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The Science of Epigenetics

5/17/2015

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I became aware of the science of Epigenetics a number of years ago through the work of Bruce Lipton after reading his book “The Biology of Belief”.
  It was groundbreaking in so far as he combined quantum physics and cell biology to identify the mechanisms in which cells receive and process information. Although the science of Epigenetics had begun to emerge in the early ‘70’s, Dr. Lipton’s thesis presented a concise and comprehensive overview of these discoveries in a manner and language that lay people such as myself could understand and apply to their lives in a meaningful way.

Further research in this field continues to expand on our understanding of how our DNA and subsequent perceptions, beliefs, behaviors, relationship patterns, and experiences are being informed and influenced by our environment and the individuals who inhabit it.  In previous articles when referring to ‘cellular imprinting’ or ‘cellular memory’; it is this understanding that I am referencing.

These concepts are a major thread in the fabric which I am weaving together as a framework through which I guide my clients on their journey to greater health and well-being. Because I am not a scientist, I cannot describe it using scientific terms such as methyl groups, histone spools, glucocorticoid receptors, and acetyl groups but somehow I am able to grasp the implications of what this research has to offer.  As a result, a large part of my work is to bring conscious awareness to what that is and what the implications for our respective futures are once we have that understanding.

During the first few sessions of meeting with someone I will begin to differentiate between the mind and the body. One of the ways I do this is to start with the most important distinction and that is that minds think and bodies feel.  I compare the mind to a CPU processor which holds a very limited, finite cache of memory and its larger function is to process the signals that the physical body is constantly sending to it as well as create a myriad of stories around what it is we think we are experiencing in response to those signals. The bulk of our memories are really encoded in the fifty trillion cells of our body. Everything that we’ve ever experienced is recorded in these cells.  Now add to that the understanding that we are also carrying within our DNA all of the memories from our respective maternal and paternal lineages, their respective lineages and so on and so on and we now begin to have a much fuller understanding of the scope of what is influencing our experiences and why we often continue to cycle through the same patterns regardless of how undesirable or painful they may be.

Simply put, all of our thoughts, beliefs, perceptions, behaviors, and relationship patterns have been shaped through our DNA lineage, our experiences beginning at the prenatal stage and continuing throughout childhood as well as all subsequent developmental stages including what was modelled for us and projected onto us that we accepted as being ‘true’ about ourselves, our environment and those with whom we were in relationship with within those environments. The key to ‘climbing out' from underneath all of this is to begin to become aware of what it is we’ve been unconsciously at the effect of for so long that has shaped and determined our perception of self and others. Once we become aware, we can begin to participate more consciously in our experiences and learn how to change our response to whatever is happening outside of us. In doing so, we ultimately change our experience.

A great way to begin is by becoming more body-focused since this is where all the memory is held. In response to the environment and those who inhabit it; I ask my clients to begin to cultivate awareness around the moment in which they become ‘triggered’.  It will always be in response to something or someone who is doing something that has resulted in our nervous system becoming dis-regulated. We can notice this when our adrenals become activated. If we don’t recognize it when this happens then we have another opportunity to do so when our defense mechanisms show up in response to our adrenals becoming activated. It is precisely at this moment that we want to hit the ‘pause’ button and separate out from the situation long enough to make a conscious choice to not defend ourselves.

Eventually what we come to realize is that whatever ‘triggered’ us was a stimulus in the environment that touched in on a memory that we were holding onto in one of the fifty trillion cells in our body and it just so happened that the stimulus resonated with the memory. Once ‘triggered’, the memory then sends out signals to the brain and body indicating that we are not safe. In response to those signals, the adrenals become activated which then sets into motion a myriad of chemical and hormonal responses within the brain and body that positions us into a ‘fight or flight’ response. It is at this time that we begin to react through some defensive posturing. Depending on the stimulus and the energetic ‘charge’ around the memory, our defensive posturing and subsequent expression could cover a wide range of responses.  That is why it is so helpful to begin to practice hitting the ‘pause’ button because in all likelihood the reactivity that we bring to the current situation is usually, if not always, way out of proportion to what is actually occurring in the moment. A really good example of this would be what unfolds during ‘road rage’. From my perspective, whether I’m observing it or participating in it, the response is never about what is actually happening but rather a reaction to an unconscious memory of another time when my physical and emotional safety was threatened and possibly hung in the balance.  

Beginning to work consciously with the understanding of epigenetics and cellular memory helps move us out of the unending cycles of violence and victimology. We can begin to take a closer look at our defense mechanisms and behavioral patterns and tease apart exactly what it is that we are holding onto that is no longer relevant or appropriate to hold onto given the identification that we are choosing to have a different experience.  The genome has long been known as the blueprint of life, but the epigenome can be thought of as an ‘Etch A Sketch’ in which it turns out it is possible to wipe away the memories.  In the future article entitled "Energy Medicine" we will explore how this is possible.

Epigenetics is the science that identifies that our genes are constantly being modified in response to our life experiences and emphasizes that our perceptions of what it is we’re experiencing is what ultimately shapes our biology and informs what we experience. What I find most exciting about this premise is that it allows all of us to begin to climb out of our victimology regardless of how horrific or traumatic our past may have been in order to co-create a much more empowering future; one full of infinite possibilities imbued with love, happiness, and peace. In doing so not only do we honor our ancestors but also future generations to come who will no longer have to inherit the stress and trauma of prior generations.



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Compassion Fatigue

5/2/2015

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Let’s begin by first identifying that I do not believe that there is such a thing as ‘Compassionate Fatigue’. What makes my identification even more interesting is that I’m writing this particular article from my oceanfront room at the beach because I am taking a much needed and overdue break from my practice in order to replenish my own energy levels. So I am very familiar with the quality of fatigue that can accumulate over time when working with individuals in distress. In which case, what exactly is it that I could be referring to when making such a radical and potentially unpopular claim?

‘Compassion Fatigue’ is often described as second-hand trauma; an extreme state of chronic tension and preoccupation with the suffering of those being helped to the degree that it is exhausting and traumatizing to the therapist. I do believe that this experience exists and that it is extremely prevalent within the mental health counseling field as well as other ‘helping’ professions. I just don’t believe that it occurs as a result of practicing compassion. Simply put; if one were truly practicing compassion one would not be fatigued, ‘burned out’ or traumatized as a result of doing this kind of work. In fact, it would be a very different kind of experience for the practitioner; one that is far more equanimous.

I chose to focus my attention on this subject in an attempt to bring awareness to a quality of ‘helping’ that will always be overlooked if we continue to participate in the mainstream identification and definitions of the experience known as ‘Compassion Fatigue’. This very different quality of ‘helping’ can actually create a greater potential for change and healing while allowing the therapist to increase their own capacity to facilitate such an experience for their clients.

So let’s take a closer look at what ‘compassion’ really is and what needs to be occurring in order to truly fulfill the definition of what it means to be ‘compassionate’. For this understanding I’ve chosen not to refer to Mr. Wikipedia or Ms. Merriam-Webster but instead to draw from my own experiences with the Buddhist monks and other wisdom teachers who have taught me through their actions, not their words, what it really means to practice compassion.

Compassion is an expression which truly originates from the heart. Once again, as in previous articles, we are reminded of the understanding that heart frequency is the highest frequency through which one can express while in physical form on this planet.  The key to this understanding is to be able to differentiate between what is heartful and what is not. My experience is that most expressions and demonstrations of what we, as a collective, call heartful or loving are not and the difference between what is and what isn’t is the key to understanding what compassion really is.

Compassion can only be experienced when one is detached.  Detachment is the opposite of being attached and has nothing to do with being disconnected; quite the opposite. It is the ability to be fully present, in the moment, regardless of what is occurring in that moment.  It is the ability to accept and absorb what is happening in the moment with love, reverence, and gratitude even when what is occurring is difficult. It is not controlling, judging, grasping, inserting, adjusting, organizing, projecting, defending, identifying, or resisting. It is the ability to allow yourself to feel and fully sensate what is occurring; to let it move through you and not get stuck in your mind or your body; to have the experience and be complete when the experience is complete.  Only when one is completely detached can love and compassion be truly expressed.  

I am not, by any means, suggesting that this is easy to put into practice which is why I’m writing this article while on a much needed break at the beach. I fully expect to be working on this for many lifetimes to come. What I am saying is that it’s important to begin to stretch and move towards this understanding and orientation in order to increase our capacity to create real significant and lasting change in our own lives as well as in the lives of those who seek us out for assistance in minimizing their distress and healing their trauma.

While in service to others within the therapeutic arena there is a strong tendency to be extremely attached to outcomes. These attachments are what create the experience referred to as ‘Compassion Fatigue’. The fatigue, exhaustion, and second-hand trauma develop from the conscious and unconscious identifications that what is occurring in the moment needs to look different and it is the therapist’s responsibility to ensure that it does. Therefore, the best place to begin fostering real compassion is by learning how to let go of our attachment to outcome.

What fundamentally gets in the way of our ability to let go of our attachment to a particular outcome is that all of our relationships are being informed by our unconscious attempts to fulfill our own emotional needs. The degree to which this occurs correlates directly to the extent that they were not fulfilled during our formative years by our primary caregivers. The tension that we feel in response to working with individuals who are distressed comes from the dissonance that we experience when sitting with their trauma and the subsequent judgments and projections that occur in an unconscious attempt to deflect the awareness that we are sitting with our own reflection. Sitting with trauma touches in on our own trauma imprinting. Subsequently, any attachment we have to the other’s experience or situation looking different is really coming from our inability to accept and come to terms with our own situation(s), past and present. This brings us back full circle to the understanding identified in the article “Finding a Therapist” in which the therapist is always trying to ‘rescue’ themselves through the work they facilitate with their clients despite any altruistic thoughts they may be harboring to the contrary. The fatigue is a result of the chronic tension experienced when the therapist keeps ‘bumping’ up against their own ‘shtuff’ and defends against the experience by projecting onto the client that the client’s experience needs to look different. By doing so, the therapist never has to deal with the discomfort and anxiety stemming from their own unresolved trauma imprinting.

Judgment and resistance is the tension that creates the experience of fatigue. Fatigue and compassion do not co-exist because compassion is the state of non-judgement and complete acceptance. Compassion can be achieved by practicing detachment. Evidence of compassion being present within the therapeutic relationship is determined by the practitioner’s ability to accept what is occurring in the moment. This, in turn, is being informed and limited by the practitioner’s ability to accept their own experience(s) which is always being influenced by the extent to which they are engaged in their own healing process.  Looking within to heal, resolve, and accept whatever has happened in the past that was distressing, uncomfortable, and traumatic dissolves whatever memory is still being held in the trillions of cells in the physical body. The trauma imprinting dissolves in response to one’s ability to accept rather than defend their experience. This, in turn, increases one’s capacity to practice true compassion which is the only authentic expression of love; the act of complete and total acceptance. The degree to which this can be extended to another is always going to be determined by one's ability to be compassionate with the self. Only then, can the other be truly ‘seen’, absent of any unconscious conditioning that how the other shows up needs to be in accordance with meeting one’s own needs.

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    Author

    Kate O'Connell is a licensed Child and Family Therapist with a private practice in Charlottesville, Virginia addressing the therapeutic needs of children, adults, adolescents, couples and families. Her extensive training in Intensive In-Home Services,  Addiction, Family Systems Therapy and Energy Medicine enables her to facilitate positive outcomes for her clients dealing with a variety of emotional and mental health issues.

    



    

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Copyright 2015 Kate O'Connell, LPC