ICRAVE A Health & Well-Being Mindset

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Our mindsets matter.  The psychological and physiological effect of anything in our lives can and is influenced by our mindset.

  • A mindset is quite literally a setting of the mind.
    • it’s a lens or a frame of mind through which we view the world.
  • These mindsets are not inconsequential.  
    • Instead, they play a dramatic role in determining our health and our well-being.
  • The placebo effect really is a powerful, robust and consistent demonstration of the ability of our mindsets.
    • it’s not about a fake pill or fake procedure.
  • In this cases below, it’s the expectation to heal, in order to recruit healing properties in the body.

Dr. Fabrizio Benedetti and his colleagues in Italy studied a group of patients undergoing thoracic surgery.  It’s a very invasive procedure, where patients are given strong doses of morphine sulfate, a powerful painkiller.

  • Half of the patients were given the dose of morphine by a doctor at their bedside and the other half was given the exact same dose of morphine, but it was administered into their IV by a pre-programmed pump.
  • You would think that both of these groups of patients would experience the same relief, but this was not the case.
  • The group that received the morphine by the doctor reported significant reductions in their pain levels.
  • The other group (who received the same exact amount of morphine but wasn’t aware of it), didn’t seem to experience the same benefit.

Dr. Benedetti and his colleagues used the same procedure to test the effectiveness of other treatments – for anxiety, Parkinson’s disease, and hypertension.

  • What they found remarkable and consistent, was that when the patients were aware of the treatment and expected to receive the benefit, the treatment was highly effective.
  • But when they weren’t, that same drug, that same pill, and that same procedure was blunted, and in some cases not even effective at all.

Image result for healthy thinking

Re-source: Reconsider

consider (something) again, especially for a possible change of decision regarding it

The power of mindset surely isn’t limitless, but  we need to reconsider where those limits really are.

  • The true task ahead is to begin reclaiming this power for ourselves.
  • Acknowledge the power of mindset, and how in just the blink of an eye, we can change the game of any facet of our life quite simply by changing our mindset.

In a study, 84 hotel housekeepers working in seven different hotels across the US were measured on a variety of things, including their weight, their blood pressure, their body fat, and their satisfaction with their job.

  • These women are on their feet all day long, using a variety of muscles, and they’re burning an extraordinary amount of calories, just doing their job.
  • What’s interesting is that these women don’t seem to view their work in this light.
    • When asked, “Do you exercise regularly,” two-thirds said “No.”
    • A third of them said, “I get no exercise at all.”

After splitting them into two groups, half of them were given a simple 15-minute presentation that said, “Your work is good exercise, satisfying the Surgeon General’s requirements, which are quite simply to accumulate about 30 minutes of moderate physical activity and that You should expect to receive those benefits.”

  • Not surprisingly, four weeks later after being measured again, the group that didn’t receive this information didn’t change,
  • But those that did looked different, dropped weight, had a significant reduction in systolic blood pressure,  dropped body fat, and they were reported liking their job more.
  • Just a result of a simple 15-minute presentation, produced a cascade of effects on both their health and their well-being, presumably without even changing behavior.

This is a direct, immediate connection between our mindsets and our bodies.

craving and resource from “Change your mindset, change the game” by Dr. Alia Crum – TEDx Talks