Bernie Siegel, M.D. On the Brain-Body Connection and Fertility
We had the pleasure of doing a Skype video chat with Bernie Siegel, M.D. recently about the brain, mind and body. Here is a man who for some really needs no introduction. NY Times best-selling author and speaker, Bernie (as likes to be called) has dedicated his life to helping his patients understand much more about their bodies than just procedures and medicines. Bernie is on our Board of Advisors and has always been extremely supportive of what we are accomplishing with Circle+Bloom.
The Self-Healing Power Within
Modern medicine has produced all kinds of wonderful things – no doubt about it. And we always say there is a time and place for professional advice and intervention. But it has also gained so much power by virtue of drugs, however, that medicine has forgotten about the potential strength within the patient.
This power that can be used both for or against our bodies.
He refers to the fact that we have two major tools we can all use to change the body – emotions and imagery. “These are two ways we can get our minds and bodies to communicate with each other. Our emotions and words let the body know what we expect of it, and by visualizing certain changes we can help the body bring them about.”
Emotions
Emotional honesty and self-acceptance lead to better physical health. A perfect example of this was the study who found that people who cry freely catch fewer colds than people who always hold back their tears. Knowing who you are and always acting to the compass within disallows for any kind of repression of anger or discontent that may show up in the body as emotions are held in the body.
Repeatedly in our research we come across the theory that emotions are held in the body while thoughts and ideas are held in the mind. Examples like when you are nervous or scared and your heart races – you literally experience a physiological change as a result of that emotion. Or when you are in love and a certain euphoria comes over you and you seem to float a few inches off the ground.
Bernie “encourages people to consider work, physical development, emotional and spiritual needs, help to others, and pure play when they set their goals – in other words, to integrate all aspects of their lives. Try to understand yourself as dynamic, ever-changing, and perfectly imperfect.
Imagery / Visualization
He talks specifically of how we can use visualization to literally communicate with our body. When you visualize, your body doesn’t know the difference between what is actually happening and what you only visualizing.
The cerebral cortex is a very powerful part of our brain that translates images into the information; it’s the “seeing” part of our brain. We use this part of our brain to literally communicate with our bodies.
Bernie was once called to the hospital by a patient who was going into premature delivery with high risk of miscarriage. He said he walked into the room and it was complete chaos. The first thing he did was to kick everyone out. He dimmed the lights, put on soft music, and told the patient to visualize her uterus relaxing and to stop the contractions and premature labor. He said within 10 minutes, her body responded and she was out of danger.
Another story he tells is of a nurse in his office that was having trouble getting pregnant. He told her to visualize the “sperm joining with the egg” which she did repeatedly. She came to him a short two weeks later and told him she was pregnant.
Realizing Your Potential
When I asked Bernie about how we truly apply all of this information to fertility, he spoke about the fact that we all need to realize and never forget our potential. He recommends – like we do – to keep a journal and prepare for the future by being more congnizant of what you think and do each day.
As Carl Jung has said, “The future is unconsciously prepared long in advance, and therefore can be guessed by clairvoyants.” If that’s true, our thoughts today can become our reality tomorrow.
Christina says
Thank you for this program! I just started the program a few days ago during the midst of an IUI cycle. On Sunday while I was listening and meditating, I kept visualizing 2 follies on one side and 1 on the right, funny thing was that I saw that 2 of the follies were smaller than the other. So the following day during my U.S sure enough there were 2 on the left and 1 on the right and one was large while the others were smaller. Anyhow, I really kept visualizing that they would grow and catch up and went in today and they grew A LOT more than what is considered “normal” and were mature enough to do the trigger shot! Wooo hooo! Here’s to hoping for a BFP!!! 🙂
Joanne says
Wow Christina! That’s an incredible story – but one that I am not surprised to hear! Our brain-body connection is super-powerful and can help us accomplish all kinds of things within our body. Can’t wait to hear the progress on this go-around for you! All the best – and thanks for posting!
Mrs. Life says
That was truly a rare opportunity to be able to talk and have a good conversation with the health guru Bernie Siegel, M.D. I have read some of his books and I can say that he really knows what he’s doing. Can I have the complete listings of book or written publications he authored in? Thanks in advance!