The power of the healing mind

The mind is a healer, but this force has yet to be integrated into medicine and health care.

by Dr. Leo Kim — 

Although we have spent billions of dollars developing new drugs, harnessing the power of the atom and sending men and women into space, we still have not learned how to utilize the power of the mind. The mind is a healer, but this force has yet to be integrated into medicine and health care. It remains an untapped resource.

The powerful drug, Valium, can have no effect when administered without a patient’s knowledge, which vividly illustrates that even pharmaceuticals work in conjunction with the mind. Yes, the mind and not the brain. The Western paradigm contends that the brain creates mind and consciousness, yet scientists cannot offer an explanation or evidence to support this assertion.

It is as though we were to watch a movie on television and insist that it was created by the TV. Until a few decades ago, it was scientific dogma that after adolescence, the brain’s basic wiring could not be changed. The mind can and does change the brain. It is a proven fact that meditation can rewire the brain. Recently, scientists verified the healing power of meditation and prayer with sophisticated imaging techniques.

Hypnosis, meditation and guided imagery have been utilized to reduce bleeding in “bleeders,” for pain control in cancer patients and to drastically reduce the amount of anesthesia needed for surgeries. The placebo effect, which confounds clinical trials and might be explained by the mind’s action, is fascinating.

As a scientist involved with numerous clinical trials, I was obsessed with finding a scientific explanation for the healing power of the mind. My 25-year quest involved studies pointing out that love and self-love are essential ingredients in healing body, mind and spirit. Love was the missing link needed to bridge the gap between science and spirituality.

Scientists have proven that we all radiate electromagnetic energy and are affected by the energy of our world. A variety of scientific instruments reveal that our body’s electromagnetic emissions broadcast our essence into the universe. The mind impacts the cellular level with action on DNA that results in permanent physical and mental changes. When we quiet our normally noisy brains with hypnosis, meditation or prayer, we open ourselves to the wisdom of the universe and allow our true essence to take charge of our being.

My search for a scientific explanation of the mind’s healing powers led me to the smallest components of the universe, which revealed the mental nature of the cosmos — there is a 21st-century scientific explanation involving scientists’ latest assertions and discoveries. Many scientists believe that our world is mental and spiritual.

Over the centuries, treating the sick by shunning and abandoning them has been replaced with compassionate health care — without this basic concept, medical healing cannot occur. In other words, despite the modern wonders of medicine, the greatest medical advancement has been moving from a modality based on fear to one based on love.

Leo Kim, Ph.D., CHT, is a scientist, spiritual healer and the author of Healing the Rift: Bridging the Gap Between Science and Spirituality. leo@healingtheriftbook.com, www.healingtheriftbook.com or 760-448-2859.

Reprinted from AzNetNews, Volume 28, Number 2, Apr/May 2009.