Belief Becomes Biology
Norman Cousins helped create the psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) Program at UCLA. He is most known for his book: Anatomy of An Illness, in which he described his personal experiences overcoming a…
Blog Month: March 2016
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What You Believe Dramatically Affects Your Health
In a study from Japan, a harmless leaf was rubbed on the forearms of a group of teenage boys who were known to be allergic to an Asian version of…
Mental Attitude and Disease
Dr. William Osler, MD is considered the father of modern medicine. When Johns Hopkins Medical Center was opened in the 1880s, he started the first residency program. Prior to that,…
Placebos Catalyze Endogenous Drugs
Many of the published case studies in refereed journals describe experiments on medical students. In this one, half the students of a pharmacology class in a medical school were given…
Self-Limiting Beliefs Limit Happiness
One of my mentors, Dr. Jeanne Achterberg once said: “No thought, no emotion, is without biochemical, electrochemical activity; and the activity leaves no cell untouched.” There is an ancient expression…
You Don’t Have to Believe Everything You Think
A belief is healthy if it catalyzes positive emotion. Negative, self-defeating or self-deprecating beliefs are unhealthy because they catalyze emotional distress and bodily stress, which is very bad for our…
Empowered Patients Make Things Happen
The hundreds of studies I reviewed and explain in my book all point to certain specific behaviors and activities that consistently correlate with wellbeing and better health outcomes. The first…
Imagination Cures Flu
In 1991 I had a life-changing experience when I was able to cure myself of influenza in a two-hour period by imagining I was the karate fighter I was watching…
Getting Properly Diagnosed
This series is about my story of getting diagnosed with chronic medical conditions for which there are no cures. Upon realizing that medicine is still a long way from being…
Introduction to Dr. Larry Berkelhammer’s Work
This is a brief introduction to my work with patients and my own health that lead to my book, IN YOUR OWN HANDS, and the course I currently teach through…