Is It Nocebo, Voodoo, or Chatter?
From one mind to another, it spreads: this pushup is going to be hard. Or, this pushup is going to be easy peasy. You decide, and your mind follows along, making the pushup either difficult or easy, based on your internal belief, and my external vocalization. Whether it is hard or easy is not the point. It is what you believe about the statement that counts.
Nocebo is a harmless idea that causes harm because you believe it’s harmful. Huh? Placebo’s are similar. Some drug pills contain drugs, some contain sugar, that does nothing. If you believe a drug helps, it will, whether it contains anything helpful or not. Become addicted to pills that have nothing in them, remove the pill, and some people will have withdrawal symptoms from a pill that had nothing in it to begin with. It’s mind over matter. We believe what we want to believe, and what we tell ourselves.
It’s why we tend to believe our doctor when he tells us that we will be able to recover from this particular surgery 80%. He says that we will never be whole again. We might believe him, but we would be foolish to do so. He could be wrong. Side effects are real, source is wrong. Voodoo works for those who believe.
We have spurious thoughts about aging, as well. “Everyone gets old. We slow down, thinking gets blurred, memory lags, taste buds go, blood pressure rises, weight increases, knees and back give out.” These are the thoughtless, harmless things we say, usually out loud to other people. They are hardly harmless. What we tell ourselves, we believe. What we believe, comes true.
It is the nocebo effect, working. We believe the statement, not necessarily the truth. The truth is our perception of the words.
This is where mind over matter comes in. I choose to challenge my aging process. Don’t tell me I can’t do what I want because of my age. I choose not to slow down, I play brain games so my thinking is not blurred, my memory has never been good and I never cared, I do exercises to keep my taste buds from fading, I practice deliberate relaxation and breathing so my blood pressure is the same as when I was in college, my weight has gone up but not by much, and I practice strengthening exercises for my knees and back. They’re fine.
I don’t see this as extra work. I see it as pay-attention living. I’m a control freak; I don’t want someone else making decisions for me. It isn’t voodoo, but it is silly chatter about aging.
Start with this: next time you are tempted to say something thoughtless about your aging process, don’t. Step back, take a breath, and make another choice with your words, one that promotes your well being. Your brain is listening; your body will follow.
That’s Aging Intelligently
I am also convinced that lifelong learning is key to maintaining mental flexibility with age. My elderly aunt is mentally sharp thanks to her dedication to keeping up with current events and reading non-fiction and editorial pages. However, she is not physically very able. I am a lot like her in many ways, so am seeing I need to find a physical fitness habit I can enjoy into my later years. It is true this is something I just don’t pay attention to enough! Yoga is a real possibility.
There are so many choices besides yoga. Move more: find a friend and walk, stretch, roll over in bed if you cannot do this on the floor, join a senior center any-kind-of-movement class, sit down and get up from a chair without using your hands, ride a bike to the grocery store or the bakery. Think of yourself as someone who moves, not someone who sits. It will change your thinking. And exercise increases brain stimulation, keeping you mentally sharp until the day you drop dead.
Thank you for the reminder to pay attention! I love this! Thank you x
One of things I love about my day ‘job’, is that I have to walk, lift and bend. Getting paid to exercise, yay! xx N
LOVE this post!
I see it over and over again. People start to slow down and the sedentary lifestyle takes over. But I have also seen an active lifestyle take over! My fiancee just turned 50 last year, and he is in the best shape of his life. He has played hockey almost his whole life, and is still plays and works out. A lot of his friends growing up will ask him “When are you going to hang up the skates?” because they are not active and think he should be too. Well, he says he will play until his body makes him stop! He loves being able to move and be active. He also looks 10 years or more younger then his actual age. I am 35 and he has inspired me to keep being active and in shape.
Anyone can start being active, like you said in this post. It can be hard to just get started, but once you do…. don’t stop! The momentum will carry you forward.
It is easier to maintain altitude than it is to ascent and descend. Pilots know this. So do dieters. The trick is to coast at the same altitude all the time. That’s how thinking of yourself as active works. I’m always coasting…
Neuroplasticity doesn’t care how old you are. And study after study shows that pets, music, children, work, exercise and enjoying life keeps us young! Use them all, but most importantly, BELIEVE IT. Just like you say, if you defeat yourself in your own mind, you have no chance of victory. Thanks for the reminder!