Exceptional Experience and Health

The study of the effect of ""exceptional"" experiences and beliefs on health--including anomalous, placebo, or hypnotic healing and mystical, religious, transpersonal, and creative experiences--has expanded and gained wider acceptance. This collection of essays explores the nature of mind, its impact on the body, and the relationship between ""exceptional"" experiences and physical health, mental health, and the potential for other types of perception. Examining the influence of spiritual practices, different types of mental imagery, and the practice of alternative healing methods such as reiki and johrei, the pieces propose ways of harnessing positive potential and encourage the expansion of mental health practice to include the full range of exceptional experiences. By normalizing experiences that are often pathologized, this book recognizes that exceptional human experiences can and do have value for physical and mental health.