Look at grass. We say it is green. But it’s not inherently green. It’s green for us because we have 3 photoreceptors in our eyes that are sensitive to specific wavelengths of light. If we had different photoreceptors, grass would appear different. Grass is beige to a dog because a dog has 2 photoreceptors. Green […]
mind
6 ways your brain can’t distinguish real from imaginary
1) Belief Research shows us that when a person receives a placebo that they believe is a drug, and subsequently experiences a placebo effect, it is because their brain has produced the substances necessary to give them what they expected the drug to do. For example, when you receive a placebo for pain, but you […]
Real vs Imaginary in the Brain and Body
The brain, in many ways, doesn’t distinguish real from imaginary. Take a simple example of stress. Your brain responds to a stressful situation by releasing stress hormones. But your brain also releases the stress hormones when you remember a past stressful event or even when you vividly imagine one. Whether you’re really there in the […]
Can you visualise drugs working?
I recently chatted with a girl who has had rheumatoid arthritis since she was a child. Now in her late 20s, she’s taken painkillers for years. When she was first diagnosed, a nurse instructed her to imagine her painkillers travelling to her joints and then dissolving into little particles and spreading out over the joints, […]
Visualising Illness into Wellness
For several years now, I have been writing about, and teaching, a visualisation strategy of imagining illness turning into wellness. People often ask me how it works. I believe there’s a few things that contribute so I thought I’d briefly sketch out some of them in this blog. 1) Impact on the immune system There’s […]
Can your brain learn to respond to a placebo?
Imagine how much money the NHS or medical insurance companies would save if we could swap some of our drugs for placebos after a few days of taking them? As far as some exciting new research is concerned, it certainly seems to be a possibility. A placebo is an empty pill; that much most people […]
The Science of High Performance in Sport
Whether you’re playing tennis, golf or even running the 100 metres, there are certain things you can do that can help you to achieve high performance. Here’s 7 of the most important ones: Practice How good do you want to be? One of the most important things to know is that practice lays down neural […]
Does a placebo work if you know it’s a placebo?
The answer to that question is Yes! That’s according to new research led by Ted Kaptchuk, from the Program for Placebo Studies at Beth Israel Medical Center in Boston. It involved 97 patients who had chronic back pain. First, they were given a 15-minute explanation of the placebo effect and how it worked. Then they […]
How a child with Chickenpox stopped itching
As you know, I’m a big fan of visualisation. As I’ve explained before, in many ways the brain doesn’t distinguish real from imaginary. As we imagine something, to the brain, what we imagine is actually happening. In previous blogs I’ve shared scientific evidence of how people have altered physical strength through visualisation, how visualisation can help […]
How to use visualisation to boost your self-love
Lots of people use visualisation. The most popular way is to visualise what you want. Some people picture their ideal house, their ideal car, or a perfect partner who ticks all the boxes, for instance. The idea with this kind of visualisation is to picture what you want, the end result. It’s also useful to […]