Secrets of Your Cells: Discovering Your Body's Inner Intelligence (27 page)

If you know that you have cancer cells in your body, imagine what they look like. Biological accuracy is not necessary—how do you
perceive
them? Now allow yourself to imagine something that will eliminate those cells. For example, you might imagine the cancer cells as dust mites and the eliminator as a vacuum cleaner. Make sure the eliminating force is larger and stronger than the tumor cells.

Once all the abnormal cells are removed, picture new, healthy tissue developing. Take as long as you need for the process and then bring your awareness back to your breath and this present moment.

Repair and Cover Up

Since our cells make errors all the time and abnormal cells do exist in our bodies, this script focuses on changing abnormal genes.

Take time to relax the same way as for the previous exercise. Now imagine or intend that any errors in your genes are corrected. Picture the spiral DNA pairs being made to match perfectly, removing or correcting all the errors in your genetic repertoire.

Alternatively, you can envision preventing these genes from being expressed by covering them up with new proteins that adhere to them, keeping them hidden.

Allow your imagination to guide you in the way abnormal genes are taken out of action. See all of your genes as healthy and whole. Take as long as you need for the process and then bring your awareness back to your breath and the present moment.

Draw or write what you experienced.

The divine choreography of our DNA—its spiraling strands and ability to program both reproduction and self-sacrifice—brings us once more to life and death. Embedded within our cells is the ability to detect and correct errors in coded genetic messages. When correction is impossible, a gentle death is initiated. We know that ultraviolet radiation from the distant sun can penetrate and mutate the gene. And what about cigarette smoke that somehow is breathed into the cell, altering the gene structure so that faulty proteins are made? If invisible agents can initiate damaging changes, can we use the invisible laser of our energy or imagination to cut out or hide the damaged sections? Ancient healing practices including walking the labyrinth and chanting may provide valuable assistance for transforming our inevitable cellular errors.

BODY PRAYER

Giving Thanks

This is an easy practice you can do anytime. Assume the qigong Standing Home stance and begin spiraling your waist and body as instructed earlier in this chapter. As you spiral, give thanks to all of your cells for carrying you, holding you, and keeping you healthy. You and they are engaged in a glorious collaboration—creating your life. Add any other thank-yous that come to mind.

Life’s Purpose

Each cell has a purpose, a reason to thrive while supplying its particular skills to the rest of the cellular community. Each has a place in our unique, invisible universe. We, too, have a purpose: to be alive and to thrive. Eckhart Tolle suggests that we ask, “What does life want from me?” Our cells live for a finite time, and we, too, have only so long before our spirits leave our bodies. What do we need to do before we go?
I believe that we each carry within us our legacy, our reason for being here. Our life’s journey is to find out what we are here to create and do the best we can to express it fully and for the benefit of all.

REFLECTION

Where in my life am I the most creative?

How do I envision my ideal cells?

What is my main purpose right now?

Where do I notice spirals in my own life?

What must I do before I die?

Chapter 7

Memory–Learn

All memories (wounds and joys) are woven . . . in the human biography and attached to qualities of time within the body in the muscles, organs, even the bones, and in physiological rhythms. These rhythms also exist in the vast realms of soul and/or spirit, and are activated by the olfactory and auditory systems.

— THERESE SCHROEDER-SHEKER “Music for the Dying: The New Field of Music-Thanatology,”
Advances: The Journal of Mind-Body Health

The Heart’s Tears

H
ave you ever had to go wholeheartedly into the world when you had a broken heart?

The first time I unwound a pattern of past body memories, my heart was broken. It was filled with rage. I wasn’t sure I could cope with the intensity swirling inside and do my work at the same time. I truly wanted to share what I knew, though, and to do so I had to calm my aching heart.

I had been invited to teach an oncology staff the practices I had found useful for healing and reducing stress. It was an exciting opportunity to
go into a clinical setting to teach health professionals who worked with patients. The person who had invited me, the oncologist who ran the clinic, had also been my lover—a week before this planned event, we had broken up. Now what? Do I still go, or do we cancel? We talked about it and agreed that we should remain professional despite our personal challenges and go ahead with the program; his staff had been looking forward to it for months.

The clinic was hundreds of miles away. On the long drive I realized how hurt, sad, and angry I was. I checked into a hotel, spent a fitful night, and awoke upset. More accurately, I was an emotional mess, and I knew full well that it’s impossible to teach healing methods when you’re emotionally distraught yourself. What to do?

It can be easy to reach a peaceful state when your life is relatively calm, but not so when it feels like you’re falling apart. It was an evening class, so I had some time, and I used it to try to quiet myself. I took a long walk on the beach. I practiced qigong. I prayed. I meditated. Hours later, I had to admit that nothing had worked. Then I remembered something I had taught to patient groups before but rarely did myself. By then I figured I had nothing to lose.

I spent about an hour doing this practice and felt myself growing increasingly peaceful and centered. It was so effective, in fact, that I actually became excited about teaching again, delivering practical skills that I knew would make a difference to this oncology staff and their patients. When it was time for the class, the calm I had achieved persisted, even, to my amazement, when
he
unexpectedly showed up.

What this experience taught me is that our cells can be brought into a peaceful state even when that seems unlikely emotionally or even impossible. How our cells set up memories within our muscles and our minds is the subject of this chapter.

Having now taught this particular set of practices to thousands of people, many of whom were survivors of 9/11, I know its possibilities and healing potential. I offer it here for you to experience directly before we get into the science of this chapter. Some of us learn best through
experience and only then become interested in intellectual discourse. After you have explored this practice, I will break down the instructions and discuss how they affect you at the level of your sacred cells.

EXPLORATION

Gratitude and “Re-minding” Our Cells
¹

Set aside about fifteen to twenty minutes in a safe place where you will be undisturbed. Have a journal or notebook handy to record your experience after this exploration. After you read these instructions, relax and close your eyes to do the practice. You can also read this aloud and record it, or go to my website (
sondrabarrett.com/communication-2
) to listen to and download the Gratitude exercise.

Find a comfortable place to sit or lie down. Close your eyes. Feel the places where your body touches the chair or floor. Let yourself be held by the surface you are sitting or lying on. Become aware of your breath as it moves in and out of your nostrils. You might notice a difference in temperature as it flows in and out. Follow the rise and fall of your chest or belly, noticing how deeply you take in each breath. Become aware of its rhythm. Stay with the rhythm of your breathing for a few moments before continuing.

In this exploration, you will imagine, sense, or even pretend that a particular place in your body is breathing. Stay in each place with your awareness until you are ready to move on.