Question of the year: What is possible? This question opens you up to seeing life in a new way. Trying to think in new ways, feel in new ways, do things in new ways, and even relate in new ways. How has your journey been going so far? This question has forced me to look at some of the walls I’ve had placed around me to help me “feel” safe, accepted, and loved. It has forced me to understand the meaning of life in new ways. From an evolutionary cell biology perspective, Dr. Bruce Lipton discussed how single cells came together to form larger organisms that ultimately became humans because they saw the benefit of working together needing less energy and getting all their needs met. I know we are only 2 months in to our year of limitless, but I’m already feeling some big shifts. How about you?

·        Mind Over Medicine

o   Dr. Lisa Ranking is an MD who left her profession to study with all the alternative healing modalities and the research of each, as well. 

·        Key messages: 

o   Let go of control. Surrender. DEEP TRUST. Be proactive and let go. You will either willingly or unwillingly enter a place of uncertainty…worldviews will unravel…this is the space between stories

o   Unhealed trauma in your body’s system will hold you back from curing your body

o   The longest journey you will ever take is the journey from your head to your heart.

§  “There is no illness of the body apart from the mind.” – Socrates

o   “When it comes to the healing process, some crossover between the mystical and the physiological is at play, and that the common ground that connects the two seems to be the great and powerful minds, as well as what you might call the spirit or the soul.” 

o   Every healing journey starts with a leap of faith…

·        Ch 1: Optimizing the Placebo Effect

o   “What we are today comes from our thoughts of yesterday, and our present thoughts build our life of tomorrow: our life is the creation of the mind.” – Dhammapada

o   Research shows: 40% of headaches, 50% of colitis, >50% of ulcer pain and pain in general, 40% infertility and even 71% of sham surgeries have all benefited from the placebo effect. Seem most effective with immune system issues, but nearly all clinical trials demonstrate the placebo effect. 

o   Theory of why does placebo work: expectation, classical conditioning (white coat), rituals, nurturing care, other treatments while in studies, or disease resolves on its own. 

o   Psychological stress and the sympathetic vs parasympathetic nervous system 

o   Spontaneous Remission Project: 3,500 references. “proof that almost no disease is incurable”

·        Ch 2: The Surefire Way to Make Yourself Sick and Prevent Disease Remission

o   “People have the power to think themselves sick.” NOCEBO EFFECT.  Anxiety à Illness

o   “The brain is perception, but the mind is interpretation.” 

o   Subconscious mind and core beliefs. Why toxic positivity doesn’t work (all conscious mind i.e.5%)

o   “Somewhere in the intersection of hope, optimism, nurturing care, and full partnership with the empowered patient, a recipe for healing lies.”

·        Ch 3: The Healing Factor that can make all the difference

o   “The secret of the care of the patient is in caring for the patient.”

o   Research shows that “the right person to support your healing journey is crucial.”

o   Research shows optimism and positive interactions along with TRUST in a provider are key.

o   Love as the placebo…or the cure… Get a glimpse of it from others, but it is really about self-love…parasympathetic response is allowed to rest, digest, and heal.