 One of the things that really surprised me as I was going through my own process of self-healing and figuring out what really makes a person heal was this concept that humans through our consciousness can make ourselves ill or well and that if you want everything to work in your favor, not only should we focus on the material parts of our body in our life but also the non-material or the immaterial. So in this video, the second in this series of self-healing and healing yourself, I want to introduce you to this concept that you, the person, are actually the placebo and the consciousness is the most important thing to focus on. Hey, I'm Alex Hine, author of the book Master of the Day, current doctoral student in traditional or classical Chinese medicine. Now I've also included a little cheat sheet down there below so that cheat sheet is how to add 10 years to your life with traditional Chinese medicine, a few practices and a few habits. So click that first link in the description and you'll get more of that there. Now this idea that consciousness affects material reality is a huge foundational concept in traditional Chinese medicine. It's one of the most important classical concepts. And I stole this headline that you are the placebo from a Judas Benza book called You Are the Placebo. But I want to introduce you to this quote from one of our most important medical books, which is The Naging, in particular, a section called the Ling Shu. So this quote is from the first chapter of the Ling Shu, which says 出手行,上手行. And it roughly translates as the course or the rough practitioner guards or attends to treats the physical body, the physical, while the upper, the superior physician treats or guards the spirit, the consciousness. So even in Chinese medicine, there's this concept that the highest level of medicine where all illness comes from is the non material, the immaterial, the energetic, if you want to call it that, or the consciousness of the person. And that the highest level of medicine, of course, is treating that which has not yet happened, but is treating the non material, the immaterial, as opposed to the physical body. Now what's crazy is that our thoughts can actually make us feel bad or feel good. You know, I can think back to that time where I went on a shark dive in Fiji and I ran out of oxygen, which is a true story. And I get very sweaty palms, and I start to breathe heavier and faster. That's kind of crazy. And I can also think back to an awesome childhood memory or a vacation. And I feel that heartwarming, laughing, giddy feeling. And so humans are both blessed and cursed with this power to control our consciousness, and therefore literally affect our physiology. But here's what's crazy if you're trying to heal yourself, that thoughts and beliefs then affect our physiology. And I'll give you some examples. The question is, what if I've had like a chronic illness for a long time? If for 20 years, every day I've woken up with pain, every night I've been unable to sleep, every day I've been constipated, every day I've had this fever or chills or this recurring pattern, how can I possibly believe something different? And I'm not trying to say you should, but instead play like an intellectual game with yourself. For example, think about how you feel if you repeat this to yourself every day. I'll never get better. Okay, so are you even going to try anything? This is a genetic condition. Okay, well, maybe you won't actually try doing anything to get better. It's incurable. Well, you just basically sealed your fate and you just dug your grave. Nothing ever is working. Well, are you going to keep trying if you believe nothing's ever working? I hate this feeling that I'm always feeling this bad. Well, right now you're thinking about how crappy you feel. So what are the chances you're going to feel good? So what is the alternative if you've always felt this way or you've had a chronic illness? What I would do is just pretend for 100 days. Okay, just issue if 100 days is too long, try 30 if 30 is too long, try 14. Just for 100 days, pretend a couple of things and you're going to change your thinking and your beliefs just for the short period of time. So for example, let's say you're an insomniac and one of your issues revolves around sleep, the game is just a game. No matter how bad I slept, this is the belief you're going to have the thought matter how bad I slept. Next day, I'm not going to complain about it. I'm going to pretend like I slept fine. I'm going to talk to people as if I slept fine. And I'm just going to see how I feel. Or you could say, no matter how many days it's been since I felt well today, I'm just going to act as if everything's all good, just for a short period of time. If you can't do two weeks, then do one day and just see if anything changes for you. Or this idea that no matter how much pain I'm in, just today or for this challenge period, I'm not going to complain about it. I'm just going to pretend for a second that I'm in the state where I already am. And I'm just going to see what happens and see how I feel. And maybe you realize I feel 1% better, and that's worth it. Maybe you realize it doesn't do anything, and you don't do it. But just for 100 days or 30 days, whatever the period is, just pretend for the time being, you're going to issue a challenge, just a thought experiment, more than anything, that everything's all good. And there's nothing to stress about your body's not weak, it's resilient. There's really nothing to be worrying about. Because again, our gift and our curse is that our beliefs influence how we feel. So if I feel like this stupid illness, I hate it, my life sucks, like I did this to myself or genetics did this to me, my mom did this to me, the poison, the air and the chemtrails did this to me. Well, cool, then I'm a victim and I'm not going to do anything. But if I'm like, you know what, I'm going to choose to believe just as my thought experiment for 100 days, that this is happening to me for a reason, it's going to help me get healthier, stronger, more filled, more successful in the future. Then we start to look for that silver lining and maybe even just for a short period of time, we'll feel a little bit better. So that is my challenge to you. The second thing that remember that you are the actual placebo, there's no placebo effect. It's the humans, the persons, the consciousness, the mind that generates that effect. And so I'm not saying this is going to cure your cancer. But what I am saying is that just try it, see if it makes you feel any different. And if it does, it's something you can continue to do in the future. So I hope that helps. Remember that saying from those Chinese medical texts, the highest level is governing or dealing with the spirit, the non material aspect of the person, the lowest level is dealing with the physical form, physical body. So consider that because we humans are stuck in between these two worlds that we both have to negotiate. All right. And again, my last two videos you can check out are right there and right there.