Modern Science Endorses That We Can Heal Ourselves

New age gurus suggest that we can heal ourselves by simply changing our minds, but is this concept grounded in cold, hard science? Lissa Rankin, MD explores the scientific literature, reviewing case studies of spontaneous remission, as well as placebo and nocebo effect data, to prove that our thoughts powerfully affect our physiology when we believe we can get well. 

How do such things happen physiologically? In her book Mind Over Medicine: Scientific Proof You Can Heal Yourself, Lissa Rankin, MD, explains the science behind how a positive or negative thought or emotion in the mind translates into spontaneous repair in the body. As it turns out, the body has built in self-repair mechanisms that fix damaged proteins, repair DNA, correct hormonal imbalances, and gobble up cancer cells, infectious agents, and foreign bodies that our bodies are exposed to everyday. These mechanisms explain the spontaneous remissions that are reported in the medical literature from seemingly “incurable” diseases like Stage 4 cancer, HIV, hypothyroidism, diabetes, and even an untreated gunshot wound to the head. Yet patients often feel powerless to harness these natural self-repair mechanisms.

Not anymore. In this book, Dr. Rankin teaches a scientifically-founded six step process you can follow to optimize the body’s capacity to flip on its natural self-repair mechanisms when the body becomes ill. She also teaches the tools to implement the power of the mind as preventative medicine, to increase the chance that you will one day die of “old age,” rather than dying too young as the result of disabling of the body’s ability to repair itself.

But one extremely important point that you should make a note of is this - the body can only repair itself when the body is in a state of complete relaxation. With Nirmiti Nidra, you can quickly, easily, effortlessly slide into a state of deep relaxation – anytime, anyplace.   

When the mind+body is under a perceived threat, the sympathetic nervous system kicks in to stimulate the body and adopt a fight or flight response.  Whether the perceived threat is physical, emotional, chronic or acute, repetitive or one-time is immaterial.  Self-repair is shut down and priority is given to deal with the stress factor.  Considering that we are constantly in a state of stress – mild or severe – with little or no time for deep relaxation, the mind+body never gets an opportunity to repair itself. 

In Mind Over Medicine: Scientific Proof You Can Heal Yourself, Dr. Rankin shares not just the scientific proof that you can heal yourself, but also tips for using the power of the mind to optimize the body’s natural self-repair mechanisms, so disease prevention and spontaneous remissions aren’t just something that happens randomly, but something you might be able to experience for yourself.

See this video to learn more for yourself.