What do you believe?

Renee Lehman

“We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.” (Buddha)


“Men often become what they believe themselves to be. If I believe I cannot do something, it makes me incapable of doing it. But when I believe I can, then I acquire the ability to do it even if I didn't have it in the beginning.” (Mahatma Gandhi)

(8/2018) What do you think of the above quotations? Do you believe them? If the answer is no, then all I ask is that you keep your mind open to the information in this article on how your beliefs are powerful energetic frequencies and can change your physiology; and therefore, your health.

Now you may be asking yourself the following questions: “What? My beliefs affect my physiology? I thought that my genetic make-up created my physiology! How do my beliefs affect my physiology?” First, I want to provide you with a little history on the mind and body connection.

In the 1600s, René Descartes, a famous French scientist, rejected the idea that the mind had any influence over the physical character of the body. Basically, he viewed the mind and the body as being separate, because the body was made of matter and the mind was not (based on Newtonian theory). This dualistic way of looking at the mind and body was readily accepted by traditional medicine. Even today, conventional medicine often thinks of the body as being a “mechanical machine” and tries to “fix” it. It is harder to “fix” the mind.

The newer field of quantum theory brings back together what Descartes separated. The mind does come from the physical body (material body), and the physical body can be affected by the immaterial mind.

A notable example of this is Nobel Price winner Ivan Pavlov and his classical conditioning experiment with dogs. He trained his dogs to salivate upon hearing the ringing of a bell. He began by ringing a bell and then giving them food. After awhile, he rang the bell and did not give them food. By that time, the dogs were so programmed to expect food that when the bell was rung, they reflexively started to salivate even without food present. Think about a song that you hear, a picture that you see, or an odor that you smell that changes your body. It is the same thing!

Another example can be found in a Baylor School of Medicine study published in 2002 in the New England Journal of Medicine. An orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Bruce Moseley, did a controlled study on arthroscopic surgery on patients with osteoarthritis of the knee. His goal was to figure out which part of the surgery was giving his patients relief. He divided his patients into three groups: one group had their damaged cartilage shaved off; the second group had their knee joint flushed out to remove material thought to be causing inflammation; and the third group got a “fake” surgery (the patient was sedated, had the standard incisions made on the knee, which were then stitched up 40 minutes later). All three groups received the same post-operative care. Surprisingly, all 3 groups improved to the same level! Once again, demonstrating how the mind can affect the body. You can even say that the third group experienced a Placebo effect.

This leads us to view of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), that we humans are a comprehensive system of the physical body, emotions, mind, and spirit. In the TCM viewpoint, all parts of the body have a relationship with one another, and TCM believes that emotional, mental, and spiritual capacities are as important as the body’s physical properties in terms of health. An example of this viewpoint in western medicine would be the new field of study called Epigenetics.

Epigenetics is a revolutionary field in biology. It is the study of changes in the way our genes express themselves (how genes behave) that do not involve changes in the DNA sequence. Research in this field has shown that DNA blueprints that get passed down from generation to generation are not set in stone. Your DNA is not your destiny! Environmental influences like stress, nutrition, physical activity, thoughts and emotions can turn genes on or off. These changes are thought to contribute to aging and to various diseases and may affect what gets passed down to your offspring. (Dr. Lars Olov Bygren, a preventive-health specialist who is now at the prestigious Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden Why Your DNA Isn't Your Destiny, Time Magazine, January 10, 2010).

Our genes can be altered in a negative or positive way by the “way” in which we live. The environment that we create for ourselves shapes our genes and will therefore affect our body! So, why not choose to change the state of our thinking? It just may change your health!

Beliefs

Our positive and negative beliefs influence our health, and every aspect of our life. Reread the quotes at the beginning of the article. What both Buddha and Gandhi said was true! Think about the placebo affects that happened with the study described above, or that has been written about in many research studies concerning the efficacy of different pharmaceutical drugs. People got better when they believed (falsely) that they had surgery. Research has shown that people felt better when they believed (falsely) that they had gotten a pill for a specific medical condition.

Our biology adapts to our beliefs. Our beliefs act as a filter through which we interpret the world around us. “We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are.” (Anais Nin). What color filter do you see the world through? It’s ok if it is rose-colored. Positive beliefs are a mandate for a healthy life. When we truly recognize that our beliefs are that powerful, we hold the key to freedom (Bruce Lipton, The Biology of Belief).

Your beliefs become your thoughts
Your thoughts become your words
Your words become your actions
Your actions become your habits
Your habits become your values
Your values become your destiny
(Mahatma Gandhi)