Molecules of Emotion

Candace Pert, Ph.D., makes her 8 suggestions for living a healthy lifestyle towards the end of her book Molecules of Emotion.
She can also be seen in the film What The Bleep Do We Know.
Her specialty is, after years of research in the area of receptor sites and studying the emotional information that is passed from cell to cell, to help us understand how it all works. Equipped with this information we can make better choices in our lives, directing us towards a healthier future.
Here are her 8 recommendations:
1) Becoming Conscious - full consciousness is physical, mental and emotional. We "listen in" on the conversation going on at the automatic levels of our nervous system, breathing, digestion, immunity, pain control and blood flow. This is where decisions towards health and disease are made from minute to minute.
2) Accessing the Psychosomatic Network - blood flow to our brains can be blocked due to denial, repression or tauma. This can leave you foggy and less alert. By learning to bring your awareness to memories stored in the very receptors of your cells, you can release yourself from these blocks. This is the main benefit of therapy.
3) Tapping into your Dreams - you can integrate awareness of emotions into your lifestyle by developing the daily habit of recalling and transcribing your nighttime dreams. Your consciousness in the form of a dream happens due to the biochemicals of emotion, as the body and mind retune themselves each night. Information you gather from your dreams can be very helpful towards healing yourself.
4) Getting in Touch with Your Body - you can also gather healing information from an awareness of how your skin, spinal cord, and organs are functioning, as another way to understand the role emotions play in our lives.
5) Reduce stress - meditation is the most effective tool for this. It allows the release of stuck emotions that are interferring with our health.
6) Exercising - make sure you engage your emotions and make it fun to workout. This might mean adding music, going for a walk in a pretty place. Make sure there is lots of feedback between your body and your mind to avoid overdoing it and to prevent injury. Keep asking yourself how you are feeling during a session.
7) Eating Wisely - eating is a very emotionally charged activity. That's where the expression "I have a gut feeling about that" comes from. By tuning into your emotions, as information about your digestive process, you can develop your ability to know what your body needs in the way of nourishmet and when.
8) Avoid Substance Abuse - we have our own natural "feel good" chemicals circulating in us at all times. Introducing something from the outside that competes with our own chemicals, causes our natural feedback loop to collapse, leaving only a small number of our own natural chemicals and a craving for those "outsiders".

American Mania: When More Is Not Enough

Here are a few excerpts from Peter C. Whybrow’s book American Mania: When More Is Not Enough
“If as Americans we are to enjoy the benefits of the Fast New World and to avoid its pitfalls, we must first control the mania that it induces. We live in a culture in which our acquisitive cravings have been promoted beyond our needs, and the demand and strain, which that craving now inflicts on mind and body, are beginning to exceed the flexibility inherent in our biological heritage.”
“—we have accumulated a mountain of personal debt. This debt, which in a time of diminished economic activity is increasingly difficult to service, now burdens the average American family and helps drive our treadmill-like existence.”
These are the suggestions from his book and on his website called T.O.M. Rules. Check it out at American Mania

RULE #1

TIME IS KEY: IT’S YOURS, SO USE IT WISELY
Scheduling isn’t what is important. Making every moment meaningful is the goal. Time is finite and should be cherished, protected and “invested” wisely. Setting priorities and making choices consistant with your purpose helps to plant the seeds for geuine personal and family happiness.


RULE #2

YOU’RE THE BOSS. MAKE TECHNOLOGY WORK FOR YOU, NOT VICE-VERSA

Technology is a two edged sword. It has the power to overload and addict us. The average American is targeted with 3,000 advertising messages a day. It takes diligent practice and support to succeed at holding back these unwanted intrusions into our lives. Technology can be a valuable tool when used to serve our genuine priorities and goals.

RULE #3

TAKE CHARGE OF YOUR APPETITE FOR FOOD. EAT RESPONSIBLY, PREFERABLY WITH FRIENDS

We evolved genetically from environments where food was scarse. There are few natural constraints to eating. We receive weak signals to say that we are full, especially when we gobble down our meals. The answer is to eat slowly in the company of others. Be sure to be aware of the quality of what you are eating and savor your meal.

RULE #4
HONOR YOUR BODY

We have been told that multitasking is desirable in our turbo charged culture. The process of switching back and forth rapidly from one thing to another is exhausting and can even be dangerous, in the car for example. Stick to one activity at a time and put your full attention on one thing at a time whenever possible.
In our busy, sedentary lives, exercise gets neglected. Try to put new activities into your schedule, like walking during breaks at work with your coworkers, taking the stairs. Plan your day around your gym schedule.
Be realistic when deciding your daily schedule. Allow for traffic jams and enjoy some music while you wait. Try not to overschedule family activities and allow for “serendipity” time to interact spontaneously. Interacting with the real world, in real time, with real people in your life is the best way to break the mania cycle.

Don’t substitute frenzied activity