Is the brain fog the result of the treatment for cancer, the psychological stress/overwhelming-ness, general fatigue, or all of the above? I'd figure the latter, but psychological states of mind can have such a huge effect that I wonder if that doesn't play more of a role in brain fog than the treatments (seeing as we all get brain fog, medicated or otherwise!)

You know, there's this common thing that gets done amongst people learning to be canoe/kayak coaches in the UK. They get told that high performance materials like neoprene or fleece (used for their wicking and fast drying/keeping you warm attributes) make you physically stronger when you wear them wet, in comparison to your strength when you wear cotton and its wet. Then one person from the group gets picked to stand up and come put his arms out in front of him. He then gets told that because he is wearing a wet performance material, he is going to be very strong, and easily be able to resist the pressure placed on his arms. The leader then tries to push his arms down, and finds that, indeed, it is difficult to do so. Then the candidate is told to take off his performance material and put on this wet cotton t-shirt that the leader has. The leader tells him all about how much weaker this will make him, how he will struggle to keep his arms up, etc. And this in fact happens, allowing the leader to easily push down the candidate's arms.

Then the leader reveals the real learning point in the whole exercise, which is a) the power of psychology and b) the gullible nature of the group. This is because no material can make you stronger, or weaker. But the power of what your brain is thinking can do just that: it was the message that was being reinforced to the candidate about their own weakness/strength that cause them to perform in that way. In fact, some studies have shown that the same effect is produced merely by getting the candidate to look at a smiling or frowning face while performing the same task. Although not caused by an outside, physical stimulus (like a material against your skin), the effect is just as powerful.

So that leads me to ask: did the practitioner tell you in advance of the effect that the thumbs up/thumbs down would have on you (or were you all assuming the answer before the exercise)? Not that I am in any way belittling what she had shown you: as I said above, the result, no matter how it is gained (ie through belief in the thumbs-up/material, or through the power of suggestion) is still very powerful.

I remember you and Devin telling me about the speaker who told everyone to simply say "how fascinating!" any time they learned they had made a mistake (this was years ago, but I think of it often). This reminds me of it.

Anyways, I hope you're enjoying the energy and being gentle on yourself for the resting times, and if Devin didn't pass on my 'wahoo!' for you CT result, I'll give it to you now…

WAHOO!

Much love xx