Researchers have found that 75% of diseases have their origins in the mind. Only the remaining 25% is caused by virus and bacteria, injuries, or side effects of medicine or surgery.

You may be wondering how the mind can cause a disease of the body. When the mind experiences stress, tension or other negative emotions the body generally shows some reactions or symptoms. Different chemicals get secreted in the blood, heart rate and blood pressure increases, the colon becomes more active, the urinary bladder contracts and so on. Ultimately this can lead to diarrhea and frequent urination.

The nervous system which is controlled by the brain is connected to your skin. This is why babies calm down if you stroke them gently or cry out if you pinch them. Phrases such as ‘becoming pale with fear’ or ‘blushing red’ indicate the influence of the mind on the skin.

Neuroscientists say that stress or tension is a mental condition that affects brain function which in turn cause various physical symptoms. These physical symptoms in turn affect brain function. In this way mental stress, brain function and physical reactions act like a vicious cycle.

The first effect of stress is that it makes the different muscles of the body contract. These contracted muscles then send messages to the brain via different nerves that they are prepared to fight. The brain interprets these signals as a confirmation of the perceived threat, i.e. in becomes even more certain of the possibility of danger. So it continues to send signals to different muscles and sends chemical signals to warn different organs as well. Due to this continuous unnecessary warning the different organs become fatigued. The immune system becomes weak and its ability to prevent or cure disease is reduced. Physical and mental discomfort continues to increase. As a result various kinds of illnesses occur.

Dr. Herbart Benson and Dr. Edmond Jacobson have created a long list of diseases that are caused by stress. These include heart disease, high blood pressure, insomnia, depression, irritability, gastric ulcer, diarrhea, frequent urination, shoulder pain, back pain, etc.

You can stop this vicious attack of the mind on the body simply by reversing the way the muscles act. Whenever the muscles get tense and contracted try to relax them. As your muscles relax, they will send signals to the brain saying everything is fine, there is no threat of danger. The brain will then stop sending warning signals. The less the number of danger signals from the muscles, the more the brain will relax. At one point it will shift from a fully alert mode to a completely relaxed one. This in turn will help the mind attain a peaceful state instead of a stressed one. The mind that was about to sabotage the body will act as a healing agent instead.

In the 20th century, medical science became heavily dependent on medicine and surgery. Most people began to believe that faith or religion has no impact on health. Dr. Herbert Benson, a physician from Harvard Medical College, was the first to strike a blow against this notion. In his 1975 best seller “The Relaxation Response”, he showed how meditation and prayer can help get rid of chronic physical problems such as infertility, insomnia, and various forms of pain. Modern medicine has had very little success in treating stress induced diseases. Dr. Benson stated that 60 to 90% of recoveries occur due to the patient’s belief.

Since then, researchers such as Dr. Harold Koenig, Dr. David Larson, and Dr. Jeffrey Levine have conducted research on the impact of spirituality on healing and come to the same conclusion. Physicians such as Dr. Bernie Siegel, Dr. Andrew Weil, Dr. David Larson and Dr. Jeffrey Levine have popularized the practice.

The Urge to Believe is in the Genetic Code

While explaining the effectiveness of meditation and prayer for healing, Dr. Benson writes, ‘Human genetic blueprint has made belief in an Infinite Absolute a part of human nature’. And this belief is crucial for healing. In fact this belief or expectation of recovery, which medical science refers to as the ‘placebo effect’, is an important part of healing induced by medicine and surgery as well.

When, through the process of prayer, the patient starts to believe that he will get better, it influences his neuro anatomical system and initiates the healing process. An indomitable positive force washes away the negative root of his disease or problem, and shows the path of solution.

Visualization (monchhobi) is a very important weapon for healing. It has been successful in those cases where the other treatment had failed. Doctors have observed the effect of mind on the body for a long time. When a person experiences sadness, the lacrimal gland gets stimulated and secretes tears in the eyes. Both real and imaginary danger increases the heart rate, blood sugar level, blood pressure and breathing rate. The same changes take place when we experience anger. Doctors have observed that visualization can cause physical changes just like emotions do.

Dr. Edmund Jacobson was the first to conduct research on the influence of visualization on the body. In the 20s he discovered that when a person visualizes he is running his leg muscles become stimulated.

Dr. Mark Cornwall, Professor of Physical Therapy at the North Arizona University, conducted several research studies to see whether visualization can help sportsmen increase their strength or skills. After decades of research, his answer was ‘yes’. A report based on his research was published on the 14th Jan 1991 edition of the Canadian newspaper `National Inquirer’.

Dr. Cornwall selected 24 college girls between the age 21 to 25 for his research. Using a machine, he measured the strength of their leg muscles. Then he divided the girls into two groups. The first group was asked to visualize that they were exercising their right leg muscle. Electrodes were attached to their leg muscle to measure physical effect of visualization. Both groups continued like this for 3 days. The others followed their regular routine. On the 4th day, he measured the leg muscle strength of the two groups once again. He found that for the first group the strength of leg muscles had increased 13%, whereas there was no progress in the 2nd group. After several experiments and researches, Dr. Corwall declared that visualization can help increase the strength of any muscle and organ of the body.

Australian psychologist Alan Richardson showed that visualization can help improve physical skills/ability. He invited young basketball players of the same skill level to take part in his research. He divided them into 3 groups. The first group was asked to practice free throw for 20 minutes every day. The second group was forbidden to do any practice. The third group was asked to do relaxation and visualize that they were throwing the ball in the basket successfully for 20 minutes every day. All three groups continued like this for 20 days. After 20 days:

The skill of the 1st group increased by 24%
The skill of the 2nd group remained unchanged
The skill of the 3rd group increased by 23%

This is why these days sportsmen use visualization alongside actual practice in order to make maximum progress.

Dr. Carl Simonton was the first to use visualization (monchhobi) to heal patients. He used the visualization technique on the cancer patients in America’s Fort Worth Cancer Counseling Center. He noticed that those patients who practiced visualization along with regular treatment lived longer than the others. In some cases, the patients were completely cured.

B G Lee Hsien, the deputy prime ministry of Singapore, used meditation to cure his lymphatic cancer. An article entitled ‘The Power of Meditation’ was published in the 30th June 1993 edition of Asia Week. The article reported that after B G Lee Hsien’s learned how to meditate after his lymphatic cancer was diagnosed on November 1992. After eighteen weeks of chemotherapy and meditation, the doctors declared him completely cured. It also stated that doctors were advising their patients to meditate more and more.