Many years ago Bill Moyers, the well-known journalist, did a show on PBS called, "Healing and the Mind." Moyers discussed how the mind often influences the body's health. I watched with interest, never realizing how important this concept would become to me years later.

At Christmas in 1997, my arthritis was so severe that tears filled my eyes as I asked my brother-in-law if he would open my presents for me. My doctor told me that the arthritis in my hands, hips and knees was so ruthless that I would be in a wheelchair in six months if I didn't decrease my activities. Ibuprofen was the only answer for me, he said. Three months later, I was climbing mountains in South Korea.

Two years ago I fell. I tore my ACL ligament in my left knee. Every step I took hurt. My knee seemed to be healing when I fell again six months later. This time I tore the meniscus in the same knee. Talk about pain! I thought I would never again be able to use my legs to garden. A couple of months after the second fall, I finally went to an orthopedic doctor. He told me that I needed not one, but two surgeries on my left knee, and not only that, he said, "But we cannot do the two surgeries together, and you are too old for them anyway." Four days later I was down on my hands and knees in my garden without pain for the first time in months.

How did these seemingly miraculous recoveries occur?

I was talking with a friend after my arthritis diagnosis. He said, "For years, I lived with chronic back pain. A friend of mind told me to say the following 20-40 times a day for two weeks: 'My back is strong and healthy; my back is pain free." I thought that I had nothing to lose by trying this affirmation. Two weeks later, to the day, I got out of bed and leaned over to put on my shoes. I had not been able to do so without excruciating pain. I did it. There was no pain, and I have had no back pain since – that was five years ago."

So, I tried his affirmations on my arthritis. Today I am a full-time professional writer and editor who is able to be at my computer at least ten hours a day without pain.

I was so angry when the orthopedic doctor told me I was too old for the operations that I started saying my affirmations again. The rest is history.

I'm not saying that my legs are in the shape they were three years ago. I still feel occasional twinges of pain. However, I do rest on my knees when I am gardening. The proof is in my award-winning dill pickles. Try it – you may be surprised at the results!

By Ellie Kuykendall