I recently read the book, You Are The Placebo, by Dr. Joe Dispenza. The dictionary defines placebo as “a usually pharmacologically inert preparation prescribed more for the mental relief of the patient than for its actual effect on a disorder”. They are often used is science studies to compare effectiveness of medicines to a harmless sugar pill. Reading Dispenza’s book reminded me of books I had read and conference sessions that often mentioned how depression and anxiety medicines are often no better than placebos. Also it reminded me how important our mindset and self talk is to our overall development even towards our physical health.
I had read other books by Dr.Dispenza in the past. His primary education was his doctorate in Chiropratic studies. His real passion, and this comes out in his writings and especially this book, is the brain and neuroscience. This book shows the results of his research teams and research into the history of the power of the mind to change out possibilities and even produce physical changes in the body for our health. Later in the book he presents one main reason for writing the book,”It’s my hope that after reading this book, you’ll realize that the ultimate belief is the belief in yourself and in the field of infinite possibilities—and when you merge the belief in yourself as a subjective consciousness with your belief in an objective consciousness then you’re balancing intention and surrender.” (page 301). That is the main thing among others I appreciated is he is promoting the possibilities we each carry as we improve our thinking and mindsets about ourselves.
Dr. Dispenza in the book provides numerous case studies from his work, from the history of medicine and research from others to show the power of the mind over the body and the importance of our mental mindsets. On page 85 he says, “The research is revealing that our thoughts and feelings, as well as our activities—that is our choices, behaviors and experiences – have profound healing and regenerative effects on our bodies.” He doesn’t just spout these statements he them provides case examples and also lists thoughts from other doctors. An example of this is “’As Ernest Rossi, PhD, writes in The Psychobiology of Gene Expression, “Our subjective states of mind, consciously motivated behavior, and our perception of free will can modulate gene expression to optimize health.’” And again I will mention he is not just putting words on a page Dispenza provides numerous case studies to back up what is being said.
His section on choices, attitudes and beliefs discusses how these are foundational to the negatives and the positives that develop who we are. These can produce good or bad changes in our lives. If they are negative they limit our lives but if we move them towards the positive we can open more possibilities for good and higher potential in our lives.
One benefit to our lives emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually is meditation. That is where Dr. Dispenza excels in this book. The final section is an in-depth discussion on the topic of meditation. I like how he dispels the myths about it and gives a solid description on how to do meditation and add it into our lives. He also provides scripts to meditations to use. I have noticed if you look Dr. Dispenza up on Youtube he has several of his meditations on Youtube for you to use.
I found the book very eye opening. With the case studies of hearing stories of healings of people physically and mentally it makes for an enjoyable read. His section on meditation is also well worth reading the book just for that.
Reflection: What is one attitude holding you back to your potential in life? How can you meditation into your add life schedule?
