This is true. Its just as fundamental to TES as magick (literally):
"Your imagination and your willpower are the keys. There is no need for a spell to give you a resistance to air, or a resistance to flowers, and after you cast the charm, you must forget there is even a need for a spell to give you resistance to fire. Do not confuse what I am saying: resistance is not about ignoring the fire's reality. You will feel the substance of flame, the texture of it, its hunger, and even the heat of it, but you will know that it will not hurt or injure you... Fear does not break spells, but doubt and incompetence are the great enemies of any spellcaster."http://www.imperial-library.info/mwbooks/2920.shtml#4
This is a good non-CHIM example. There is a realization here that accompanies the spell; the mindset is part of the magick. If you can understand this quotation then there's hope you will understand CHIM.
Ever wonder why Altmer have a high weakness to magick while Orcs have a resistance to it? Could it be because the Orcs are too stupid to know that the magick is supposed to hurt them? While the Altmer are convinced of its lethality?
That's a very interesting idea, but what about the rare spellcasting orc? Or stupid Altmer? They don't seem to have a different set of weaknesses. I agree more or less until that point though, and could point to the in-game book "breathing Water" as a good example, as well as some tidbits from the novel regarding Colin's magic.
Perhaps the racial examples have more to do with respective transformations (Orsimer into Orc, more specifically) than individual ability, or it's just another unfortunate case of gameplay-to-story segragation.