He said it again and again, over the course of the weekend:

"You are NOT a victim of your genes."

This was Bruce Lipton facilitating his workshop at Kripalu, titled "The Grand Convergence of Science and Ancient Religions."

If you're not familiar with him, let me introduce you to one of my heroes. Bruce Lipton, PhD, is a molecular biologist. Formerly a tenured professor at the University of Wisconsin Medical School, and later worked at Stamford University. He did pioneering stem-cell research and is the author of three highly acclaimed books: The Biology of Belief, The Honeymoon Effect and Spontaneous Evolution.

Bruce Lipton's science, along with the epi-geneticists who have followed him, have proven that genes do NOT control biology. 

Since his experiment in 1967 where three sets of identical stem-cells (cloned from a single stem-cell and therefore all had identical DNA) developed into three different types of cells, he knew without a shadow of a doubt that it is the ENVIRONMENT that determines gene expression. 

Let me repeat: all three sets of stem-cells had identical DNA, the only difference in the three petri dishes was the culture in which he put them. The three different environments produced three different types of cells out of genetically identical cells.

Identical DNA + Different environment = Different result

From then on, the field of epigenetics has proven that against what you still hear over and over (from well-meaning doctors and not-so-well-meaning DNA testing companies and pharmaceutical ads,) genes DO NOT determine your health. 

Teachers in high schools AND medical schools continue to teach DNA determinism, even though it's long proven to be false.  It's like continuing to teach that the world is the center of the universe long after Copernicus proved that this wasn't so.

So, if your environment determines how your genes express themselves, then...

What constitutes "the environment"?

Your cellular environment is determined by:

1. Your nutrition
2. Toxicity inside and around you
3. Your thoughts, emotions and beliefs

#1 and #2 are pretty straightforward. If you eat twinkies every day, or live next to a superfund toxic site, you've got some pretty bad chemistry odds working against you.

Now Bruce Lipton spends the majority of his time teaching about the profound impact of #3: your thoughts, emotions and beliefs. 

Emotions & Thoughts

He's quick to point out that our emotions are the feelings that arise as a product of our thoughts/interpretations of reality. For example, two people standing in a long line might have completely different internal experiences. One feels intense frustration as a result of thinking about the time he's losing. The other person feels completely at peace, seeing the wait as an opportunity for active meditation in the middle of a busy day.

Two totally different emotional experiences, driven by the thoughts and interpretations of the external facts.

Emotions are a cocktail of chemicals, and those chemicals move through your cells. The positive, uplifting emotions have healing effects. The not so pleasant emotions (anger, fear, frustration) have a debilitating effect.

Beliefs

Bruce Lipton spends extra time talking about the magnitude of our beliefs. You see, the reason why the two people in the example above might react differently in the moment, is a product of their subconscious programming. 

Beliefs are the subconscious "truths" that run our lives 95% of the time. They shape our behaviors, our default thoughts and reactions, our default emotional states.

Our life is run and predetermined by our subconscious programs, the majority of which were programmed into us since before the age of 7. They might even come from our ancestors and they can come from traumatic events. 

You are the creator of your life

So what do we do with all of this? 

It's all to emphasize that we absolutely have power over the reality of our health and everything else in our lives. 

Bruce repeats over and over through his presentation, "you are NOT a victim!" You have the power to rewrite ALL of your subconscious programming. 

In fact, he says, if you look around your life and you see anything that looks different than what you'd like to have, that's a good sign that some unconscious belief is getting in the way.

He believes this so profoundly, and knows it to be true in his own experience, that he says:

"We are meant to live heaven on earth."

I agree with him, even if not everything in my life at the moment looks like heaven on earth. But I know I'm on my way to dissolving the subconscious beliefs and patterns that have shaped things as they are right now. 

I believe every single human being is meant to thrive.

That is my driving force in life. That's why scientists like Bruce Lipton are my heroes. He gives me the scientific evidence proof that what I have long believed is factually true and achievable. 

What in your life is looking different than the way you'd like it to be?

If you'd like to explore what changing subconscious programs might be like, I'd be delighted to have a conversation with you about it.