You will also learn how how 'kindness hormones' can reduce blood pressure, improve the health or blood vessels, and slow ageing in several ways. We started off so strong with the power of the mind and the placebo effect - things that the general public already has a pretty decent grasp on: A great balance of explaining the science and still being entertaining. Some similar books can get a bit heavy on the scientific protocols and come across as a bit hard to read. This was an enjoyable and educational read with a variety of topics.

of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars Why Woo-Woo Works: The Surprising Science Behind Meditation, Reiki, Crystals, and Other Alternative Practices by David R. Hamilton Normally, I’m not too concerned about the science behind why choosing the right crystal to carry along helps my day, or understanding exactly what’s going on with my brain waves when I meditate. Still, there’s something compelling about understanding the science behind the “woo-woo”, or pseudo-science as skeptics would say. Even if it’s only to prove the skeptics wrong. Inspired by the placebo effect and how some people’s conditions would improve because they believed a placebo was a real drug, he left the pharmaceutical industry to pursue the subject of how the mind and emotions can can improve mental and physical health.We sometimes call things’woo-woo’not because we’re experts on those subjects, but because we’re not experts and we haven’t dived into all the available science and research. In this book, David has done a stellar job in gathering the science and philosophy of a range of seeminglywoo-woosubjects and shown that they are, in fact, ‘true-woo’.”- Vex King, #1 Sunday Timesbestselling author of Good Vibes, Good Life The ideas behind some of these holistic therapies have been around for millennia - but now we have scientific evidence demonstrating how they can contribute to physical, emotional, and energetic healing too. It is believed that the practitioner’s own state is therefore of paramount importance. Research at the Heartmath Institute in Boulder, Colorado, invited volunteers to sit in close proximity. When one person was feeling empathy, compassion, love, or any similar ‘heart focused’ state, their heart rhythms guided (or entrained) the brain waves of the person they were close to. For a scientist I think he is brave in writing this book as he will tell you - there are many people out there that try and discredit those who believe it in something that generally brings up much skepticism among the masses.

David has a first class honors degree in chemistry, specializing in biological and medicinal chemistry. He has the slightly geeky honour of having achieved 100% in his 3rd year university degree exam in ‘Statistical Mechanics’, which is a branch of quantum physics applied to chemistry.In contrast, I am more scientific. I want proof. I want math (to a certain extent). I want to understand, not just believe because it sounds nice.

David Hamilton PhD is a writer, columnist and speaker. He holds a PhD in organic chemistry and spent four years in the pharmaceutical industry. Obviously, this is just a shortlist of what was talked about in Why Woo-Woo Works. There were a lot of things discussed that I found very interesting. While I was growing up, my mum and I talked often about the power of the mind, and this shared interest, and my observation that it had helped her condition, led to my fascination with the placebo effect when I worked in the pharmaceutical industry. Published (2005, 2006). In this first book by David Hamilton (originally self published), you will learn about the mind-body connection and the mind-world connection. To a large extent, the brain doesn't distinguish real from imaginary, and this underpins some aspects of the placebo effect."In the late 1990s, after completing a Ph.D. in organic chemistry, I worked in the pharmaceutical industry, where I helped develop drugs for cardiovascular disease and cancer. Over time, I became fascinated by the fact that in clinical trials, the participants who were given a placebo (a dummy drug) instead of the real drug would very often see an improvement in their condition. Published (2011). Learn about 'emotional contagion' - how we catch emotion from others. Learn how it works, how to enhance it when presenting and communicating with others, and how to protect yourself from catching negative emotions from others. David R. Hamilton, PhD, used to be a chemical engineer, researching and testing pharmaceutical drugs. He noticed some clinical volunteers reacting positively to placebos, similarly to the medicated group, and became interested in the placebo effect, despite some naysaying from some of his colleagues. Granted, that’s an overly simplistic version of events and the potential genesis for the book, but definitely tells me that the author is someone who knows his stuff from the scientific side. Plus he has a fantastic Scottish accent, so I was more than happy to listen and learn from him for over eight hours.

So what is reiki, exactly? The word reiki is composed of two Japanese words: rei, which means ‘hidden force or higher power’, and ki, which means ‘life energy’. It’s believed to have originated in the early 20 thcentury after Zen Buddhist Mikau Usui undertook a 21-day fast and penance on Mount Kurama. The story goes that he became enlightened with the knowledge of reiki on the 21 stday and was healed of his illnesses. On his return to his village, he established a clinic and began offering reiki freely to people. Be kind because improves a lot of things, including the immune system and telomere length. Telomeres are long when we are young and they shorten as we age, but practicing loving-kindness could help slow that down. I took this seriously. I know that I need to add more loving-kindness into my life. I’ve been practicing it more since I listened to this point. David’s emotionally moving and scientifically enlightening book delves deep into the big questions of spirituality and science. Read this book to open your mind and heart to the tremendous power of alternative therapies.” - Dr. NNilesh Satguru, GP and high‑performance coach Why should we meditate? How can crystals heal the mind and body? Why is visualization so powerful - and so effective? Discover the scientific evidence to answer these questions and more....

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Published (2012). Learn about the seeming interplay between destiny and free will. In this book, David Hamilton discusses seeming 'forces of destiny', like chronobiology (how cosmic cycles impact biology) and epigenetic (how experiences of previous generations can impact your health), and discusses spiritual ideas around pre-birth life choices. Published (2010). Learn all the research that shows how kindness impacts mental and physical health (now updated in The Five Side Effects of Kindness). In this book, you will also learn how compassion can impact the brain and generate anti-inflammatory conditions in the body, how empathy impacts the brain, and even how children need love for optimum growth. Studies suggest that as much as 15-25 percent of most people's average emotional state over a period of time is due to the emotions they've 'caught' from others."