Mind Energy: Introducing the Power to Control the World

There is a growing community of people who believe that using mind energy, humans will be able to alter the physical world around them. One of the most common applications of this is telekinesis, in addition to other related “super powers” such as pyrokinesis, aerokinesis, hydrokinesis, and more.

The idea is that with enough concentration and focus, usually through some sort of meditation practice, one can gain control of the physical universe. If vital energies exist and everything is connected, then we could theoretically move objects when the brain is tapped into the right vibrations.

Mind energy is the general power beneath mental healing. The idea is that our negative thoughts are the root of many of people’s ailments, not just mental, but physical. This form of healing is conducted through two main methods: affirmations and visualizations. The former is the repetition of positive thoughts and ideas with the goal of creating positive mind energy.

Visualization is a similar idea, but instead of a thought or phrase, it’s an image one fixates on. In one example, a person with cancer could imagine that their cells are healthy in an effort to reduce pain. The idea that these exercises may have positive effects on the body is not too outlandish. One doctor used visualization and affirmations to help as a complementary treatment for cancer and saw that his patients tended to survive longer. Studies have shown that one can reduce the sensation of pain through meditation, showing that our thoughts can at least have an effect on how we feel things. This is not in itself proof of any “mind energy” per se, but it does show that our brains can influence our physiology.

People can slow down their heart rates and lower their body temperature as well, which implies our brain doesn’t only control how we perceive physiological processes. Placebo effects are another way in which our beliefs and thinking have a direct effect on something physical within our bodies.

Two notable things have been documented. First, one study concluded that those who believe that physical work is the same as exercise live longer, regardless of how much exercise they actually get. In addition, the mere idea that a milkshake was “indulgent” contributed to people’s increased sense of satiety. Their blood pressure also increased when they learned that a drink they were enjoying contained caffeine.

Second, pain is highly sensitive to a person’s mental state and mindset. People who anticipate more pain, focus on it, and feel helpless in the face of it are known as pain catastrophizers. Research shows that these patients often require more medication, experience more pain, and spend more time in the hospital after surgery. Positive thinkers, on the other hand, experience less discomfort and spend less time in the hospital.

Negative thinking can have a negative effect on our health and our lives. In many ways, modern psychotherapy treats mental disorders using this very idea. A therapist will get their patients to process their harmful thought patterns and replace them with healthier ones. Even though mental disorders are the results of the body’s chemistry, our mood and thinking does have something to say in our mental health. If it didn’t, psychotherapy would not work.

Again, these cannot be interpreted as proof of our thoughts creating a form of mind energy that heals or harms our bodies, but it may be another way to model these effects.

One of the more popular uses of mind energy is in the “law of attraction”. The general idea is that positive thoughts will attract positive energy. It was one of the main principles underneath the runaway bestseller Rhonda Byrne’s The Secret. Despite its popularity as an idea, there seems to be little by the way of science to suggest that it’s actually real. It’s the type of thing that is attractive to believe, but is also prone to confirmation bias. Most likely, the law of attraction is pseudoscience.

There has been some exciting research that suggests the body may have an energy system, but most conclude that it has its center at the heart, not the brain. Also, our emotions may have some influence on this.

Still, given the role of cognition in our emotions, this could be interpreted as there is a unified energy that encompasses the concepts that some describe as mind energy.

Updated: July 14, 2024. – This article was originally published on February 7, 2021.