Falling for This Myth Could Give You Cancer - By Dr. Mercola

                         

How much control do you really have over your own life in general, and your health in particular? These questions have puzzled many since the beginning of time. Now, the emerging science of epigenetics is offering some answers that put true control within your reach.

According to some scientists, changing your health may be as "simple" as changing your thoughts and beliefs.

"Contrary to what many people are being led to believe, a lot of emphasis placed on genes determining human behavior is nothing but theory and doctrine," writes Konstantin Erikseni . "We are free to make decisions that impact our lives and those of others. … Our beliefs can change our biology. We have the power to heal ourselves, increase our feelings of self-worth and improve our emotional state."

Epigenetics Shatters "The Central Dogma"

Eriksen goes on to discuss something called "The Central Dogma" of molecular biology, which states that biological information is transferred sequentially and only in one direction (from DNA to RNA to proteins).

The ramification of buying into the central dogma is that it leads to belief in absolute determinism, which leaves you utterly powerless to do anything about the health of your body; it's all driven by your genetic code, which you were born with.

However, scientists have completely shattered this dogma and proven it false. You actually have a tremendous amount of control over how your genetic traits are expressed—from how you think to what you eat and the environment you live in.

You may recall the Human Genome Projectii , which was launched in 1990 and completed in 2003. The mission was to map out all human genes and their interactions, which would than serve as the basis for curing virtually any disease. Alas, not only did they realize the human body consists of far fewer genes than previously believed, they also discovered that these genes do not operate as previously predicted.

In the featured article, Eriksen describes the experiments of John Cairns, a British molecular biologist who in 1988 produced compelling evidence that our responses to our environment determine the expression of our genes. A radical thought, for sure, but one that has been proven correct on multiple occasions since then.

Eriksen writesiii :

"Cairns took bacteria whose genes did not allow them to produce lactase, the enzyme needed to digest milk sugar, and placed them in petri dishes where the only food present was lactase. Much to his astonishment, within a few days, all of the petri dishes had been colonized by the bacteria and they were eating lactose. The bacterial DNA had changed in response to its environment. This experiment has been replicated many times and they have not found a better explanation than this obvious fact – that even primitive organisms can evolve consciously.

So, information flows in both directions, from DNA to proteins and from proteins to DNA, contradicting the "central dogma." Genes can be activated and de-activated by signals from the environment. The consciousness of the cell is inside the cell's membrane. Each and every cell in our bodies has a type of consciousness. Genes change their expression depending on what is happening outside our cells and even outside our bodies."

Your Emotions Regulate Your Genetic Expression

As if genes changing expression in response to environmental factors such as nutrients wasn't enough, other researchers have demonstrated that this "environment" that your genes respond to also includes your conscious thoughts, emotions, and unconscious beliefs. Cellular biologist Bruce Lipton, PhD., is one of the leading authorities on how emotions can regulate genetic expression, which are explained in-depth in his excellent books The Biology of Belief, and Spontaneous Evolution.

Science has indeed taken us far beyond Newtonian physics, which says you live in a mechanical universe. According to this belief, your body is just a biological machine, so by modifying the parts of the machine, you can modify your health. Also, as a biological machine, your body is thought to respond to physical "things" like the active chemicals in drugs, and by adjusting the drugs that modify your machinery, doctors can modify and control health. However, with the advent of quantum physics, scientists have realized the flaws in Newtonian physics, as quantum physics shows us that the invisible, immaterial realm is actually far more important than the material realm. In fact, your thoughts may shape your environment far more than physical matter!

According to Dr. Lipton, the true secret to life does not lie within your DNA, but rather within the mechanisms of your cell membrane.

Each cell membrane has receptors that pick up various environmental signals, and this mechanism controls the "reading" of the genes inside your cells. Your cells can choose to read or not read the genetic blueprint depending on the signals being received from the environment. So having a "cancer program" in your DNA does not automatically mean you're destined to get cancer. Far from it. This genetic information does not ever have to be expressed...

What this all means is that you are not controlled by your genetic makeup. Instead, your genetic readout (which genes are turned "on" and which are turned "off") is primarily determined by your thoughts, attitudes, and perceptions!

The major problem with believing the myth that your genes control your life is that you become a victim of your heredity. Since you can't change your genes, it essentially means that your life is predetermined, and therefore you have very little control over your health. With any luck, modern medicine will find the gene responsible and be able to alter it, or devise some other form of drug to modify your body's chemistry, but aside from that, you're out of luck… The new science, however, reveals that your perceptions control your biology, and this places you in the driver's seat, because if you can change your perceptions, you can shape and direct your own genetic readout.

This new science also reveals that you are in fact an extension of your environment, which includes everything from your thoughts and belief systems, to toxic exposures and exposure to sunlight, exercise, and, of course, everything you choose to put onto and into your body. As Dr. Lipton is fond of saying, the new biology moves you out of victimhood and into Mastery—mastery over your own health.

It is a supreme confirmation of my favorite saying, "You Can Take Control of Your Health."

How Nutrition Alters Genetic Expression

Two years ago, a study performed by the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University was showcased at the annual Experimental Biology convention. The study demonstrated how "histone modifications" can impact the expression of many degenerative diseases, ranging from cancer and heart disease to biopolar disorder and even aging itself. According to Rod Dashwood, a professor of environmental and molecular toxicology and head of LPI's Cancer Chemoprotection Program, as quoted in a press releaseiv:

"We believe that many diseases that have aberrant gene expression at their root can be linked to how DNA is packaged, and the actions of enzymes such as histone deacetylases, or HDACs. As recently as 10 years ago we knew almost nothing about HDAC dysregulation in cancer or other diseases, but it's now one of the most promising areas of health-related research."

In a nutshell, we all have tumor suppressor genes, and these genes are capable of stopping cancer cells in their tracks. These genes are present in every cell in your body, but so are proteins called "histones." As Dr. Jean-Pierre Issa at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center explainsv , histones can "hug" DNA so tightly that it becomes "hidden from view for the cell." If a tumor suppressor gene is hidden, it cannot be utilized, and in this way too much histone will "turn off" these cancer suppressors, and allow cancer cells to proliferate.

Now here's where epigenetics comes in … certain foods, such as broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables, garlic, and onions contain substances that act as histone inhibitors, which essentially block the histone, allowing your tumor suppressor genes to activate and fight cancer. By regularly consuming these foods, you are naturally supporting your body's ability to fight tumors.

Certain alternative oncologists also tap directly into the epigenetic mechanism, such as Dr. Nicholas Gonzalez, who uses a three-pronged approach to cancer based primarily on nutrition and detoxification, and Dr. Stanislaw Burzynski, who treats cancer with a gene-targeted approach. His treatment uses non-toxic peptides and amino acids, known as antineoplastons, which act as genetic switches that turn your tumor suppressor genes "on."

A Healthy Lifestyle Supports Healthy Genetic Expression

So the good news is that you are in control of your genes … You can alter them on a regular basis, depending on the foods you eat, the air you breathe, and the thoughts you think. It's your environment and lifestyle that dictates your tendency to express disease, and this new realization is set to make major waves in the future of disease prevention -- including one day educating people on how to fight disease at the epigenetic level. When a disease occurs, the solution, according to epigenetic therapy, is simply to "remind" your affected cells (change its environmental instructions) of its healthy function, so they can go back to being normal cells instead of  diseased cells.

You can begin to do this on your own, long before you manifest a disease. By leading a healthy lifestyle, with high quality nutrition, exercise, limited exposure to toxins, and a positive mental attitude, you encourage your genes to express positive, disease-fighting behaviors.

This is what preventive medicine is all about. It's not about taking any one particular nutrient as a supplement to fix one specific "part" of your biological machinery... The more people become willing to embrace this simple truth, the healthier everyone will get.

It's also worth pointing out that epigenetic effects begin before birth.

Epigenetic research from 2009 showed that rat fetuses receiving poor nutrition in the womb become genetically primed for a nutrition-poor environment. As a result of this genetic adaptation, the rats tended to be smaller. They were also at higher risk for a host of health problems throughout their lives, such as diabetes, growth retardation, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and neurodevelopmental delays. Again, while some are tempted to blame such "predispositions" on bad genes, the KEY factor is nutrition, i.e. the cellular environment.

If you're ready to address your dietary choices, read through my comprehensive nutrition plan, which will give you tips and tools for eating healthy, dealing with stress, and living a lifestyle that will support your epigenetic health.

You can also turn your genes off and on with your emotions too. Many, if not most people carry emotional scars; traumas that can adversely affect health. Using techniques like energy psychology, you can go in and correct the trauma and help regulate your genetic expression. My favorite technique for this is the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), but there are many others. Choose whichever one appeals to you, and if you don't sense any benefits, try another, until you find what works best for you.

Please, remember that 'You CAN Take Control of Your Health.'

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/04/11/epigenetic-vs-determinism.aspx 

How Our Beliefs Affects Our Body And Biology!

Developing Intuition

                     

Ever have that gut feeling about something – but just don’t know what that message is or where it’s coming from? Well that gut feeling is really your intuition. And just what is intuition? Think of intuition as a partner – someone who only wants to help you and guide you. The only problem with this partner is that it doesn’t speak the same language as you. That is; it doesn’t always spell things out for you and give you instructions in terms you’ll understand. In order to develop your intuition – you have to first understand it’s language – and this is often the tricky part.

How Intuition Works – Understanding it’s Language.

Intuition sends us messages in different forms all the time, everyday. Sometimes intuition can be that gut feeling that I just mentioned – when you know something – but just don’t have anything to substantiate what you know. For example: last week I was driving on the highway – I had at least another hour to go before I got close to my destination. A limousine went speeding by me – and for a moment I thought about tagging along behind him – but something just didn’t sit right. I chose not to speed with him and stayed where I was. About a half-hour later I saw the same limousine pulled over along the side of the road getting a speeding ticket and thought – that could have been me – good thing I stayed where I was. Here’s another example; several years ago I was in Seattle – a city I’m somewhat familiar with but not completely knowledgeable of all the streets. I recall driving along near Pike Street Market – trying to figure out how to get back on to highway 5 and head north. Finally I figured out how to get back on the highway – and decided to speed up a little – but the car in front of me was going rather slow so I thought about passing it – but again something didn’t sit right—so I just stayed behind him. A minute later another car zipped past us both – it was not more than 20-feet ahead of us going through a green light when another car smashed into it – the other car was going through a red light. We had to stay and talk to the police – but again my instincts saved me – that could have been me in the accident had I chose to pass the car a minute earlier – but I trusted my gut and stayed put.

I remember when I was in an investigative reporter in New York and I was interviewing the Chief of Detectives for the New York City Police Department. It was his last day on the job before starting a new life as a public citizen now that he was retiring. He had spent 25 years on the job and let me tell you – he’d seen just about everything. I asked him: “How can an average citizen, walking down Broadway just after sunset, protect himself or herself from a mugger? No everybody carries mace or has self-defense training? What can Miss. Or Mr. Average do to protect themselves?” I’ll never forget his response. This elderly man, with his receding gray hair, leaned forward and said: “Karim, at some point, just before something bad is going to happen to you – those little hairs on the back of your neck stand up. They’re telling you not to cross the street, not to go further, to stop in your track and turn around – go in a direction where help can be found. If the average person paid attention to that – paid attention to those little hairs standing up on the back of their necks – they’d live a long time.” Those little hairs stand up because your intuition is trying to tell you not to do something or warn you of imminent danger so – you then have to take the necessary steps to get out of the situation as quickly as possible. Quite simply – intuition can save your life if you just listen to it.

I can’t tell you how many times my intuition has saved me. There are probably numerous other times that my intuition has saved me and I’m not even aware of those instances. These are situations when I followed my instincts but don’t know what the outcome would have been had I not followed them. Sometimes we won’t know what would have happened if we didn’t follow our instincts.

Intuition comes in many forms – like I said at the beginning – think of intuition as a partner trying to help you and guide you along the way – so that no harm comes to you. Sometimes this partner will speak with a feeling, sometimes it will speak with words through another person, sometimes it will give you signals, sometimes it will simply try to stop you from doing something that isn’t good for you. We have to understand how it is speaking to us and when it is speaking to us. Let’s go over some of the examples I just mentioned.

I’ve gone over how intuition speaks with feeling. Sometimes it’s a gut feeling – an overwhelming feeling that you should do something, avoid something or follow up on something. Sometimes intuition will speak with words through someone else. For example: you may be thinking about buying a new home but you’re not sure what area. The first person you speak to mentions a particular area, the next person you speak to mentions the same area and then a third person mentions the same area – then you’re looking in the paper and you see an article praising the area that you’re friends were telling you about. In this case your intuition is likely trying to get you to consider that certain area – and perhaps it’s time to take a look.

Sometimes intuition will try to give you signals – the article in the newspaper in the above example is a signal. Seeing things that correspond with what you are trying to find an answer to is a signal. Sometimes intuition will try to stop you from taking a certain course of action. You may want to buy a home in a certain area – but everything you find is not up to your standard or way out of your price range. Here you may be getting a signal to look in another area, be patient until you find the right place, or think about other options. You may be trying to get a certain job at a certain place – but there are no openings and nothing is coming up. Intuition may be telling you to look for other options and not pursue the job you are so set on.

In all cases – the message isn’t always as clear as we would like it to be. The way intuition speaks to us isn’t always easy to understand. But if you keep testing it and keep searching the answer will become clear. The feeling will be overwhelming. The signals will be repeated and clear. The messages from other people will be repeated over and over again. Then the message becomes clear. Sometimes you may not understand the message until years later. But it will all make sense at some point – and that point is when the time is right.

The common element in all of the situations that I just mentions is that in every case there was a question involved. If you want to find an answer to something and you will always get a response. You just have to understand the message. The first time you get the response – you may not understand it and it may not be clear. If you’re not sure – don’t do anything – wait until you get another message and see if it’s along the same lines as the original message. The key is not to be fooled by your mind. Your mind is not your intuition – so don’t think that when you ask for something you’ll get an immediate answer from your mind – that’s not an answer. That’s just your mind playing tricks with you.

So how can we get our intuition to help us and how can we better understand the answer?

If you want to get guidance from your intuition first decide what it is you want – then ask for an answer. For example: you want to buy a new home – say I want to buy a new home and I want to know what area I should buy in. What area should I buy my home in? Where should I buy my new home? Keep repeating the question. Then tell yourself that you have the answer – say I know where to buy my new home. Then let go. Don’t expect an answer immediately. If you get one in your mind – it’s not the answer – it’s just your mind and ego playing tricks with you. Let go. Forget about it. The next step is often the most difficult – trust that the answer will come at the right time. As human beings we like to take control of things – we like to know what is going to happen and we want to make things happen. But sometimes you can’t – sometimes you just have to be patient and wait for the answer – trusting that it will come at exactly the right time. When it does come – you’ll know and you’ll follow through. You can do the above exercise for anything you want or for any answer you are seeking. In time you will get the answer – but it will be at the right time – and not on your time.

Another thing that you can do to develop your intuition is to meditate and stay positive. By meditating you calm your mind and by staying positive you become more positive and understand that you will get the answer. The Creating Power System will teach you how to develop your intuition, it will teach you how to better understand the messages your intuition is sending you, Creating Power will teach you how to meditate so you get answers and how to stay positive so the answers come naturally and easily.

Finally – I said that in some cases we don’t know the outcome had we not followed our intuition. This is very important because once you learn how to trust your intuition you won’t need the reassurance of know what would have happened had you not followed your intuition. We can’t always know everything and at some point we have to trust and let go – once you learn to do that everything will flow to you naturally and easily.

http://creativelivinginc.com/Articles/DevelopingIntuition

Thought Coupled With Feeling Manifests Reality! (Law Of Attraction)

How To Change Your Circumstances

                        

Every week I get a number of emails from people all over the world telling me about their circumstances and how they wish they could change them.

I hear stories of how their parents mistreated them, how they were born into a poor or dysfunctional family, how their spouses are negative, how difficult their jobs and bosses are. It seems everybody has something or someone to blame for their current circumstances.

That's okay. After all - it's not about blame.

Instead of trying to attribute your situation to someone or certain events - how about focusing on finding a solution and finding a way to change your circumstances.

I'm going to outline how you can change your situation or circumstances and improve the quality of your life and the lives of those around you.

Stop The Blame Game

The first step to changing your circumstances is to stop blaming somebody or some events for where you are today.

Sure other people and events had an influence - but it's time to accept some responsibility and admit that you may have had a role in how things turned out.

If you look carefully at the events of the past you'll find that a single decision or a series of decisions that you made played a major role in creating your own circumstances.

When you accepts some responsibility you begin to give yourself the power to change things.

If you continue to blame somebody or an event - you give them power and you will continue to live life on their terms.

You can live life on somebody else's terms and change your situation.

It simply won't happen.

If you still don't feel that you played a role - then take a look at your thoughts. Are they predominantly negative? Are they filled with anger? Resentment? If they are then you will only attract more negative situations to you and this will lead to more negative circumstances.

If your circumstances are negative or if you feel you are not living the life you want then in order to change this you have to accept that on some level you manifested the life that you have.

You may not want to admit to that - but work with this idea for and you'll begin to understand how you can create change.

For example: if you are currently unemployed - what decision or choices did you make that may have played a role in you being unemployed? Did the job you selected that you eventually lost lead to your current situation? Had you made a different choice would you still be unemployed?

If you recently got divorced or broke up with your spouse - what choices or actions did you take that may have played a role in your current situation? Could you have made a better choice?

Chances are we all could have made different choices that would have changed our circumstances. And this is the process of accepting responsibility. Because now you can focus on making better choices, attracting better situations and creating the changes that you want.

How can you make better choices?

Change the way you think. Instruct your subconscious mind to help you make better choices. Attract better situations into your life by changing the way you think and live.

So think about your current situation.

Accept some responsibility for what happened - when you accept responsibility you give yourself the power to create the changes that you want.

Look back at some of the decisions that you made that may have influenced the way your life turned out. 

Track your thoughts - are they predominantly negative or positive?

Start making better choices.

Get your mind and subconscious mind working for you so that you begin improving your situation.

Change Your Attitude.

Now that you have accepted some responsibility it's time to begin attracting positive situations and people into your life.

To do this first start with your attitude. This means instead of looking at what is wrong in your situation and other situations, look for what is positive and find ways to correct what is wrong.

I recall working with a student named Armando, who had experienced tremendous

success when he was young. By the time he was 29 he was a millionaire. By the

time he was 35 he had lost just about all of his wealth. Now at 42 he 

has turned things around completely and is back making fortunes.

What happened?

When Armando and I started working together several years ago - this former

wonder kid had a terrible attitude. He knew everything, and everybody

else was either crazy or didn't know what they were talking about.

To cut a long story short, Armando realized that when he was successful he believed and thought that anything was possible. Along the way he got tired, angry, frustrated and negative. That's when he lost most of his fortune. It took a while for Armando to realize this - but when he did - he changed his attitude and changed his life.

How do you change your attitude?

Change what you regularly think about.

Instead of filling your mind with negative thoughts - fill them with positive thoughts.

Instead of looking at why things won't work out - force yourself to find solutions and think of how things can work out. Open yourself up to all possibilities.

Think of your mind as garden, you can cultivate it, or you can let it run wild. You can fill it with the weeds of negative thinking, thoughts of lack, limitation and worry. If you don't control your mind and cultivate it with positive thoughts regularly - the weeds of negative thinking will take over and destroy your life - just like weeds can destroy your garden.

It's your mind and how you think, live and see things will have a direct impact on your current situation.

Why?

Every thought you have is picked up by your subconscious mind.

Your subconscious mind then considers your regular thoughts as an instruction - telling it to create what you regularly think.

So if you are constantly negative and have a negative attitude you will continue to create your own negative circumstances.

This constant negative thought process could lead to you losing your job, breaking up with a spouse, losing your home, making bad investment choices, losing on a business venture, etc.

A negative attitude leads to a negative life and negative circumstances.

So start changing your thoughts and attitude today. Regularly think about the positive situations in your life. Search for good and positive things everyday.

Look for solutions instead of constantly looking at the problems.

Give your subconscious mind positive instructions so that you create a positive life

You can turn things around in your life.

You can improve or change your circumstances.

You can begin living the life you want.

Take responsibility and empower yourself.

Take charge of your life by creating a positive attitude.

Give your mind and subconscious mind positive instructions so that you start living a better, more fulfilling life.

http://www.creativelivinginc.com/Articles/circumstances