Its all in the mind...

Or is it?

Well...the human mind...or for that matter, the mind exerts quite a strong influence over our daily and not so daily activities. Its usually tough to notice its influence...but its there...and most of the time, it gets dismissed as a whim or a physical thing...probably influenced by todays many taboos, in place thanks to social pressure and involuntary peer conformance.

One small example...
When i was a kid, i used to hate travelling by car. I never thought about why i hated that...although i am a car crazy maniac otherwise. I love looking and touching and sketching them since i was a kid...but somehow travelling in them gave me the willies...especially my fathers car. I used to get sick...i used to beg for him to let down the windows to let the air in. He used to whine about this...as my hometown is a pretty hot place and the AC was on all the time.
Anyways, its only later that i realised that i used to react to my fathers perfume...the odour was quite unbearable at times...and i used to feel giddy. But i blamed the poor car AC. And so a mental complex developed...all AC cars were a strict no-no although the real culprit was my fathers perfume...
Now, i realised all this when i started driving myself...i noticed that this aversion no more existed when i was driving...why?? Well...i logically concluded that it was within me. I gave almost all my attention to the road...and my mind was not concentrating on the perfume odour (yes, it was still around!!)...and over time, even when i was not driving and was an relatively idle passenger, i was able to ignore the perfume. So, now i am ok with any kind of car with any perfume in it with or without the AC!! :) Infact, am crazy about driving any new car i can get my hands on...

As you can see, with enough training one unconsciously manages to overcome previous taboos...which unfortunately the mind rationalised as something concrete. The minds games are not that tough to overcome...all that it takes is a little thought and application!

One more example...my friend...she gets real dizzy and sick before any kind of car travel or flying...and even during the travel, she is a victim of motion sickness. I was a little shocked at first when i saw her before her flight...she was getting all woozy and dizzy...an otherwise healthy gal suddenly became a little grumbly and sulky...there was still a good 5 hours for the flight and we were at home...but she started reacting...the very thought of the impending flight was enough to put her off. Now, isnt this a clear case of the mind ruling over the body? Well, since my mom was around at that time (she is a doctor), she suggested that it might be a vestibular problem...affecting of balance...and the related nausea...bla bla all medico talk. Well...she knows the body better than me...maybe she is right. Maybe my friend really had a problem...but i find it a little hard to beleive a purely non-neurological/non-psychological reason for this...because the damn flight was a quarter of a day away! Maybe she knew that the physical side of the problem would catch up with her and that kicked the mental aspect before its time...well, it makes things worse.

Anyways, the mind is quite a powerful entity....quite complex conceptually...guess thats why neoroscience is quite in its infancy. It scares an average person just thinking about how thinking works...both consciously and unconsciously!! And we know, us humans...we attack the simplest problem first...conquer it and move on to higher more tougher challenges...thats how the human race was able to progress. Similar to aiming for mars now that the moon is almost our solar backyard! Neuroscience is next...maybe that can explain why the hell its all in the mind...and ease some of us from our destructive imagination.

Sigh...wishful thinking you think...i suggest you free your mind. The mind can free itself.