Mindfulness and Our Cells
by Judith Dreyer, MS, BSN
Technology moves in nanoseconds. Innovations in the medical field alone astound us. Technology allows us to venture into micro spaces unheard of a few short years ago. We can verify, quantify, and qualify biological processes reducing harm to our physical body while mending, healing in proactive ways.
The mind, too, is a part of this process. I would say that the days of seeing the mental function separate from our body and seeing our body as just a machine may be over. As we integrate within ourselves and integrate our knowledge that the mind and body, emotions, our spiritual senses, make up who we are, we see our self, our body as an inclusive operating system with many components that interact holistically. Maybe we can start asking the question: If I need to fix or heal an aspect of my heart, what impact will it have on my liver, kidney, sleep, or even my mood?
Today we are living in a time of considerable uncertainty, filled with tensions and stresses some healthy, some detrimental. Yet it is through these very tensions that something stirs us to create, to be something more.
Bruce Lipton, the author of Biology of Belief, is a cellular biologist who began to see the world of a cell from a different perspective. He studied one cell, which led him to discover how cells work together in community. Remember, we are composed of trillions of cells, and somehow, they do work in harmony with each other. Liver cells get to function as liver cells though they connected to bile cells, and kidneys happen to be nearby. His research validates that we are one, and what we do affects the whole. We are a remarkable operating system.
Dr. Lipton discovered that as cells evolved from a single cell into units, a community formed, which changed the rules. What one does, does affect the whole. Dr. Lipton goes on to describe how a cell wall functions as the doorkeeper. The cell wall membrane receives signals from the environment, and they make internal decisions accordingly.
"...a cell's life is controlled by the physical and energetic environment and not by its genes. Genes are simply molecular blueprints used in the construction of cells, tissues, and organs. The environment serves as a "contractor" who reads and engages those genetic blueprints and is ultimately responsible for the character of a cell's life." (Biology of Belief, p 15.)
He stresses that the environment plays an enormous role in determining who gets through the cell membrane's doors. Dr. Lipton discovered and observed that the mind, through its various complex signals, can override the cell's decision making. So, what we think, what we feel directly influences a cell's function. What does this have to do with mindfulness practices? When we sit and focus on our breath, we change our biochemistry.
"When you take a deep breath in, your heart rate quickens slightly. As you exhale, your heart rate slows. Repeated deep breaths will naturally bring your heart rate more in sync with your breath. This leads your brain to release endorphins, which are chemicals that have a natural calming effect. But if you're stuck in shallow breathing, that endorphin release doesn't happen. "(Does Deep Breathing Really Do Anything? Updated April 23, 2019, from NeuroCore)
Now we can penetrate the halls of medicine, bridging ancient wisdom with a science framework that will open the doors to understanding the value of alternative practices such as mindfulness, including various forms of meditation.
Here at MediMind, we seek to offer solutions to everyday living by providing meditations that reach into our holistic nature, that moves us toward health, well-being and strengthens our ability to cope with whatever the outside world brings to our doorstep. Not only that, but meditations can offer ways to create bridges between each other and consider we are one. Remember, take a moment today to breathe in …and breathe… out with mindfulness.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180423135048.htm
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/01/140106190050.htm
