A Joyous Perspective on Overcoming - Can you be your own Placebo?

This week at the Friday Night Thought Tale Hour with the Henderson's, I thought I would share some insights I've gathered from a book I read during vacation. The book is called, "You Are The Placebo - making your mind matter" by Dr. Joe Dispenza (buy here.) The topic intrigued me, as it is directed at making a remarkable change through the power of belief in actions. Not just any actions, but particular things that are outside of what one might normally do to deal with a challenge, illness, or habit. It's more than just doing or trying something 'new'. It's the constant assertion that this new idea will work. And it's all based on a concept by the use of 'Placebos' to make a finding regarding the success of a drug or cure. So if you find yourself in a place where you are looking for a way to make a lasting change in your life, consider some of the perspectives below, because....

When you believe you are getting a cure - you react like you are being cured.

But to truly begin the curing process, you have to break through something called Epigenetic factors. Epigenetics is the study of how a set of reversible heritable changes in the functioning of a gene can occur without any alterations to the DNA sequence. These changes may be induced spontaneously, in response to environmental factors, or in response to the presence of a particular gene. It's virtually your 'comfort zones' for better or worse. It might be that you feel naturally inclined toward a particular behavior or habit. As you go through life, you act upon and believe in these unspoken things. 

Habits, after all, do begin in your head.

Did you know 90% of today’s thoughts are the same ones we had yesterday? After thinking about it (and again and again) I realized how right that was. How many mornings have you gotten up and made a decision that 'today would be different'? But by Lunch, you were back to the old ways? But why? Who knows better than you how to overcome the thing you are dealing with? You might have even gone to a Doctor or Health Professional and received medication. Should it be working right? Perhaps it even does work, for awhile. But then, you are back to the old ways and feeling an even greater sense of defeat. Your cravings have won again. You sense you may never be healed. And yet, you feel strangely comfortable. It's familiar. Cravings (to return to old ways) are withdrawals from the body’s current chemical-emotional addictions.Your (unconscious) body remembers each negative ever harbored. To change will feel like swimming upstream.

In other words, the statement 

"no pain, no gain." 

is unfortunately very true.

But it's not the debilitating, muscle aching, sweating kind of gym behavior benefit we are talking about here. It's a pain that resides in your thoughts and emotions. Our discomfort is the biological, neurological, chemical and even genetic death of the old self. When we know this, we have greater power over change. Lasting change that supports the person you 'believe' yourself to be. 

I have personal experience with this, and I can tell you that it does feel like swimming up a river against the current. Dr. Dispenza's words resonated with me as he talked about this necessary process of the Phoenix igniting itself and burning to ashes. I didn't want this just to be another process that would be repeated. I wanted to change completely. 

Some call this experience "the dark night of the soul." 

It's that time between a decision to change and to believe you can change. For me it came down to the following points:

1. Stop anticipating those past adverse events will recur; expect the best. I told myself every day that what I was doing would support a change. It wasn't possible for it not to. 
2. Get out of your way, and be consistent. Let go of the assumption that you are not in control and can't get better. You can, and you will.
3. Think greater than you feel. Right now, you still are trapped in a state that is less than optimal. But you can see and feel yourself where you want to be. Although trust me, it's even better than you imagined. As Dr. Dispenza says, “Use elevated emotions to drive you into a new future.” People who feel good live well. 

Resist the urge to follow what you know. Follow the

course that will support an unknown. 

I thought about joining a group that had produced a short-term success for me in the past. But the fact is, it didn't last. I considered just beginning by doing a few healthy things. But the reality was, I knew those would not be enough. Indeed 'we cannot create anything new from the known' as Dr. Dispenza writes. I needed to manifest what I sought, which was that I would never again be in the place I was that day. In effect, I believed that everything I would do that day had to support my complete and total healing. 

I became my own Placebo.

I was scared, but I also figured out early that the time would pass no matter how I used it. In the book, Dr. Dispenza talks about being thankful for the present moment, because gratitude is the ultimate state of receivership. I was grateful for each day that I continued my newly charted path. Even before seeing results, I felt them.

For me, the uplifting effect of Dr. Dispenza’s tediously-won lessons is this: I can bring a new future into concrete material existence by changing my belief and perceptions at a biological level. What power our brain can have.

You may have inherited some difficult health or other issues. But our genes do not doom us. We can modify our destiny by turning on the genes we want and turning off those we don’t want. It begins with solid belief and then following a path that supports your intended outcome. Not without pain, but significant gain.

So tonight, we will toast to our minds and the amazing

Placebo for Friday.

way they are constructed. I have found a cocktail called, "#currentlytrending" to celebrate finding a path to lasting success. Here's to your time spent on this earth being everything you want it to be. CHEERS, FRIENDS!


#currentlytrending Cocktail**


1 1/2 oz Espolon Tequila Blanco
1/2 oz St. Germain Elderflower liqueur
1/2 oz dry sparkling white wine
1/2 oz Grapefruit Sambuca
1/4 oz fresh lime juice
1/2 oz black current syrup

Combine tequila, elderflower, juices and syrup in a strainer with ice. Shake vigorously. Strain into a sea salt-rimmed cocktail glass. Top with sparkling white wine and garnish with lime.

**Always drink responsibly. Never drive after consuming alcohol.