The Mind Body Soul Experience: a celebration of good posture, human credulousness and the placebo

effect.

[div class="excerpt" style="background-color:#deedfc; color:#00000 0; margin-left:1em; border:1px dashed #7a7b7d ; border-radius:1em; box-shadow:4px 4px 4px #999999;"]Britain’s biggest gathering of alternative healers is a bewildering mix of crystals, yoga and magic books. Can any of them convert a sceptic?

As I exit the train I join an unbroken stream of people running from the platform, across the road and round the corner to the main entrance of the Olympia exhibition centre: men and women (mostly women) with tight ponytails and sensible shoes, many with rolled-up mats under their arms. I had been prepared for the Mind Body Soul Experience to be many things, except wildly popular. I suppose I should not have been surprised – it is meant to be the largest trade show of its kind, encompassing all manner of complementary therapies, spiritual awareness and personal development.

Once I’m inside, it becomes clear that a lot of people are here for the yoga. The Om Yoga show is happening in the cavernous National hall, while the Mind Body Soul Experience is up some stairs in an adjacent exhibition space. The two shows are in some sense separate, although for ticketing purposes they are as one.

In any case, there appears to be a bit of overlap: stalls selling copper insoles and magnetic healing dog collars are down here next to the ones promoting yoga clothes, yoga mats and yoga holidays. I’ve got nothing against yoga. I tried it once, after someone told me it would bring me joy. I liked the sound of that. I remember walking into the yoga studio thinking: as soon as I get my joy, everyone else can go to hell. But all I got was very, very sweaty. Yoga, I realised, was actually just exercise.

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A fun read!:

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/nov/09/mind-body-soul-experience-alternative-healers