The word “epigenetics” is so new, most spell-checkers will flag it as misspelled. A long time ago on a planet you may be familiar with, the best minds in a number of branches of biological science believed that DNA was fixed. Your genes were fixed at conception, and they determined every facet of your life: gender, eye color, health risks, intelligence, height, weight, and even propensity for shyness. Your genes defined you. Thus began the big search for the genes that “caused” cancer and a variety of other ills.
The big problem with the theory of a fixed genetic code was the number of things it couldn’t explain, and the more closely scientists looked at genetic markers, they more they discovered that genes don’t tell the whole story. In recent years, the big discovery is that the genes can be turned on or off by the epigenes (epi is Greek for “over” or “above”). It has also been discovered that the epigenes respond to both internal and external environments. Exposure to prolonged stress, for example, often results in higher blood pressure, heart disease, and other well-documented physiological responses as a result of epigenetic influence. So-called life-style choices, such as smoking and overeating (especially “junk” foods”), cause the epigenetic markers for health and longevity to shut down.
Dawson Church, in The Genie in Your Genes: Epigenetic Medicine and the New Biology of Intention, describes in great detail the various influences—both bad and good—on epigenetic health. What’s most important for your health and well-being is the degree to which you are in control. You can not only make choices about external factors, but also influence your internal environment of attitude and beliefs, which also has a major influence on your epigenetic health. Differences in individual beliefs about health and well-being help explain why identical twins, who have the same DNA, can have such different degrees of health and well-being. It also helps explain why regular exercise and meditative states (including meditation, guided imagery, and hypnosis) have such a profound beneficial effect.
Some people have, of course, believed that DNA wasn’t necessarily destiny for a long time. I remember hearing an audiotape of a Silva Mind Control program (probably in the 1970s) in which the speaker was saying (this is a paraphrase rather than a direct quotation), “If you are brought up to believe that cancer ‘runs in your family,’ how do you prove that you’re a member of the family?” Because epigenetic programming is influenced by belief, you would begin to change in that direction as soon as—and the degree that—you adopt the belief. At the time, the Silva Mind Control trainer was emphasizing the way beliefs create destiny without understanding the underlying bio-mechanics of the process.
Such beliefs are, of course, a form of hypnosis. In the case of cancer “running” in the family, the belief would be a familial. Cultural and subcultural (group) beliefs work the same way. If the culture as a whole has a belief, or if a subculture with which you identify has a belief, the chances are good that you will adopt that belief as your own. As Don Miguel Ruiz rightly says in The Four Agreements, we are “domesticated” to fit in with a particular culture, subculture, and family by being taught the appropriate beliefs and related behaviors. The good news is that once you have identified personal, family, group, and cultural beliefs that are not good for you, you can change them—and change your destiny. Intention really does influence biology.
How do you demonstrate intent? One of my grandmothers was fond of saying, “If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.” Although you might get lucky, wishing alone very rarely influences the underlying belief because the wish itself emphasizes the lack. See one of my previous blogs, “The Hypnosis of Affirmations” (9 September 2010), for more about this. You demonstrate intent by taking action, by doing something to confirm and illustrate your intent. This is where exercise, changing your diet, meditating, doing yoga, using guided imagery, or practicing self-hypnosis makes the difference. Do what’s necessary to convince your unconscious mind that you want to improve your health and well-being. Activate the genie in your genes.
