To turn the field of genetics completely on its head, a groundbreaking area of scientific inquiry called Epigenetics has revealed that gene expression can actually be altered by the way we perceive our environment.
Instead of regarding genetics as eternal and unchangeable, as in ‘I have the alcoholic gene so I am destined to be an alcoholic’, we have recognized that our genes, like our neural pathways, are in a constantly evolving process of change through the interplay with everything in our lives which means we can literally switch on and off our genetic coding for better or for worse :) In other words, our genes load the gun but it’s our perception of our environment that pulls the trigger. EVERYTHING in our life is impacting and influencing our DNA moment by moment from the nutrition we ingest, the air we breath, the environments we spend time in, the activities we engage in, the people we mix with and to the way we approach ourselves, others and the world around us. Epigenetics has proven that we actually have power and control to some degree over our gene expression. It puts the responsibility of our health and happiness back on us, restoring a healthy balance to a historical over-reliance on the medical profession to perform miracles with a little white pill. With the onus returning to us to some extent we need to start to do the things that we know work, to treat the body in a way that supports our health and wellbeing, to live our lives engaging in things that make us feel uplifted, to nurture the dreams and hopes that we deeply desire, and to back ourselves 100% and trust that WE KNOW what is true and right for us. As we start to understand that our genes are engaged in this magical dance between what’s happening 'inside' of us and what’s happening 'outside' of us, we recognize that we have the power to talk to every cell in our body, determining the trajectory of our lives. In my own personal experience of being limited to a darkened room for 3 years, with my mobility reduced to crawling between my bedroom and the toilet some days, this was one of the most profound learnings I was to gain from my wellness journey. It wasn’t until I seriously looked at the way I was living my life, at various levels of my life, that I began the very slow yet incremental journey towards wellness, today now having full flexibility in my body again and thankfully discovering it is possible to live a quality and meaningful life, one that is a true and right fit for me. I know now that the way I had been leading my life prior to becoming chronically ill helped switch ON the cellular coding for the many ailments I was experiencing. As I changed my life to accommodate the healing process, I was able to help switch off this cellular coding and reclaim a quality, meaningful and joy-filled life slowly over time. And when I say slowly, I mean at a glacially slow pace as oftentimes it would feel like there was no progress of all. Change in our well-being takes time and our job is to create a foundation for our body to self-heal. This requires an in-depth understanding of ourselves at every level our life and committing to making the necessary needlepoint changes in our day to day lives in the spirit of faith, hope and self-compassion along the way. And even if it feels like there is sometimes no progress, we need to keep going. So here are some important questions for those of us who may feel challenged by life in some way...
The power of our questions determine the quality of our answers so today give yourself the gift of a few silent moments to take a breath, be present and reflect on what is working in your life and what is not, and begin to take some micro steps to support the process of change that will ultimately help your body, mind and spirit to heal from the inside out. Kira Ph. 021 027 18127
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AuthorKira Follas is a qualified counsellor and works as Wellness Practitioner and Group Facilitator in New Zealand. She is also a survivor and thriver of multiple physical and mental-emotional adversities and is a Mum to two awesome teenage lads :) Archives
May 2024
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