Training to be allergic
It is that time of year again where people start complaining about symptoms of runny eyes, sneezing, sore throat and itchy skin. They blame various things for their symptoms including pollen, dust mites, cat hair and now volcanic ash. Some new age and natural health forum sites are full of people saying that they can feel symptoms increasing due to the volcanic ash now in the air.
Powerful suggestions in the media and on these natural health sites are telling people what symptoms to expect and guess what?? They do!
Studies over and over have shown that when we expect to or think we will have symptoms from something that may cause an allergic reaction, we begin to develop them. People in some studies were exposed to a spray with a toxin which they then were told would cause rashes, sneezing, runny eyes, nose and sore throats. Suddenly the sneezing started, hives, rashes and other symptoms followed which increased by the minute. Another spray was introduced and they wee told this would counteract the allergic reaction and sure enough it did with people in the study feeling better very quickly.
Both sprays were just water and the scientists were studying the Nocebo effect which is the manifestion of negative symptoms through being exposed to a substance which would have no effect unless there is a pessmistic or negative belief that it will do so.
Our minds are so powerful and really do create what we focus our attention onto.
You can remove these old patterns of belief through various techniques and I treated my own allergy to pollen through self hypnosis, NLP and EFT a while a go. Sometimes the mind thinks it's phobic to a substance when it simply is not. I have treated lots of clients to let go of beliefs like this so they can enjoy the outdoors, foods, pets or whatever they feel allergic too.
So if you notice powerful suggestions that you will experience a negative reaction, be aware that you do not have to and could do something about those symptoms by using the power of your mind.
Another poweful suggestion by the way is how hard it will be to let go of habits like smoking, this is training the mind to act that way when it comes to thinking about letting it go. No wonder some people find it so hard to let habits go when they tell themselves it will be near impossible to do so.
You can train your mind to release those brain patterns which hold you back and create new ones which make life a lot easier!
Brighton Marathon 2010
It was great to see Brighton smiling on Sunday as Brightons first marathon took place on a gorgeous sunny day. They estimate that around 80,000 people came to support the 12,000 runners that took on the challenge of running 26 miles around our wonderful city. What seemed to surprise a lot of people was the level of support shown for the runners with many Facebook comments proudly updating that this was the best day ever for Brightonians and visitors to come together and have fun supporting the people taking part. Music filled the air, commentators over speakers encouraged the runners to keep on going and we all clapped and cheered as they ran on by. Events like this bring people together and creates a wonderful energy and spirit for the city, let us hope there are a lot more!. The rest of the day you could see Hove lawns filled with people enjoying themselves and celebrating their friends and families achievements and I am sure people partied long into the night (whilst most runners went to bed LOL). Brighton is an amazing city and really comes into it's own when events like this are held. I wonder how many people from Brighton will take up the challenge next year?
Dumb & Irrational?
Photo by Salvatore
"I have been primarily interested in how and why ordinary people do unusual things, things that seem alien to their natures. Why do good people sometimes act evil? Why do smart people sometimes do dumb or irrational things?" --Philip Zimbardo
Like eminent social psychologist Professor Philip Zimbardo, I'm also obsessed with why we do dumb or irrational things. The answer quite often is because of other people - something social psychologists have comprehensively shown.
Over the past few months I've been describing 10 of the most influential social psychology studies. Each one tells a unique, insightful story relevant to all our lives, every day.
Read more at Psy Blog
