The Missing Nutrient for Complete Health: Vitamin L (Love)
The body is a physical structure and usually what we do physically plays an important role in how healthy or unhealthy we are. Food, supplements, proper breathing techniques as well as movement and rest all represent important elements in the never-ending journey of well-being.
Still, the suggestion that all we have to do is leverage these types of somatic strategies to maintain our health is not entirely accurate. While it is obvious and beyond dispute that nutrition, exercise, relaxation and respiration are important components of maintaining our corporal condition — as is stabilizing blood sugar and employing correct digestive strategies — our emotions and thoughts are just as significant! And, the foundation of healthful thoughts and emotions is self-kindness!
The physiological benefits of self-kindness are rooted in the human neurology of the 10th cranial nerve which starts in the brain and travels throughout the body, affecting various structures and organ systems. Known as the Vagus nerve, this neurological pathway can be consciously harnessed via self-talk for numerous physiological benefits including lowering blood pressure, strengthening the heart, supporting digestion, stimulating growth and repair, enhancing creativity, and boosting the immune system. The relationship between seemingly imprecise emotional aspects of wellness, and the functioning of the Vagus nerve is so clear-cut that scientists have learned to measure self-kindness by monitoring vagal activity.
You can always tell if someone is being kind to themselves by how they treat others. Kind and loving internal dialogue will manifest externally as loving relationships and a healthy body, while hostile self-talk will show up in relationships and a physical body that are out of ease. The inner self is innocent and guileless like a small child. Try taking control of your inner dialogue and talking to yourself as you would to a baby or a child. If you like, you can even use baby talk at least for a little bit!
Treating oneself with gentleness and understanding is an indicator of inner strength, as well as a sign and precursor of good physical well-being. On the other hand, lack of compassion and self-compassion are always rooted in insecurity, uncertainty and angst, and subsequently leads to the protective posture that results in the defensive (inflammatory) response that is the ultimate cause of all disease.
The bottom line is physical health results from more than the physical; it’s just as dependent on our thoughts and emotions. Be kind to yourself and others! It will reflect in your body vitality and quality of life.
About the Author
Scientists Finally Finished Mapping the Human Genome
Scientists announce they have finally completed the map of the entire human genome. Will the information contained within unlock our true potential for health and wellbeing, or is there another more expansive perspective on the role genes play in our lives?
After decades of research, scientists have recently announced the completion of the human genome, what some call “the genetic instruction book.” Widely used for guiding biomedical research, many experts herald this as a crowning achievement in the field.
Dr. Bruce Lipton is a cellular biologist and a pioneer in the field of epigenetics, which takes a comprehensive, cutting-edge approach to the understanding of our relationship to our genes.
“Most people are really excited about the fact that the human genome has been deciphered; they’ve identified how many genes are in the human genome,” Lipton said. “The original reason for the human genome was, it was thought the genes control all the characteristics of our life and therefore if I had a compendium of all the genes I could fix anybody who has a characteristic they want to change. Francis Crick, one of the cofounders of the story, came up with something called “the central dogma,” the belief that genes are the source of biological information.
“They’re translated into another form of nucleic acid called RNA. So, DNA goes into RNA which is like a xeroxed copy of the DNA, and then the RNA is used as a template to make the proteins of the body,” he said. “According to the central dogma, information only flows in one way — it flows from the DNA to the RNA to the protein. This led to an understanding called ‘genetic determinism.’ Genetic determinism is the belief that the genetic blueprint of your life is carried by the DNA that you inherited at the moment of conception.”
