You Are the Placebo: Making Your Mind Matter

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This technique is basically closing your eyes and repeatedly imagining performing an action, and mentally reviewing the future you want, all the while reminding yourself of who you no longer want to be (the old self) and who you do want to be. This process involves thinking about your future actions, mentally planning your choices, and focusingyour mind on a new experience.(p. 106) You Are The Placebo” is an in depth source of information on what the placebo effect actually is, and how to tap into the power of the mind to create healing. Dr. Dispenza documents countless cases throughout the book as a means of explaining the power we all are capable of tapping into, the book is geared to bring the reader to their own explorations of the mind body connections.

Dispenza repeats “neurons that fire together wire together”, which is a well-known neuro-phenomenon, but his interpretation of quantum mechanics to self-healing seemed much less scientific to me. While the book is insightful and inspiring, it may be seen as overly optimistic by some readers. The idea that we can heal ourselves through thought alone is a powerful one, but it may not be applicable or effective in all cases. It’s important to remember that while the mind plays a crucial role in health, other factors such as genetics, lifestyle, and medical treatment should not be overlooked. Rating To change your mind, your meditative experience must be greater than the past experiences that are conditioning you.Now you can understand that whether it’s joyful or stressful, with every thought you think, every emotion you feel, and every event you experience, you’re acting as an epigenetic engineer of your own cells.(p. 105) NMN - The Placebo Cofactor? I suggest reading this one second. There is some overlap between the two books but nothing major. And it is much more practical about meditation. He thinks that one of the most important things you do to change your life is to decide who you want to be, and sit down and meditate on that every morning until you feel like a different person. You are literally wiring your brain in new ways to make that a reality. You Are the Placebo combines the latest research in neuroscience, biology, psychology, hypnosis, behavioral conditioning, and quantum physics to demystify the workings of the placebo effect...and show how the seemingly impossible can become possible.

Theta State: Where meditation begins. This is the point where the verbal/thinking mind transitions to the meditative/visual mind. We begin to move from the planning mind to a deeper state of awareness (often felt as drowsy), with stronger intuition, more capacity for wholeness and complicated problem solving. The Theta state is associated with visualization. The book shows the reader that when we truly change our state of being, our bodies can respond to the new mind. That by paying attention to our emotions on a daily basis and making the choice of which emotions serve us, and which don’t, we can then take control of co-creating a happier and healthier future. Dr. Despenza calls this process “crossing the river of change.” There is who are you now on one side, and who you want to be on the other, and you need to make it through the river to have lasting change. In other words, you need to die to be reborn. Because feelings are the modus operandi of the body, the emotions you continually feel based on your automatic thinking will condition the body to memorize those emotions that are equal to the unconscious hardwired mind and brain. That means that the conscious mind isn’t really in charge. The body has subconsciously been programmed and conditioned, in a very real way, to become its own mind. (p. 68) Visualization

I rarely review books I didn’t like. On June 3, 2019 I suffered a serious spinal injury while mountain biking. Since then several friends have given me books to help with my recovery. ‘You are the Placebo’ by Dr. Joe Dispenza was one such book. I had just finished reading ‘The Brain that Changes Itself’ by Norman Doidge so I had some understanding of neuroplasticity and the ideas that the body and brain can adapt. So I had high hopes. The nocebo effect is the dark side of the placebo effect. It occurs when negative expectations lead to worsening health. For instance, if a patient is told that a medication has certain side effects, they may begin to experience those side effects, even if they are only taking a placebo. This was demonstrated in a study where participants were told that a harmless electric current could cause a headache. Even though no current was applied, 70% of the participants reported experiencing a headache. StoryShot #3: The Role of Perception in Health I do want to mention though that there does exist scientific literature for the effect of positive thinking and presenting with a higher quality of life or more healthily. This is an important concept and is the reason that I think a lot of people have benefited from reading this book. The difference is subtle, but important. You don't want to accidentally make yourself lazy and passive in your theta state ;-)