Your Genes and Your Beliefs

Your genes and your beliefs. How are they related?

Did you know that genes are responsible for less than 1% of disease...?

The other 99% comes from things like the thoughts, beliefs, feelings, and emotions we experience (among other things like the environment).

And these beliefs, feelings, and emotions are basically chemicals that are transmitted into our cells - and can influence our physical health, for better or for worse!

Holy crap, if that's not empowering, I don't know what is.

The Biology Of Belief

Bruce Lipton (whose website starts with the quote "What would your life be like if you learned that you are more powerful than you have ever been taught?") has an excellent book called "The Biology of Belief" (highly recommend a read or listen). I was excited to see that Dr. Mark Hyman had Lipton on his podcast recently to discuss the relationship between our beliefs and our genes.

Lipton offers that "if genes control us, then we have no control" in our lives.

And that means we're victims, and that means we must find somebody to solve our problems.

A lot of what I do as a coach has to do with beliefs and how they limit you, my client.  I don't heal you, because I don't subscribe to that victim mentality.  I believe that you have the power to heal yourself, that your thoughts and beliefs have the potential to create whatever life you desire. 

It's my job to [gently] point out those wonky beliefs you may not even know you have and help you shift those beliefs into something different.

Genes and Belief

In the podcast mentioned above, Lipton and Hyman get into the weeds a bit.  Here's the TL;DR version:

What we have been teaching is that your life is not under your control but under the control of your genes. So we end up believing that we have no control over our health (hey look! there's another belief!).

Genes do NOT control our destiny.   Genes turn on and off.  It is simply a blueprint to make a protein. Blueprints are information that has to be read so specific actions take place, and which blueprints are read is a selection process.

Which blueprints are read is a selection process.

So who does the selecting of these blueprints?

Your consciousness.

However, your consciousness pulls from your subconscious, which came from your experiences as a child from birth to about 7 years of age.

And as we go about our day, 95% of our thoughts and beliefs are coming from that subconscious mind.  Which may be full of self-sabotaging thoughts and disempowering or unhelpful limiting beliefs.

Yikes!

Your Genes, Your Beliefs, Your Destiny

(I typed that in the voice of Darth Vader, just FYI)

The bottom line is that your genes do NOT control your destiny.  Genes turn on and off, and we have SO MUCH POWER over this.  We have so much power when it comes to our health and health-related outcomes.

Yes, food, sleep, exercise, environment, our social connections and relationships - these are all incredibly important too.

But your thoughts are where it all begins.

With that in mind:

What thoughts are you thinking throughout your day?

Are they helpful?  Are they full of negativity?

Are they full of stories you have made up in your mind?  Do you play these on "loop"?

Is your subconscious mind running the show?

 It's good to know what your mind is doing, and who is in charge. If you do not have awareness of what you are currently thinking and believing, the chance of changing those thoughts and beliefs is pretty slim.

The conundrum is that most people who are blissfully unaware of what's going on in their heads think that they are actually quite self-aware.  (yeah, these people are really hard to coach.)

However:  If you have some awareness to know that you are not very aware, that's an excellent start. The next question is:  How to get more awareness?

Journaling and meditation are great but are not for everyone.  Working with a third party like a coach or spiritual guide is helpful because we tell it like it is (unlike friends or co-workers or family who aren't always honest with you - or maybe they are TOO honest!).  Friends and co-workers usually don't have the willingness to let go of one's own opinions or the ability to ask the right questions to help shift awareness to something deeper.

See this page for more on working with me, and, I'm curious:

Have you read Lipton's book or listened to the podcast interview mentioned above?

What are your thoughts?

What do YOU believe...?

Until next time!

- Sandy