The Placebo Effect

Day 298

“In the infinity of life where I am,
All is perfect, whole and complete,
I no longer choose to believe in old limitations and lack,
I now choose to begin to see myself
As the Universe sees me –
Perfect, whole, and complete.”

– Louise L. Hay

I know a couple of people who are struggling with illness right now – I wanted to write a post to remind them of our innate power to heal – we have everything we need within ourselves to cure our maladies, and restore ourselves to perfect health.

I recently watched a documentary about eight people who immersed themselves in a month-long excursion in the Amazon jungles in order to benefit from the ancient healing practices of the shaman of the rainforest. Most of the participants had extraordinary results, and were healed of their dis-eases.

After watching the film, I wondered whether it was the medicinal plants that were actually responsible for the healing, or the participants’ belief that the plants would heal. I won’t get into the details of the film, if you’re interested in the details of their journeys, you can watch the film here.

For this post, continuing with the theme from yesterday’s post, I am interested in the idea of healing oneself. There have been many cases of people who have healed themselves of dis-eases with their thoughts and beliefs, and there is ample evidence to prove this hypothesis based on the findings of placebo experiments that doctors and scientists have conducted over the years.

All it takes is a tiny belief for the placebo to work; if you think that you’re being treated for your ailment, and you believe that the treatment is effective, whether it’s “real” or not, it will work. The same is true of the nocebo effect.

Consider the following examples from medical literature that Dr. Joe Dispenza, author of You Are The Placebo points out in his article entitled How To Heal Yourself By Thought Alone:

A man who died not long after hearing he had incurable cancer, even though his autopsy revealed he’d been misdiagnosed.
A woman whose long-term depression lifted so dramatically during an antidepressant drug trial that she was sure she was receiving the active drug, only to find she was part of the placebo group.
A handful of veterans severely hobbled by osteoarthritis who regained pain-free mobility after a surgeon performed sham surgery — making small incisions in their knees and then sewing them back up without doing anything else.

It’s all about beliefs. As Louise Hay, notable self-healer and best selling author of You Can Heal Your Life has noted, most illnesses stem from a belief rooted in fear, and the antidote begins with loving yourself.

Quote Of The Day: Inspiring Words by Louise L. Hay

Once you internalize this truth, you can begin the healing process, with baby steps. I am not suggesting you go off your treatment plan, but in the meantime, you can begin to work on changing your beliefs by reading this healing affirmation every morning, or every time you start to focus on a lack of health:

“In the infinity of life where I am,
all is perfect, whole, and complete.
I accept health as the natural state of my being.
I now consciously release any mental patterns within me
that could express as dis-ease in any way.
I love and approve of myself.
I love and approve of my body.
I feed it nourishing foods and beverages.
I exercise it in ways that are fun.
I recognize my body as a wondrous and magnificent machine,
and I feel privileged to live in it.
I love lots of energy.
All is well in my world.”

– Louise L. Hay

Thank you, thank you, thank you!