lissa rankin

Mind Over Medicine. Dr. Lisa Ranking, MD. Last episode we talked about the factors of whole health, how loneliness poisons the body, but loving relationships can heal the body, how overwork kills us, and how positive emotions benefit health

·        Ch 8: How to Counteract the Stress Response

o   Studies have shown 60-90% of doctors visits can be attributed to the stress response

o   Inviting the parasympathetic response. Overwhelming research showing efficacy in treating angina, arrhythmias, asthma, herpes, coughs, constipation, diabetes, ulcers, dizziness, fatigue, hypertension, infertility, insomnia, nausea, vomiting, anxiety, swelling, PMS, arthritis, side effects of cancer and AIDs, as well as all forms of pain. 

o   Meditation. Personal experience and scientific evidence. Monks dressing themselves in freezing temperatures at 15k feet and dry the sheets instead of dying. 

o   Many types of meditative practice: mindfulness, witness consciousness (observe thoughts), energy meditation (chakras), all the way to altered consciousness. BEING to balance DOING. 

o   Starting a meditative practice: create a sacred space, guided meditations on Spotify or YouTube

o   Other ways to elicit parasympathetic response: creativity, sexual release, time with loved ones and spiritual family, doing work you love, laughing, pets, journaling, praying, yoga/movement, music, gardening, etc. 

·        Ch 9: The Six Steps to Healing Yourself

o   Heal (to make whole) versus Cure (to be free of disease or symptoms). 

o   Step One: Believe healing is possible. Which is why we are discussing “What is Possible?”

o   Step Two: Connect and surrender to the Divine Healer within, letting your inner knowing guide your healing journey

o   Step Three: Surround yourself with healing support

o   Step Four: Diagnose the Root Cause of your illness. Also recognize what purpose the illness is serving

o   Step Five: Write the prescription for yourself

o   Step Six: Treat your fears and resistance (what changes are you afraid to make? Leap of Faith)

o   The rest of the chapter walks you through creating your own personal prescription. 

·        Appendix B: 10 Factors that Support Radical Remission

o   Radically change your diet: whole veggies, fruits, grains, beans. Eliminating meat, sugar, dairy, and refined grains.

o   Take responsibility for your health.

o   Follow your intuition.

o   Use herbs and supplements that resonate with you. Kinesiology. 

o   Release suppressed emotions

o   Increase positive emotions

o   Embrace social support

o   Deepen spiritual connection

o   Identify a strong reason (purpose) for living

o   Regular exercise/movement

·        Short story about “What is possible…”

·        April’s book: Think and Live Longer by Dr. Trip Goolsby MD and his wife LeNae. He started medical school in 1975 and practiced as a medical oncologist until 2013 when he and LeNae transitioned to an integrative clinic. Preview: yourinfinitehealth.com.

Closing: What is one thing you will take away from the episode today? What will you do? 

  Remember: Living Lucky is not living alone…if this helped you, share it. The links are in the notes… Follow us to know when the next episode is available. Please rate the podcast. Live Lucky Therapy is available. My book and workbook are on amazon. Please rate those as well! I appreciate being with you today, and I look forward to discussing Living Lucky more next time.

www.liveluckytherapy.com

Question of the year: What is possible? Mind Over Medicine. Dr. Lisa Ranking, MD. Last episode we talked about the placebo effect, the nocebo effect, and love (particularly self-love) as the key factor in the placebo effect.

·        Ch 4: The Whole Health Cairn

o   Factors to health are not just diet and exercise. It includes relationships, creativity, meaning/purpose, spirituality, healthy sexuality, healthy relationship with money, healing environment…all helps healthy mental/emotional life and lifestyle choices. 

o   Stressors that decrease health: loneliness, unhappy relationships, work stress, financial stress, anxiety, depression, which all can stem from trauma. 

o   Four important emotional experiences for health: Love, Gratitude, Pleasure, and Service. 

o   *The body is the physical manifestation of the sum of your life experiences. 

·        Ch 5: Loneliness Poisons the Body

o   Study of Rosetto, PA where the heart attack rate was ½ the national average and the death rate was 30-35% less too! Concluded that a supportive, tight-knit community was a better predictor of heart health than cholesterol levels or tobacco use. [Versus – Every man for himself/ survival of the fittest]. Safe, accepting, and loving environments all the parasympathetic response to engage. 

o   Another study concluded: Social ties and life expectancy are inextricably linked. Friendships may be more health-inducing than having a spouse. 

o   “When it comes to your health, you are better off single than in a bad relationship.” (medicine or poison)

o   Another study: religious attendance had a protective effect on life expectancy. Mormons have been shown to experience 24% less cancer than the general population. Spiritual connection is a common factor linking radical remission according to Dr. Kelly Turner.

o   Health sexual lives increase life expectancy, lower risk of heart disease and stroke, get less breast cancer, bolster immune systems, sleep better, appear more youthful, get relief from chronic pain, fewer migraines, less depression, and enjoy improved quality of life. If fear drives your sexual experiences, it triggers the stress response. 

o   Feeling lonely can affect your body worse than stress. 10-30% of people feel deeply lonely. John Cacioppo says it is all about altering your attitude toward others versus spending more time with others. Alone versus feeling lonely.

o   Chronic disease and fear-based relationships (aggression, hate, withdrawal of love)

·        Ch 6: Death by Overwork

o   Japan, “karoshi” means “death by overwork”

o   1/3 of America has a work obsession. “Golden Handcuffs.” The British have an average of 26 vacation days, 37 for French, to America’s 14 days per year. 137 countries mandate PTO, but not the US. 

o   Symptoms to look for: backaches, headaches, eye strain, insomnia, fatigue, dizziness, appetite disturbances, and GI distress.  These can lead to overproduction of cortisol -> infection/cancer

o   Doing work you love may save your life. Callings decrease burnout. Creativity increases health. 

·        Ch 7: Happiness is Preventative Medicine 

o   Happiness and Health are inextricably linked. Optimism and Pessimism can be learned. One study suggested that life circumstances only account for 10% of our happiness. 

o   Sometimes we parade busyness as a badge. 

o   Happiness as “the overall appreciation of one’s life-as-a-whole

o   The difference between optimism and pessimism lies in how permanent, pervasive, and personal they perceive good and bad events to be. Optimists 45% less likely to die in the same timeframe as pessimists and 77

Question of the year: What is possible? This question opens you up to seeing life in a new way. Trying to think in new ways, feel in new ways, do things in new ways, and even relate in new ways. How has your journey been going so far? This question has forced me to look at some of the walls I’ve had placed around me to help me “feel” safe, accepted, and loved. It has forced me to understand the meaning of life in new ways. From an evolutionary cell biology perspective, Dr. Bruce Lipton discussed how single cells came together to form larger organisms that ultimately became humans because they saw the benefit of working together needing less energy and getting all their needs met. I know we are only 2 months in to our year of limitless, but I’m already feeling some big shifts. How about you?

·        Mind Over Medicine

o   Dr. Lisa Ranking is an MD who left her profession to study with all the alternative healing modalities and the research of each, as well. 

·        Key messages: 

o   Let go of control. Surrender. DEEP TRUST. Be proactive and let go. You will either willingly or unwillingly enter a place of uncertainty…worldviews will unravel…this is the space between stories

o   Unhealed trauma in your body’s system will hold you back from curing your body

o   The longest journey you will ever take is the journey from your head to your heart.

§  “There is no illness of the body apart from the mind.” – Socrates

o   “When it comes to the healing process, some crossover between the mystical and the physiological is at play, and that the common ground that connects the two seems to be the great and powerful minds, as well as what you might call the spirit or the soul.” 

o   Every healing journey starts with a leap of faith…

·        Ch 1: Optimizing the Placebo Effect

o   “What we are today comes from our thoughts of yesterday, and our present thoughts build our life of tomorrow: our life is the creation of the mind.” – Dhammapada

o   Research shows: 40% of headaches, 50% of colitis, >50% of ulcer pain and pain in general, 40% infertility and even 71% of sham surgeries have all benefited from the placebo effect. Seem most effective with immune system issues, but nearly all clinical trials demonstrate the placebo effect. 

o   Theory of why does placebo work: expectation, classical conditioning (white coat), rituals, nurturing care, other treatments while in studies, or disease resolves on its own. 

o   Psychological stress and the sympathetic vs parasympathetic nervous system 

o   Spontaneous Remission Project: 3,500 references. “proof that almost no disease is incurable”

·        Ch 2: The Surefire Way to Make Yourself Sick and Prevent Disease Remission

o   “People have the power to think themselves sick.” NOCEBO EFFECT.  Anxiety à Illness

o   “The brain is perception, but the mind is interpretation.” 

o   Subconscious mind and core beliefs. Why toxic positivity doesn’t work (all conscious mind i.e.5%)

o   “Somewhere in the intersection of hope, optimism, nurturing care, and full partnership with the empowered patient, a recipe for healing lies.”

·        Ch 3: The Healing Factor that can make all the difference

o   “The secret of the care of the patient is in caring for the patient.”

o   Research shows that “the right person to support your healing journey is crucial.”

o   Research shows optimism and positive interactions along with TRUST in a provider are key.

o   Love as the placebo…or the cure… Get a glimpse of it from others, but it is really about self-love…parasympathetic response is allowed to rest, digest, and heal.