October 2009 - Book Review Corner

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Your Happy Gene: The Science of Inducing Spiritual States
By: Dawson Church, PHD

Did you know that according to the groundbreaking work of Cell Biologist and author Dr. Bruce Lipton, that genes do not in fact control your behavior, instead, genes are turned on and off by influences outside the cell? He demonstrates in his book: "The Biology of Belief" that you are not a victim of genetics, and even if certain health issues do run in your family that you are not necessarily going to follow in the footsteps of your family. These influences that can turn our genes on or off include our perceptions and beliefs. He shows that our beliefs, true or false, positive or negative, affect genetic activity and actually alter our genetic code. As a hypnotherapist I find his research fascinating, because it shows how changing your perceptions and beliefs through powerful tools such as hypnosis, can overcome genetic tendencies and generate self-healing.

There is a new book out that simplifies the work of Dr. Bruce Lipton and is an easy eye opening read that details this exciting research for the lay person. The book is entitled: Your Happy Gene: The Science of Inducing Spiritual States, by: Dawson Church, PHD.

The mythology presented in the popular media is that there is a gene to control this function, literally your happy gene. In reality, about 85% of your genes don’t become active at all until they are activated by signal from the environment outside of your cell. What if science could identify genes that express during spiritual experiences, and furthermore, what if we discovered the environmental influences that turned these genes on or off? What if we could deliberately engineer the genetics of happiness, spirituality and love?

We’re actually at that point already. A series of groundbreaking studies of gene expression has identified groups of genes, primarily regulatory genes that regulate the activity of organs or entire body systems, that are expressed differently as our psychological, emotional and spiritual states change. What’s more, there are tools of consciousness that we can use to change those states, and deliberately trigger the expression of these genes at will. The author calls these your “happy” genes. The author talks about some of the popular new techniques that trigger happy gene expression, such as heart coherence (Heart Math), EFT and self hypnosis.

About the author: Dawson Church, PHD, has edited or authored many books, and collaborated with leading authorities including Larry Dossey, MD, Bernie Siegel, MD, Caroline Myss, PhD, and others. He founded Soul Medicine Institute to research and teach emerging psychological and medical techniques that can yield fast and radical cures. His book, The Genie in Your Genes, pioneers the field of Epigenetics, (control of genes from outside the cell), explaining the remarkable self-healing mechanisms now emerging from this science.

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