Bio-feedback

Biofeedback

A brazillion years ago, scientists in the west were astounded to find that "swami" from India were able to control the blood-flow within their bodies. It was reported that these Hindu/Buddhist holy-men could vary the surface temperature of their hands and feet, for instance, by more than 10 degrees F.

Fast-forward two decades...

Western scientists discovered that similar results could be obtained using cash-hungry grad-students and ample caffeine. But instead of taking several decades, the results could be obtained within weeks. All the grad students (most of them anyway) had to do was to hold the bulb of a thermometer between their thumb-and-forefinger and "visualize" plunging their hands into hot, soapy water and washing dishes. 

The grad-students used the rise in temperature as-shown by the thermometer as a measure of how vivid their "visualization" was and kept adjusting their "fantasy" to produce better results.

Fast-forward another decade...

Some on-the-ball researcher noticed the correlation between hand-temperature, nasal congestion and some kinds of headaches. After his/her third IPA at the bar, they floated the idea that MAYBE...they didn't need a thermometer. Maybe subjects could "play" with different fantasies (washing dishes, walking across a hot sandy beach, sitting in a sauna, playing hot-potato...) and dial into their most effective fantasy based on how much their breathing eased.

And that could be a path to drug-free easing of head-ache pain.

For obvious reasons, this line of inquiry received no funding and died a sudden death.

Imagine; being able to improve people's ability to breath and to totally crush some kinds of headaches without expensive, purchased, proprietary pharmaceuticals!

A mental exercise

Suppose you have a head-ache or your nose is extremely congested.

You "baseline" how stuffy your nose is and then ignore it.

You sit in your favorite recliner. You swaddle yourself with quilts or fuzzy blankets and put a heating pad around your feet and maybe a hot-water bottle at your hands.

You put on a knit cap.

You visualize flames between your hands and the water-bottle. You mentally form the picture of youself holding your feet up in the air near a wood-stove glowing cherry-red from the heat. You HOLD those images in your head for as long as you can.

And then, when you cannot sustain the image any longer, you ask yourself "Is my nose less congested? Has the pain of my head-ache eased?"

Be gentle with yourself. It may take several tries before you find the secret-sauce in terms of mental images that convince your body to follow your bidding.

Maybe it is stroking the fur of your favorite, childhood puppy.

Maybe it is playing "flinch" with your older brother...and winning.

Only you can figure that out.

Give it a try. It isn't going to cost you anything!