as the energy in your body courses with adrenaline.