ABSTRACT
The significance of ‘the power of the mind’, to concentrate one’s energies, to heal the body, and to endure pain, are well recognised in both science and the wider culture. Examples of heroic feats, including instances where individuals have been able to overcome extensive physical isolation, trauma, and hunger permeate news media, fictional writings and cinema portrayals. The political activist, Nelson Mandela endured many years of imprisonment, sometimes involving solitary confinement, for his beliefs and actions and emerged as a political leader and significant international figure in the human rights movement well into his later years. Similarly the artist Frida Kahlo, despite childhood polio and a bus accident that broke her spine and created other injuries resulting in years of suffering, became widely known and respected as a painter and loved by people throughout the world. Indeed, much of what makes these people well known and respected is their demonstration of being able to overcome adversity and show courage and commitment to ideals and values despite great personal physical and emotional trauma. However, many much less celebrated examples of the ‘power of the mind’ can be cited. Some of these may seem mundane, but have profound significance for those directly involved. These include people who undergo rigorous training to perform particular specialist body feats, including mountain climbing, military manoeuvres, body building and competition in sports, or who undergo highly disciplined regimes of selftreatment or illness prevention, or who practice many hours each day to learn a musical instrument, to dance, or to undertake some other creative activity, or who starve themselves for a political cause or other reasons. Sometimes this ‘mind control’ may appear to be extreme, indeed pathological, as in the case of the anorexic or the obsessive exerciser who may cease to see beyond the detail of their obsession. However, in many cases, a ‘highly focused mind’ is what is required of those in particular occupations or undertaking certain activities. The kinds of emotional display called upon by those in the growing service sector, involving for example the happy smile, the deferential demeanour and/or the demonstration of concern for the other, are part of the job and, if not performed well, may constitute grounds for one’s dismissal.
