I received a complementary copy of this book from Hay House for review purposes. The opinions are completely my own based on my experience.
Lissa Rankin was a skeptic. A doctor trained in traditional medicine, she didn’t put much stock in mind cures. Then her health took a turn for the worse, causing her to leave the medical profession for a time. “Mind Over Medicine – Scientific Proof That You Can Heal Yourself” is the fascinating story of how Rankin healed herself of her assorted ailments simply by changing her mental outlook, and how we can do the same. Rankin says “when you’re happy, relaxed, and free of stress, the body can accomplish amazing, even miraculous, feats of self-repair.”
The message of Mind Over Medicine is more than “don’t worry, be happy”. Rankin backs up her claims with pages of research, detailing cases of spontaneous remission, where seriously ill patients are suddenly cured. In one case study she tells of a doctor who performed “placebo knee surgery” on a number of patients – telling them they were getting surgery but unbeknownst to the patients not actually performing it. The rate of recovery for these phantom surgeries was astonishing. “The surgery was two years ago and the knee has never bothered me since. It’s just like my other knee now,” said one World War II veteran. Rankin writes that this study “showed that a significant percentage of patients experienced resolution of their knee pain solely because they believed they got surgery. That was the first real evidence I collected that proved to me that a belief—something that happens solely in the mind—could alleviate a real, concrete symptom in the body.”
The author does not totally dismiss traditional medicine – in fact she encourages readers to consult with their physicians. But she believes a doctor’s loving and positive attitude is just as important as textbook knowledge. “By labeling a patient with a negative prognosis and robbing him or her of the hope that cure might be possible, we may ultimately prove the poor prognosis we have bestowed upon our patient correct,” she writes. “Wouldn’t we be better off offering hope and triggering the mind to release health-inducing chemicals intended to aid the body’s self-repair mechanisms?”
I liked Rankin’s emphasis on listening to what she calls “your inner pilot light – the radiant, sparkly spirit of you … It’s that part of you that is a little piece of divinity fueling your life in human form. It’s that 100 percent authentic, never extinguished, always-shining-though-sometimes-dimmed part that lights the way back to wholeness, happiness, and health.” In the concluding pages of the book she encourages the reader to write his or her own Prescription, listening to that voice within, on the best course to take for the individual’s health. She provides an example of a Prescription she wrote for herself in the book’s appendix.
“You have more power to heal your own body than you’ve ever imagined,” Rankin says, but “many people feel like that’s just too much responsibility. It’s much easier to hand over your power and hope someone smarter, wiser, and more experienced can ‘fix’ you.” Mind Over Medicine encouraged me to take a fresh look at my health, especially ways I can reduce my stress levels, so that my body’s natural healing capabilities can take over.
Learn more about the book from this short video interview with the author:
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