The Mindful Body summary

That’s a fascinating hypothesis, right? So how can we test it? Well, let’s start with one of the author’s own studies. She called it the “counterclockwise study”. 

The aim was to see whether immersing elderly men in an environment reminiscent of their youth could lead to measurable health improvements. The participants were divided into two groups. The first experienced a retreat designed to replicate life two decades earlier, including watching old TV programs and reading media from that period. They were encouraged to only speak in the present tense, as though everything they discussed was happening now. The second group lived in the same retreat, but used the past tense to talk about their experiences. 

The psychologists Alia Crum and Octavia Zahrt took this line of research one step further. The massive scale of their study makes it an important contribution to our understanding of the interconnectedness of the mind and body. 

In their study, Crum and Zahrt surveyed over 60,000 individuals aged 21 and older, taking into account various health and demographic factors. The survey queried participants on their perceived level of physical activity compared to their peers. And the findings revealed a significant link between individuals’ perception of their physical activity and their mortality rates. Those who considered themselves less active than others were at a higher risk of dying during the study period, irrespective of their actual physical activity levels.

All the evidence we’ve looked at so far points toward mind-body unity: rather than being separate, our physical health is radically impacted by what’s happening in our heads. An interesting way to further probe this idea is to look at research on placebos. 

Placebos are basically harmless treatments like sugar pills or saline injections. When they’re used in research, one group gets the real medication while a second group is given the placebo. The purpose is to establish whether the medication outperforms a fake treatment.

Our exploration of the placebo effect highlights a key variable in how our psychology affects the health of our bodies: control. Let’s wrap things up by taking a closer look at this variable.

Say you’re in an elevator. You’ve already pressed the button for your desired floor, yet the doors remain open. As time ticks by, your impatience grows. You repeatedly press the button to close the doors, and eventually they do shut. Like many others, you might think your actions were effective, though they likely had no impact. Following the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act, elevators in the US are required to remain open for a minimum of three seconds to accommodate those with disabilities, leading to the deactivation of many close-door buttons.