#1 Harvard Psychologist: Use Your Mind to Heal Your Body

Dr. Ellen Langer's research shows how thoughts, beliefs, and mindfulness can directly influence an individual's physical health.

Thoughts and Beliefs' Impact on Health

When you're stressed, your mind isn't just spinning with external worries about kids, jobs, or finances; Langer suggests that stress isn't caused by the events themselves but by our perception of those events. Robbins supports this idea by emphasizing that mindfulness, self-awareness, and noticing can decrease symptoms and lead to feeling physically healthier. Langer further enhances this concept by discussing how a mindful search when noticing symptoms can lead to feeling better, as actively looking for solutions can be more successful in finding one. This is a form of self-aware care that can lead to significant mood and health improvements.

Langer's Research: The Mind Can Boost Elderly Vision, Hearing, Memory, Strength, and Appearance

Langer conducted a study with elderly men in a retrofitted environment set to appear as it was 20 years earlier. As the men engaged with the past, discussing events as if current and interacting with media from that era, they displayed improvements in vision, hearing, memory, strength, and even appeared younger—all without medical interventions. Langer's eye chart experiment further revealed that by starting the chart a third of the way down, individuals' mindsets could be reshaped, allowing them to read smaller letters and thus implying mindsets can influence visual capability.

Mind and Body Are one Unified System

Langer criticizes the traditional concept of mind-body dualism—the idea that the mind and body are separate—and instead proposes that they operate as one unified system. By reflecting on an event where she had to lift somethi ...

For over five decades, Dr. Ellen Langer has conducted research indicating that the mind can significantly influence physical health, including recovery rates, energy levels, immune system activity, and the aging process.

Studies Showing the Power of Perception and Expectation

Dr. Langer's studies reveal the profound impact that perception and expectation have on health.

Beliefs About Food Affected Participants' Health

Dr. Langer discusses the close relationship between age-related beliefs and physical decline. She illustrates this with a study in which they induced a minor wound on participants watching clocks that ran at different speeds: fast, slow, or normal. The findings suggested that healing correlated with the participants' perception of time, not the actual time elapsed. This indicates the power of belief and perception over physical processes.

Langer's Mother's Cancer Went Into Remission, Defying Expectations

Ellen Langer applies insights from her studies to a personal anecdote involving her own mother, who had metastasized breast cancer, yet experienced a complete remission. Langer implies her mother's positive mindset may have contributed to her remarkable recovery, a phenomenon that couldn't be explained by medical science.

"Chambermaids" Study: Changing Perceptions Led To Health Improvements

A particularly notable experiment was the "chambermaids" study, which focused on changing the perceptions of hotel housekeepers with regards to their work and exercise.

Work Labeled as Exercise Leads To Weight Loss, Better Body Composition, and Lower Blood Pressure

In Langer's " ...

Dr. Ellen Langer explores the virtues of mindfulness as a means of personal development and a form of 'medicine' that has positive effects on both mental and physical health.

Mindfulness as a Way Of Being

Recognizing Reality's Change and Knowledge's Limits

Langer defines mindfulness as an appreciation for the changeable nature of reality and the limits of our knowledge. She criticizes the way we're taught absolutes and rules without recognizing constant change and that different perspectives yield different understandings. She encourages a recognition that what we think we know might be wrong, and she stresses the importance of remaining flexible in thought.

Staying Open to New Perspectives

Mindfulness, as Langer describes it, involves staying open to alternative perspectives and accepting that we can’t know everything. She points out the excitement of realizing that being wrong opens a world of possibilities, indicating the benefits of maintaining an openness to fresh ideas. By changing our perspectives, we can become more mindful and interconnected with the world.

The Benefits of a Mindful Mindset

Increased Engagement, Energy, and Positive Emotions

When people adopt a mindful approach to life, they often experience increased engagement, energy, and positive emotions. Langer explains that by noticing new things and asking how one might do things differently, one becomes engaged in the present, which is associated with happiness and enjoyment. Mindfulness leads to being awake and responsive, allowing for exhilaration and an appreciation of life's joys and moments.

Reduced Stress and Greater Control Over One's Life

Mindfulness also leads to reduced stress and a greater sense of control. Langer suggests that the act of fully engaging in an activity provides control over it, as opposed to enduring experiences mindlessly. By not overthinking stress or the need for certainty, people can reduce their anxiety and increase their well-being. Langer's example of threading a needle demonstrates how focusing on the activity at hand can eliminate feelings of stress.

Adopting a Confident M ...

The discussion reveals how the language and framing of health conditions can significantly influence patient outcomes and perceptions of wellness.

Importance of Words Describing Health Conditions

Dr. Ellen Langer and Mel Robbins discuss the tangible effects of the terminology used in healthcare, particularly regarding cancer recoveries.

Avoid Fear-Inducing Terms Like "Remission"

Langer discusses the negativity associated with the term "remission," as it suggests the cancer might return, inducing unnecessary stress. Mel Robbins agrees, pointing out that "remission" implies patients are bracing for the condition's return, which can trigger a stress response.

Framing Recovery as "Cured" Rather Than Temporary

Furthermore, Langer argues for using "cured" instead of "remission" when discussing cancer that is no longer present. This promotes a more mindful and enjoyable life, much like how getting over a common cold is perceived as a recovery, with the notion that the individual may get sick again seen as an entirely separate instance.

The Power of Perception In Shaping Physical Experiences

The language we use not only affects our stress levels but also our physical abilities and the healing process.

How Beliefs About Events Influence Bodily Responses

Langer describes how the expectation of failure is built into the word "try," and her research found that groups told simply to "do" a task outperformed those asked to "try." She advocates that viewing our actions as beneficial generally leads to positive outcomes, while perceiving them as negative can create a stress response. This links to the placebo effect, where the power of belief in a treatment can induce real healing—demonstrating the mind's influence over physical well-being.

Langer also mentions how personal beliefs about experiences can impact physical responses, as illustrated when she felt full by imagining eating a hot fudge sundae and became physically sick after mistakenly believing she consumed pancreas instead of chicken.

Challenging Assumptions About What Is "Normal" or "Impossible"

Langer goes on to discuss the importance of challenging our assumptions, such as the preconceived notions about healing times. This ...

Understanding and managing stress, alongside making decisions without agonizing over the "right" choice, are crucial steps for a healthier life. Ellen Langer draws attention to the role of perception in stress management and decision-making.

Reframing Stressful Situations and Embracing an Opportunistic Mindset ### "How Is This Beneficial?"

Langer suggests that stress does not arise from events themselves but rather from perceptions of those events. She emphasizes looking for the beneficial aspects of stressful situations by asking, "How is this actually an advantage?" For example, if a surgery gets delayed, instead of viewing it negatively, Langer encourages finding the benefits to reduce stress and shift perspective. This reframing of situations can lead to a more optimistic and opportunistic outlook on life.

Events Don't Cause Stress - Perceptions Do

Langer points to the power of perception in managing stress; if one realizes that happiness does not depend on external events, they can begin to see advantages in whatever happens. By considering that stressing over decisions makes us sick, she implies that it is our perception of the decision-making process that causes stress. Langer notes that even in dire situations—such as receiving a serious medical diagnosis—finding a perspective that sees beyond the immediate negative can lead to an improved, stress-reduced existence.

Embracing Uncertainty and Flexibility in Decision-Making ### Don't Agonize Over the "Right" Choice; Make It Work for You

Langer encourages making any decision rather than obsessing over the "right" one. She argues that since you can never test the different alternatives of a decision, you can't know what they might have been like. Therefore, it's better to make a decision and then appreciate it rather than dwelling on what might have been. She implies that flexibility and adaptability are keys to decision-making that helps avoid unnecessary stress associated with striving for the "right" choice.

Embracing A ...