A human functions when in a very systematic manner the body undergoes the processes of creation and destruction within the cells—this is called metabolism. A person’s health is the sum total of metabolic efficiency. When the efficiency level goes down a person becomes unhealthy. Why this happens is the subject of medical science and in particular that of pathology. People get infected by harmful bacteria and viruses and other pathogens. This decreases efficiency resulting in the physiological state of the person manifesting it in terms of various symptoms. The Psychological state of a person can also prove to be detrimental to a person’s health. With studies on depression and other psychological ailments it has become more and more evident that a person will become physically unhealthy and sick by even a bad mood. Chronic diseases are found more frequently in people with a negative disposition towards life like people who have suffered from a trauma or those who suffer from depression etc. Thinking negatively is essentially the source of such threats to health. And for the body and mind to avoid such pains it is important for a person to focus on the positives and hence think positively.
The very worst of ailments especially the chronic ones are often hereditary or are more likely if a parent or primary relative has it. So often people who contract such a disease take up the belief that it could not have been helped and that it was bound to happen—after all who can escape genetics; the genetic coding is fixed and there is nothing a person can do to change it. If one inherits it and its imbued in the DNA then it all a game of chance. But science has proved that this belief is not as true as it was previously thought of. Epigenetics is the answer to the course of action to be taken when facing the threat of a hereditary disease.
Epigenetics is the recent scientific discovery which actually asserts the power of thoughts over genetic make-up hence the body. Epi means ‘above’ in Greek and the term epigenetics means above genes that is to say that we have control over our genes. Our genes contain DNA which in turn contains RNA which is made up of proteins. DNA strains and their arrangements matter in how relevant information is transmitted when required in our body and which traits to be dominant and which recessive. These arrangements are effected by our thoughts. And that means that positive thoughts will keep our body efficient and organized but negative thoughts will leave the DNA strains in a mess and hence the body as whole will become inefficient and that will lead to a decrease in our health status. The body and mind communicate through epigenetics and by making this communication smooth we can create efficiency and harmony within our cellular community i.e. within our metabolic functionality.
So how can we keep our thoughts positive? Well the answer to that lies in two steps: what are our thoughts exactly and what is it that influences them.
The thoughts are responses to our external environment; as the external environment gives stimuli which our 5 senses receive and then our brain translates and these translations are what we call thoughts. Thoughts may manifest in three ways:
Imagination; this is the component which is a subconscious response to the stimuli taken in overtime and is effected by our general mood. If we imagine about nice things—things we wish were then we will stay positive but if our imagination goes down the wrong road then we will surely be in a dark place and this will lead to our body reacting in kind and illness will result.
Pretending; this is also a response that is built around stimuli received over time but this is done by the conscious part of our mind. Pretending is very important as it depends on our general perception and if we pretend positively, and think in a way that makes the positive occurrence absolutely delightful while even finds or pretends to see the brighter sides of the negative ones then one will surely be successful in inducing the body into creating a positive epigenetic response.
Visualization: This is more of a direct response to the stimuli provided by our environment as sudden memories are generated in immediate responses and hence this is perhaps the most important part of thinking because this is what we consciously focus on and these are the thoughts that our usually committed to memory. So if we create positive visualizations for ourselves then our general outlook will remain positive and this will also help with positive imagination and pretending.
All these manifest usually as images or language in our mind’s eye.
Our thoughts are generally influenced by:
The kind of activities we indulge in during our normal routine; whether they are taxing mentally or physically, whether we derive pleasure from it or do we simply go through the motions. So find activities that are engaging and not too taxing.
Social interactions; the people we interact with need to be cooperative and encouraging, if they are negative in their approach and outlook that will surely have a negative impact on your own outlook. So surround yourself with positive people.
Diet; nutrition and food always plays a part in both health and thoughts, having a regular and balanced eating habit is necessary, gorging on food or starving oneself is harmful both directly to health and as well as through epigenetics.
So keep thinking positively and you might just find that the elixir of life is really in the way you maintain your inner self.