Your Genetics Are Not Your Destiny or Are They?

Dr. Martha’s Monday Morning Motivation

Monday, May 9, 2010

The majority of Americans let their genetics dictate their life.   They live with the misconception that because generations of their family who walked before them were sick and dying that they too are sick and dying.  They flood their mind with negative thoughts and they repeatedly say to themselves, limiting statements about their health, which hold them back.  The statements vary but are similar in outcome: “All males in my family have died by sixty”, “High blood pressure runs in my family”, “In my family we all have a problem with weight”, “All the women in my family get breast cancer”, and a multitude of other “standards” that individuals set for themselves.  The sad part is that these standards are limitations, which hold them back from the life they were entitled to live; all because they place all their bets on their genetics.

It’s important we understand the difference between genetics and epigenetics. Genetics deals with genes and heredity, that which is inherited from parent to offspring. Simply stated who we are comes from our ancestors, who they are makes us who we are, and their genetic history is a window into our future in terms of health.  I am not denying that our genes play a role in who we are and where we are headed. Instead I am encouraging that we begin to understand epigentics and the impact it can have our health.

Epigenetics implies that we can alter our genetics through lifestyle choices because our gene expression can be altered via changes outside our DNA sequence.  Because we can make alterations in our genetics, we can rest easy because our DNA does not have to dictate our destiny. The ability to alter our DNA and depends on the lifestyle choices we make.

Each and every day we make choices that alter our genetic make-up both positive and negative and most are directly related to that which we have learned from our MFTP (our mother, father, teachers, and preachers).  Our MFTPs are with us from our earliest days guiding us and educating us, they are our role models throughout childhood and adolescence. Their lifestyle choices have a huge impact on the lifestyle choices that we make, they set the guidelines to which we follow.

When looking at the health of our parents, our grandparents, our great grand parents and so on; it is important that we also look at the path that lead them to their destination and compare it to your current path.  Most people would be shocked to see how parallel their lifestyle runs to that of their family, therefore the similarity in their level of health is no surprise.

In order to move more towards health we need to make choices that catapult us in that direction rather than making choices that inhibit our progression toward wellness and anchor us to our genes.  Positive choices that facilitate health must be made in the foods we eat, proper movement, positive thought, and preservation of our nervous system, which controls every cell in our body.  Tracing back through negative choices you will see similarity in that of your MFTP.  If they ate processed foods you most likely do to and if channel surfing was their exercise the same most likely rings true for you.  Do you bombard yourself with negative thoughts? That is most likely how you were taught to think? If your parents believed that you slowly break down until you die then most likely you don’t believe that you were destined for an optimal life.

Believe me I am no exception to this rule.  I was raised within the medical paradigm too, which has become the American standard, but I am here to tell you that you can make the shift necessary to alter your genetics.  I have and while it has been a long road it has been a road worth traveling and a journey I continue each and every day.  The beauty of choices are that they are choices, choices that you get to make.  So what will you choose?

And remember you are not only choosing for yourself but for your offspring and theirs.  Make a shift today not only for yourself but for those whose lives you will bring into this world.

Love.  Laugh.  Adjust.
Dr. Martha Nessler, Innate Girl