The Archaeology of the Body

The world shrank so small that there was nothing safe to eat or wear. There was no air to breathe. The body had all the allergies, reactions, and diseases to prove it. Going out to dinner became an enjoyment of the past, since there was nothing on the menu that could be eaten, except lettuce (thoroughly washed, of course), and it was imperative to wear white gloves when picking up restaurant utensils! Even though we want to experience the thrill of exploration, there can be a lingering tug at the heartstrings when we see loved ones receding in the distance. What exactly are those tugging threads that hold us back? Some of the strings that hold us back are genuine love and attachment, but many are attachments of loyalty and guilt. Feeling Their Pain At certain times of life and in certain relationships, children often act as parents to their parents. This role reversal goes on more frequently than most of us would imagine. Our parents' need to be nurtured and protected is not lost on us; Reacting emotionally to our parents' pain and emotional needs, we treat them as if they were our fragile offspring. We don't see our parents as perfectly capable grown-ups, ready and able to get on with the rest of their lives. Instead, we see needy children. Short-term memory, whereas long-term memories are semantically encoded, depends on the visual and acoustic encoding. With activity, the brain simmers. Different neuron groups (nerve cells), responsible for different perceptions or thoughts, drift in and out of action. Memory is the reactivation of a particular group of neurons formed by constant changes in the strength of neuron-to-neuron connections. But what allows the reactivation of a specific combination of neurons over any other combination of neurons? Synaptic plasticity is the answer.

This term describes the persistent changes between brain cells in the strength of connections-called synapses. Depending on how and often they have been activated previously, these connections can be made stronger or weaker. Active links tend to get stronger, while those that are not used get weaker and can disappear entirely eventually. When neuron A constantly activates neuron B, a connection between two neurons becomes stronger, making it fire an action potential, and the link becomes weaker if neuron A continually fails to make neuron B fire a spike. Then, with the learning of one core truth, the whole pattern unraveled. What is held in mind tends to manifest--including unconscious beliefs. The culprit was not the world but the mind. All the negative programming and fearful conditioning was in the mind, and the body obeyed the mind. This law of consciousness reversed the spiraling paranoia. As each internal belief was looked at and let go, all the negative bodily reactions, diseases, and symptoms disappeared. In other words, it was not poison-ivy leaves that caused an allergic reaction but the mind's belief that poison ivy was an allergen. As the mind let go of its programming, the body's reactions cleared. THE PROCESS OF SELF-HEALING What is the process of self-healing? The mistake to avoid here is to believe that compassion for your parents' pain means that you should stay behind to help them cope with it. They already have ways of coping with it. We don't realize what tough old birds they really are, as we stay fixated on that damaged inner child of theirs. At their age, they are by definition successful survivors. They know how to get their needs met in ways that work for them. If you have not been able to follow through on your dreams, one major reason might be that you are a very sensitive person who's holding yourself back because of guilt-induced loyalty.

The inner conflict we're talking about here is between rescuing your parents and living your own life. The Secret Strength in Sensitivity Sensitive, empathic people are extremely strong psychologically. Think about it. Long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD) are called lasting rises and decreases in synaptic strength. For memory formation, changing the strength of existing synapses, or even adding new ones or removing old ones, is critical. But there is also proof that another type of plasticity might be important for memory formation, not directly involving synapses. Brand new neurons can be created in some parts of the adult brain, such as the significant memory structure known as the hippocampus, in a process called neurogenesis. Studies in older mice have shown that memory can be improved through increasing neurogenesis in the hippocampus. Exercise has been shown in humans to increase the volume of the hippocampus, suggesting that new neurons are being created, and at the same time to improve memory task performance. For different memories, various 'neuron ensembles. As a five-year-old, you might have imagined a drawing of a house if you were given the word' house. This is because the interactions between neurons have altered the perception and memories, making the old 'home' ensemble less likely to occur than the current 'house' ensemble. Recalling a memory, in other words, means re-activating a certain group of neurons. What are the consciousness techniques we can apply to bring about a reversal of dis-ease? We begin by letting go of resisting the sensations we are experiencing, and we stop labeling them. For example, we cannot experience a duodenal ulcer or asthma. These are labels, mental constructs, elaborate programs, and belief systems. We go into the inner experience of the exact sensations and let go of resisting them. In effect, we will eventually disappear them through aligning with them by welcoming the inner experiences of the sensations.

At the same time, within the mind, we cancel any labels. We stop calling it an ulcer and instead go into the inner sensation of it. The inner sensation may be a pressure or a burning. Even the words burning and pressure are labels. If you are empathic, you not only carry your own feelings and problems, but you also respond to your loved ones' emotional needs at the same time. Your sensitivity will not allow you to rest until you can come up with a way not to hurt the feelings of loved ones as you pursue your goals. Sensitive individuals tend to take on formidable family problems18,19. There are experienced CEOs who would think twice before taking on the management of a high-maintenance corporation like the family. Intelligent, sensitive children with enormous psychological resources are often the only ones who can afford to tackle the family's problems, even at great cost to their own development. They're the ones who have the inner strength to constantly monitor the tension between their wishes and the needs of loved ones. Survivor Guilt Having a happier, healthier life than that of your family members can stir up terrific guilt, as if the only way to be loyal is to be just as miserable as they are. Let's take a look at one person's struggle with this. Elaine's Story The premise is that synaptic plasticity makes this possible by previously changing the strengths of individual synaptic connections. By modifying the ties between neurons, memories are retained. A certain group of neurons (Ensemble A) will be stimulated by a five-year-old boy, while adults will activate another ensemble (Ensemble A') with the same stimulus. The connecting strengths between neurons can be changed by synaptic plasticity driven by repeated experience. This is because the neuronal responses to the same input can be different. For memory storage, sleep is another essential aspect.

The hippocampus and neocortex engage in a carefully choreographed conversation during sleep in which the hippocampus replays recent events: during slow-wave sleep, the same hippocampal neurons active during an encounter are triggered again, over and over again in a time-compressed way, helping to update the neocortex as to what needs to be processed. This replay happens only during sleep, so you're not letting your brain consolidate memories if you're skimping on sleep. H ow many times have you to concentrate on a task, only to observe that your mind is wandering? You just can't concentrate, despite your best intentions. We cancel those and again go into the core, the absolute essential, of what we are physically experiencing, and then let go of resisting that experience. Steps for Self-Healing To put it simply, the consciousness technique of radical truth has these five steps in healing a particular illness: Letting go of resisting the sensory experience of it. No longer putting names or labels on it. Using no words at all in the welcoming of the experience of the inner sensations. Canceling the mental label, thought form, and belief system, and replacing it with the truth: I no longer believe in that. I am an infinite being, and I am not subject to that. I am only subject to what I hold in mind. Choosing the energy field of Love, which heals. Elaine was a high functioning, got-it-all-together bank vice president. She came to see me in a crisis after her alcoholic sister had been locked up for assaulting a policeman. Elaine's parents were both dead and her sister was the only family she had left. For the past two years, Elaine had been stuck with picking up after her sister's escapades, interceding with exasperated employers, or finding new people to give her sister a chance. Usually her sister's drinking and abusive behavior started up again soon after these interventions, frustrating Elaine to no end. Yet Elaine hung in there, functioning for two people, trying to keep up with her job duties while nervously keeping one eye on her sister's addiction.