Your Thoughts Aren't Shaping Your Health. They Are It | Dr. Ellen Langer
episodePreviously titled “How to Rewire Your Mind and Heal Stress from the Inside Out with Dr. Ellen Langer” — renamed by the publisher on Aug 12, 2026
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Welcome back everyone to the School of Greatness. Very excited about our guest. We have the mother of mindfulness, the mother of positive psychology, Dr. Ellen Langer in the house. So good to see you. Thank you. Your bio is really impressive.
What groundbreaking research has Dr. Ellen Langer conducted on mindfulness?
You are a pioneer in the world of psychology and you made history as the first woman to be tenured in psychology at Harvard. You've got three different awards, scientific awards around your studies and 13 different books. And you've got so much information backed by research and science talking about how to heal our bodies, how to heal our minds, how to reverse our aging, all these different things that I'm fascinated to go into. Because I think a lot of people Don't believe that you can change your body and the pain within your body with your mind and your thoughts. And you are talking about specifically in this book that you can. And I'm curious if someone is saying this is just a bunch of. I don't believe any of this.
I only believe that I have to take a pill or medicate myself to heal my body. What would you say to that?
I'd say I feel sorry for you because you're missing out on a great opportunity to take care of yourself. It's interesting that we have a notion of mind and body as separate, and that's ruled for so long. That's why people think the only way you can heal yourself is by taking some medication. There's no reason to have a mind and body as separate. They're just words. And lots of this book is based on the idea of putting them back together, even just for useful purposes. And if you have a mind and body in there, one thing, then wherever you're putting the mind, you're necessarily putting the body. And so now I have decades worth of research showing that we can put the mind in very unusual places, take the measurements from the body, and indeed the effects are clear.
I think that for this person, the non-believer, you might ask them if they've ever seen, this may be off color or whatever, somebody regurgitating on the side of the road. And how did they end up feeling? Because many people need to vomit just by watching somebody else. Nothing is happening to them. Maybe a less colorful example, better, is you're walking down the street and a leaf blows in your face. You're startled by it, just a leaf. But you can feel the changes in your body. My first experience with this mind-body unity was many, many years ago. I was married when I was very young. And we went to Paris on a honeymoon. And I was now 18, 19, going on 30. So I had to be very sophisticated. And we're in this restaurant.
And on the menu was this mixed grill that I ordered. And on the plate came pancreas. So I said to my then husband, Which of these is the pancreas? He points that one. So I eat everything else. And now comes the moment of truth. I have to eat it because after all, I'm married. I don't know how that followed, but it seemed to at the time. So I start eating and I'm literally getting sick. He starts laughing. I said, why are you laughing? He said, because that's chicken.
How does stress compare to diet and genetics in causing illness?
You ate the pancreas a long time ago. Oh, man. All right. So I was thinking myself ill. Interesting. And all of the research supports that. You know, it's interesting. Again, I thought of this just the other day. I might have it in the book and have forgotten it. But I was in Missouri several decades ago. And a friend dragged me to an iridologist. And, you know, I'm up for anything. I mean, I'll go to... I went to see this iridologist who looked in my eyes and she says, I have problems with my gallbladder. Okay, fine. Just by looking in your eyes. Okay, so the game is over. And then eventually I go to the doctor and lo and behold, I had a gallstone. Really? Yeah. Now, do you think you thought that to occur or did you actually have it?
No, no, no, no. That's a good question, but I'm going to go there. I don't know how it happened. Here, the point for me was by looking in my eye, She knew there was something in other parts of my body that were not right. And what people don't realize is that every thought, if I lift my arm, my whole body is different.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:03–0:16
2
What groundbreaking research has Dr. Ellen Langer conducted on mindfulness?
0:16–3:32
3
How does stress compare to diet and genetics in causing illness?
3:32–22:38
4
What is the counterclockwise study and its implications on aging?
22:38–53:19
5
How can one's mindset influence chronic health conditions?
53:19–1:26:36
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from The School of Greatness
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Stop Waiting for the Perfect Moment, It Never Comes | Kier Gaines