The mind-boggling power of our thoughts is only now staring to come to light— and it’s much more profound than had previously been suspected.

DO MY DREAMS REVEAL WHEN I’M SICK? DOES THE SECRET CODE FOR ETERNAL LIFE LIE IN MY MEMORIES? CAN MY BRAIN BEAT CANCER?

What if we were able to cure even the most serious of diseases using only the power of our thoughts? What if we could manipulate our genes? And is it possible that our dreams tell us far more about our illnesses than any doctor could? What was once considered esoteric nonsense can now be scientifically proven— and it may usher in one of the greatest paradigm shifts in the history of medicine…

he force of the impact is devastating, as is the prognosis of the physicians: After Morris Goodman was forced to execute an emergency landing in his Cessna 172, the small plane flipped over before coming to rest in a field. Rescue workers recovered his body from the wreckage of the completely destroyed airplane. At that point, the grievously injured 35-year-old could only blink. Two of his neck vertebrae were shattered, dozens of his bones were broken, and some of his organs were lacerated. The doctors said that Goodman would never walk again— let alone talk or eat and drink without assistance. He’d be totally disabled for the rest of his life—if he didn’t die from his injuries in the next few days. What they didn’t know: Even from the moment he was taken to the hospital, his thoughts were already operating at full blast. “Even though I couldn’t move any muscles below my eyes, I felt extreme willpower in every fiber of my body. I was convinced that I’d recover my health,” recalls Goodman.

“Every thought, every lie leaves a trace in the brain. One day in the future, brain scans may even be used reliably in court.” NEUROPSYCHOLOGIST HANS J. MARKOWITSCH

And that’s just what happened: The life insurance agent left the hospital only five months after the accident— walking out on his own without help.

Today he flies all around the world giving lectures and explaining how people can harness the incredible power of the mind for themselves.

Can n my thoughts conquer cancer?

Was Morris Goodman just incredibly fortunate? Or are thoughts actually more powerful than we’d previously understood? And if so, how can we harness them to benefit our health? Lissa Rankin, doctor and best-selling author of Mind Over Medicine, has been working with these questions. She evaluated thousands of studies, conducted interviews with patients, and analyzed the particulars of their healing process. She is convinced: “In the course of the day-to-day life in hospitals, doctors are confronted time and again by things that cannot be scientifically explained. We know occasional and unexplained cases of spontaneous healing do happen. And deep down, the vast majority of doctors believe that a kind of bridge between the physiological and the mystical plays a role in the recovery process. But no one talks about it.” In fact, though no specific follow-up research was conducted afterward, to date more than 1,000 cases have been scientifically recorded in which supposedly incurable diseases have spontaneously and totally vanished. Almost all of the cases had one thing in common: The affected individual reported both an extreme willpower and positive thoughts, which they’d used as a weapon against the illness. But what exactly is happening in the body during this mysterious process of self-healing?

For a number of physicians, cases such as that of Morris Goodman are not a miracle but rather the result of a complex regeneration system that works via the power of our thoughts. Dr. Jerome Groopman, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, explains: “Thoughts and emotions are often regarded as negligible in medicine. In truth, they are nothing more than a mixture of chemicals and electrical circuits in the brain that evolve and change.” That is to say: Everything that we think is not a metaphysical ghost that somehow blows around in between the cells. Rather, our thoughts are a fixed part of our bodies that can be measured and verified. For example, if—as in Morris Goodman’s case—muscles aren’t moved, they will waste away. To prevent this, researchers at Ohio University have developed a method that enables the body’s muscles to be regenerated using only the power of thought. Actual motor activity isn’t necessary. But how does this work? Imagination! The muscles responsible for movement are stimulated by the brain as the patient pictures him or herself moving the damaged part of the body for 15 minutes per day for 12 weeks. Thus the affected muscles become restored. (See “The Body Atlas of Willpower” on page 24.)

Another example of the power of thought is the spontaneous healing seen in tumor patients. Cancerous tumors contain nerve fibers and are, therefore, connected to the brain as well as the central nervous system. Consequently, researchers assume that the psyche can intervene in the development of tumors as well as in the function of the immune system. After all, each sensation prompts the release of neurotransmitters in the brain—among them are endogenous molecules that serve as painkillers, for example. Every thought activates nerve impulses that penetrate the tumor. Studies show that those who strongly believe in their recovery will produce many more immune cells.

But this uncanny power of thought is best observed in the context of placebo studies and therapies that omit drugs. For example, in one study approximately half of the asthmatics using an inhaler that did not contain an active agent saw an improvement in their condition, while roughly 40% of headache patients had responded positively to a placebo. Furthermore, a knee surgery study conducted by

Lissa Rankin, doctor and founder of the Whole Health Medicine Institute EVERY ONE OF OUR NEGATIVE THOUGHTS IS STRESS FOR THE BODY– EVEN IF IT DOESN’T FEEL LIKE STRESS.