Mind Over Matter!

Do you believe in positive imagery/positive thinking as a way to accomplish your goals? How about a holistic approach of the mental and the physical coming together and working as one towards a goal? …And not just any goal, but an athletic goal? Say you're in the best shape of your life and running Boston in less than two weeks and your goal is to PR by 15mins!!! Will thinking about it and imagining yourself doing it (combined with your physical preparation) help you do it?

Positive thinking and the use of positive imagery in all aspects of life has been a thought that's been buzzing around in my head over the past few weeks. "If you dream it, it will come!"

On the verge of a breakdown yesterday, I refused to let my little financial "glitch" rain on my birthday parade. And to my surprise (and result of positive thought and a bit of persistence) a lovely assistant in my Doctor's office went above and beyond to help me out. She called a friend in another MRI lab who in turn called my insurance and seemed to have worked out "a deal". Golden!, I thought. I'll take it! They said they'd call me with the specs today before my 2:30pm appt. So, I was wrapping a few things up this afternoon getting ready to head out to my appt., but I still hadn't heard from them. I decided to call and confirm that they had reached my health insurance and had solidified exactly what they would be covering for this procedure. To my surprise, they told me that my insurance was going to cover it 100%! I told the stranger on the other end of the line that I was going to cry. I don't think he knew what to say, judging by the lack of response. lol!

Now, being a bit of a skeptic, if I get a bill a few months down the road I really won't be surprised. But for now, it seems as though I won't have to cover it. I just can't help but be marveled about how I got to this point.

Coincidentally, on my way out the door this afternoon, my office aide handed me a book and told me to read it on my way to my appt. The book was Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection by Dr. Jon Sarno. Now, I don't suffer from chronic back pain and in fact, my back rarely bothers me, but I thought I would give it a few minutes on my quick subway ride up to 23rd street. I don't really know enough about this subject to really get into it and I only made past the intro and up to page 5 on my short trip, but I have to say, I sort of started to buy into it. Basically, as the book review states, "After identifying stress and other psychological factors in back pain, he (Dr. Sarno) demonstrates how many of his patients have then gone on to heal themselves without exercise or other physical therapy. With case histories and the results of in-depth mind-body research, Dr. Sarno describes how patients recognize the emotional roots of their TMS and sever the connections between mental and physical pain."

Even though Dr. Sarno recognizes the need for more standard or "western" approaches for certain illnesses, I still imagine that many Doctors practicing proabably think this guy is a total quack. But his ideas remain interesting at the very least. I do firmly believe that in many cases the idea of mind over matter can prove to have very positive results. High levels of stress and tension in our lives can extremely negative effects on our bodies, which can result in all sorts of physical illnesses/ailments. Further, as athletes, many of us have also experienced a major difference in performance as result from stress or tension in other parts of our lives (even if we are at a peak level of fitness). So, the effect of the mental on the physical and the physical on the mental are very apparent.

Anyway, I don't want to go too far off track here, but I just think this whole idea of mind over matter is something that everyone should give a bit of thought to. I mean, maybe Stewart Smally was really on to something! In all seriousness, I think a positive outlook and working on eliminating stress from our lives really does produce a happier and healthier outcome. And as ridiculous as it sounds, in many cases staying positive takes constant practice... and seemingly more work than just giving in to a negative pattern of thinking.

So, on a final note, just remember your daily affirmation...

YOU'RE GOOD ENOUGH
YOU'RE SMART ENOUGH
...AND DOGGONE IT IF YOU WANT IT BAD ENOUGH, YOU'LL FREAKIN' GET IT! :)

Good luck and stay positive! :)