Battlefield or Playground?

The Hypothalamus is a master gland in the brain. It is a peptide-producing machine. Peptides are little protein chains and are essentially information carriers. 

The hypothalamus produces a different neuro-peptide for every different possible emotional experience. When you perceive a change in life you have an emotional response. In this emotional response the hypothalamus releases the corresponding neuro-peptides into the blood stream. This is one of the primary examples of the inseparable Mind-Body relationship. 

The neuro-peptides travel throughout the body via the blood stream and are able to connect to receptor sites in the cell membranes of cells in the tissues of the body including organs, muscles, skin and so on. This protein-receptor interlocking influences the activity and function of the cell. No prizes for guessing the differing influence of “angry” neuro-peptides compared with “joyful” neuro-peptides.

In this way the emotional body lives within the physical body and is constantly influencing it. Your emotional responses are a major determinant of your health. And your emotional responses are governed by your perception. 

Do you perceive your life as a battlefield or a playground? In the battle field you may be hurt, traumatised, victimised, lost, fighting, striving to control things, angry when you can’t or afraid of what is coming next: Probably not ideal for creating a healthy internal environment.

In the playground, life is for exploring, it is seen as a play or a dance, one to enjoy, there is fun and adventure, learning and creativity: Wonderful for a healthy internal environment.

If the battlefield is about survival, the playground is about exploring and learning.

Your perception determines it all. When you learn that you can be in control of the way you perceive and therefore respond to what is arising in life you will be happier and healthier.

Carry these questions with you: Playground or battlefield? If battlefield, why? Does it need to be so? How can I perceive it differently? What am I fighting for, fighting to control, fighting to protect? Am I fighting a losing battle? Can I let go and see it all differently?

Adam Cootes, Integrated Health Practitioner, Arising Self

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Two Parts of You - Pt. II

Last blog entry I described the interconnected mind-body complex via the functioning of the Autonomic Nervous System. This is not the only system that constructs and unifies the mind-body. 

The new science of Psycho-Neuro-Immunology (PNI) describes the production, release and distribution of neuropeptides (tiny protein molecules) in the brain and throughout the body.

These neuropeptides are produced by the glands of the brain and their release is triggered by thoughts and feelings. Different emotions will trigger the release of different neuropeptides. These then travel through the entire body, engaging receptor sites and influencing cell function in every organ of the body. 

Your cells and organs will behave differently depending on your emotional state. And, no prizes for guessing which emotions create optimal function. Your emotional health is critical in the construction of your physical health.

In the words of one of PNI’s founding scientists, Candace Pert (Author of The Molecules of Emotion): 

“A feeling sparked in your mind will translate as a peptide being released somewhere. Peptides regulate every aspect of your body, from whether you’re going to digest your food properly to whether you’re going to destroy a tumour cell.”   

Your body does not have a mind of its own. It only has your mind. Any symptom your body presents is a message about disharmony. Seek not to change the symptom but to heed its message and work to change its cause.

We don’t really need science to tell us that the mind and body are not separate. We just need to become aware of ourselves. We ‘think-feel’ as human beings and to ‘feel’ anything we need our bodies. The body is the home of your senses and therefore the home of feeling. 

Look at any child and you will see fullness of expression of emotion in the body.

I watch my 3-year old son expressing emotion and the way his body changes when he feels joyful, excited, sad, angry or defeated. As he gets older he will likely learn to tone down these expressions, as we all have so that he gives less away about how he’s feeling and to facilitate others staying engaged with him. Hopefully the whiney voice and body language is one of the first to go! Though I hope he doesn’t disconnect from feeling as so many have and that he stays aware of his emotions.

As an adult he will still feel frustrated about injustices and anxious about the future, but the key for him, as for all will be to not suppress his emotions as this causes internalising, and stagnancy in the body, but rather that he will learn to resolve and evolve them. 

Emotional education and evolution is a challenge for us. These are not things we get taught at school, though no doubt the world would be different if we did. So, I encourage you to seek your own learning, to read, to express more, and talk more openly with others, and to seek guidance from those you feel are emotionally evolved.

Of particular importance is learning to understand your own perceptions, which give rise to your emotions. For example if you take things personally, you will feel hurt by the judgements of others, which may lead you to become angry. Learning not to take things personally is part of evolving the emotion of anger, so that it becomes assertive without being destructive. 

You take your car to the mechanic for a tune up, why not find a good therapist and take your mind for one too? It’ll be a gift for your body also.

Written by Adam Cootes, Integrated Body Practitioner, Arising Self

For more by Adam Cootes, please visit www.arisingself.com

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