The Power of Positive Thinking

Positive thinking. How much of an effect does it really have on our body and our lives? We’ve all been told that a bright outlook can have a beneficial effect on our health, but can we really put our belief into something like that? Well it turns out, it is a thing and there is a word for it and it is being studied by science. The word is epigenetics.

Epigenetics General Information

Epigenetics is the study of how our beliefs, behaviors and environment can affect the way our genes function. Both our positive and negative thinking can not only impact our health but every aspect of our life. Beliefs change how we see the world and our biology adapts to those beliefs. Our beliefs can produce neurochemicals that then trigger the cells that turn genes on and off, therefore changing our genetic blueprint. The phrase “believing is seeing” is more appropriate than the reverse that we hear.

What is the Study of Epigenetics?

Epigenetics has been called “the new molecular genetics.” According to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, “Epigenetic processes tell the cell to read specific pages of the instruction manual at distinct times.” And according to the CDC, “Epigenetics is the study of how your behaviors and environment can cause changes that affect the way your genes work.” Genome.gov lists, “Epigenetics (also sometimes called epigenomics) is a field of study focused on changes in DNA that do not involve alterations to the underlying sequence.”

Epigenetics Applications

The Epigenetics Center at Johns Hopkins Institute for Basic Biomedical Sciences has a team of scientists exploring how information in the human genome is used. It turns out that twins are one of the best ways to study epigenetics because they can pinpoint how differences in the environment affect identical genetics. The Twin Studies Center at California State University at Fullerton looks at the similarities and differences in pairs of identical twins who were separated and raised in different homes. The findings indicate that it is all about how each sibling’s identical genes are expressed. Not that the genes changed, but that the human is actually flipping a switch on certain genes, turning them on and off. Where the future of the science of epigenetics is heading, is to be able to manually turn the power up or down on any of our genes, therefore changing the body.

Conclusion

Epigenetics is how our mindset, beliefs and thinking can influence genes through neurochemicals that stimulate cells that can switch genes on and off. Being able to change our bodies in new ways could be a real thing in the future, with potential breakthroughs in medicine. I, however, will always put my stock in the power of positive thinking to create our reality.