25 Curious Cases of The Power of The Mind

By Chris Hammond

Everybody knows about the power of the mind.

It should be completely obvious that the human mind is amazing!

Right?

Well, maybe not. Just what the hell is the ‘power of your mind’ anyway?

Just why exactly is the human mind so damn amazing?

The point of this article is to inspire you with 25 examples of just what the human mind is capable of and how vastly it separates us from other animals of this planet.

So sit back, grab a cup of coffee and enjoy.

The Power Of The Human Mind #1 – The Power Of Voodoo

You probably never gave much thought to voodoo before.

Like me, you probably regarded it as hogwash – if you even considered it at all.

But the shocking truth is that voodoo is real! There are many documented cases throughout history of people dying from “curses” placed on them.

Take for example the 1942 case of a Maori girl who died within a day of eating a piece of fruit – after she was told it came from a ‘taboo place’, directly forbidden by her tribal chief!

It’s not so hard to believe – when you think about it.

All these cases are due to the “nocebo” effect. This is essentially the evil cousin of the placebo effect. That is, inert substances invoking negative reactions through the power of suggestion and expectation.

So it’s quite possible for somebody to die just from being told that they’ve taken a deadly poison. Or in this case, told that they’ve been cursed. There’s been a fair bit of investigation into the nocebo effect in recent years. In fact, this study  concluded with the sage words:

Words are the most powerful tool a doctor possesses, but words, like a two-edged sword, can maim as well as heal.“ – Bernard Lown

#2 – Tibetan Monk Power!

Everybody loves a decent Tibetan monk.

Romanticized by western cinema for their mind-boggling superhuman powers, the truth of the matter is that these exaggerations are actually rooted in reality!

In fact, the power of these monks’ minds is so honed – their awareness so great – that they can increase the temperature of their bodies by their minds alone! Documented evidence exists of monks being placed into a 4 degree room (pretty damn cold), wearing nothing except sopping wet, cold blankets and being able to increase their body temperature to 38.3 degrees (a moderate fever)!

They do this via a little known practice called Tummo – or Inner Fire Meditation.

Some scientifically minded souls have claimed that the temperature increase is partially a function of the ‘forceful breathing’ that the monks perform during the exercise.

Nevertheless, in no way does this detract from the achievement! We don’t see guinea pigs wearing freezing cold wet blankets and doing forceful breathing to train their minds, do we?

[More…]

Philosophers stone – selected views from the boat http://philosophers-stone.co.uk

Source: http://www.phoenixisrisen.co.uk/?p=11643