Can Your Brain Heal Your Body?

Jenna Bergen

I came across an interesting article on CNN.com today about writer David Seidler—he just won the Oscar for his screenplay, The King’s Speech—and his battle with cancer. Amazingly enough, Seidler credits his imagination for helping him beat cancer. In fact, he says he “visualized his cancer away.”

“I know it sounds awfully Southern California and woo-woo,” he admits when he describes the visualization techniques he used when his bladder cancer was diagnosed nearly six years ago. “But that’s what happened.”

Seidler says when he found out his cancer had returned, he visualized a “lovely, clean healthy bladder” for two weeks, and the cancer disappeared. He’s been cancer-free for more than five years.

While many doctors believe that healing yourself through positive thought and visualization techniques isn’t possible, others say that “hope is actually a biochemical reaction in the body.” In my opinion, the brain is a powerful tool and, while I wouldn’t give up conventional treatment, imagining your body destroying cancer cells or conjuring up an image of your white blood cells doing battle with the flu couldn’t hurt.