Sailing your ship

I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship.  ~Louisa May Alcott

Molecules of Emotion/ Everything You Need to Know to Feel Go(o)d

      My original intent was to write about what I have learned from reading the book "Molecules of Emotion" by Candace Pert, Ph.D, but now I find myself reading her most recent book "Everything You Need to Know to Feel Go(o)d.  This is a fascinating read.  An accomplished, respected scientist who has made the connection between the workings of the body and the mind.. explains her research simply and clearly.  The connection comes down to the simple cell and it's workings.   The functioning of the body(mind) is directed by individual cells (their signals and reactions), based on their interaction with ligands (neurotransmitters, hormones and enzymes). This is the basis of the bodymind communication system.

Ligands are responsible for  98% of all data transfer in the body and brain. Each cell has surface receptors that move and shake creating a vibration, which will resonate with a ligand vibrating at the same frequency. At this point the binding action of the cell and ligand creates the signal for the cell to take action; grow, divide, repair etc.    This cellular vibration is a force of attraction.

Molecules of Emotion -Ligands

What you experience as a "feeling" is the attracting vibration and the connection of cell and ligand is the manifestation of that feeling.

....thinking makes it so

There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.  ~William Shakespeare, Hamlet, 1600


Everything you do, everyway you feel physically, emotionally and mentally, every action or inaction you take stems from your mindbody.   I'm not saying that everything that happens to us, or every illness that affects us is created in the mind body, but in every instance your way of thinking definitely controls your body on a cellular level and influences how you experience life.
Lets explore this concept together.
Over the next few weeks I'd like to discuss the book by Candace B. Pert, PhD,  Molecules of Emotion.

Other readings:
John E. Sarno MD , The Divided Mind ,
Ernest L Rossi and David B Cheek, Mind Body Therapy
Bruce H. Lipton, PhD, The Biology of Belief

Molecules of Emotion April 2013

Candace Pert is an American neuroscientist and pharmacologist who discovered the opiate receptor, the cellular binding site for endorphins in the brain.

Before I began to write this page today, I thought that it's been a while since the book Molecules of Emotion was written (1997) and that perhaps I could find current information about Candace Pert or see her on video.  I have to say I was totally blown away..at first watching/listening to her speak was distracting, difficult..she is not the typical speaker.. she is brilliant, her mind full of ideas, connections and research.    And now she is leading a team of scientists who have created the Aids Vaccine. Brilliant..absolutely brilliant....

Listen to her speaking with Bill Moyers (1993)
Candace Pert, PhD The mind body is one.

Explaining it all, the mind body as one... Sage Scientist 2012
http://youtu.be/Ys3mGVtRvZ0

Limiting beliefs-dig at the roots

When solving problems, dig at the roots instead of just hacking at the leaves.  ~Anthony J. D'Angelo, The College Blue Book

Perhaps intentionally going back into the past is so painful that the subconscious mind will not allow it.  It's really pretty amazing how your mind will make your body do anything it can to protect you, even if it is destroying you.   Your subconscious mind is protecting you....or at least it thinks it is... getting you ready to fight, or flee or freeze so that you never move forward.   This protective role of the subconscious mind is so powerful.  I have seen a clients body jolt out of a light hypnotic state, so as not to deal with the past.  


But getting to the root of the problem is an effective way to clear the past and move forward into the future.  Perhaps you are not even aware (consciously) of what your limiting belief or the root issue is.  Making a change, when you don't know or understand the problem is extremely difficult in a conscious state. 

This is one of the reasons why I incorporate EFT (emotional freedom technique) in my sessions.  Taking the edge off the experience and creating a safe vessel to hold the events and emotions is so effective in allowing one to get to the root without the distress. 

Small stones

It all depends on how we look at things, and not on how things are in themselves.  
The least of things with a meaning is worth more in life than the greatest of things without it.  ~Carl Jung

Can you think of anything in your life that had great meaning to you, yet is not what others would consider of any consequence in the larger scheme of life.    

I'll give you an example: 
I have a smooth, flat, gray stone, perhaps 2 inches long and 1 inch wide.  It is sitting on my desk, available to hold in my hand at any time. The stone warms in my hand I have seen these stones in shops, engraved with motivational, loving and sentimental words.  This stone is blank.  To you, it is meaningless. For me it means strength, confidence and self-love.  It was handed to me at a moment of great meaning in my life and just touching that stone brings me to a place of peace and inspiration.      Ok, ok... so what does this have to do with the quote above?   ...It all has to do with how you choose to look at things, how you choose to make meaning of life.  Whether being satisfied with what you do have in life; your strengths, your motivation, your ability to improve, grow and change, and to recognize that  positive attitudes will allow you to live a life happy, is enough....

 or will you always need....no matter how much you have.  

Are you making yourself sick?

The mind has great influence over the body, and maladies often have their origin there.  ~Moliere


 Have you ever thought that  "it" is was all in your head?  Those aches and pains,  that constant stiffness or feeling in the pit of your stomach?   Well maybe it is.   So how do you get rid of it?  You are not consciously creating the discomfort, but your thoughts about the people, situations or events around you, now or from the past, may be at the root of this pain.    There are so many events in our lives, past and present, that produced pain, emotional or mental.  A thought, memory, aroma, or even a vague feeling of the event reoccurring will trigger a reaction.  That reaction may totally affect your well-being, demeanor, attitude and emotional state.  It can even cause physical pain.

Make a change in your thoughts.
For some "Changing the Channel" is more easily done.  For others mindful practices such as Yoga and Meditation are the key.  Another alternative is to practice Emotional Freedom Technique and/or Hypnosis.  Both these methods, help to make the disconnect,  clearing the clutter of the past and creating new ways of thinking.