This Journey of Life (JoL) is fraught with risk and is a biggie, but where does it all begin?
Believe it or not, our JoL actually all begins even BEFORE you are conceived. Much of the genetic material that you ‘are gifted with’ at the moment of conception is significantly impacted by how happy and healthy both your Mom and Dad are.
Their stress levels, nutritional status, cellular integrity, chemical exposure, level of dis-ease or disease at, even their individual body mass indices, PRE-CONCEPTUALLY, will have a direct influence on you from the moment you are conceived. And of course, throughout the rest of your life.
This fact isn’t often taken into consideration by prospective parents. However, if prospective parents are serious about giving their children the best start in life, they will literally be ahead of the game if they take the time to improve their functional and co-efficient wellness before becoming parents.
From the very moment of conception, when the egg and the sperm first meet each other, there’s an instant ‘download of information’. This is called genetic inheritance. We inherit tons of information from not only Mom and Dad, but also from our entire genetic timeline.
Whatever ‘went into’ making your grandparents and your great, great great grandparents (and beyond!) is also downloaded into you. Quite scary, right?!
But that’s not where it ends… Not by a long way.
While you are developing in that warm, watery world for around 9 months, every experience – every feeling, every emotion, every vibrational sensation – and every interaction that your Mom is exposed to is also ‘downloaded’ into you. In fact, it’s a scientifically proven fact that if your Mom experienced a stressful pregnancy, you will never handle stress as effectively or efficiently as someone who’s Mom enjoyed a stress free, blissful pregnancy.
Once you arrive into this world, you continue the process of downloading every single byte of information that you are exposed to. In your formative years (from 0 to around 7 years old), this is a one-way download directly into the frontal cortex: the area of the brain that stores your memories, experiences and emotions. In fact, it stores everything you are exposed to right from the very moment you are born.
Throughout the formative years, the conscious brain (the decision-making part of the brain) is continually developing. It’s literally soaking up experience after experience, and using those experiences to help you figure out how to manage your life. This is how we learn what to do and what not to do, like touching a hot plate is very painful experience! So, parents of babies, toddlers and pre-teens are still the ‘guiding light’ for their children in most ways.
Bearing this in mind, your JoL (Journey of Life) also subjects you to all the risks and pitfalls of life – especially in those formative years. Unfortunately, even way past your formative years, you have very little control over the type of information your subconscious brain is bombarded with.
Even well-meaning parents, because of their own programming, their Journey of Life is Fraught with Risks and can set their kids up for poor self-esteem and self-worth. Examples are when parents instill a ‘poverty consciousness’ into their children, or feelings of ‘never being good enough’, ‘smart enough’ or ‘good looking’ enough.
These traits can become so ingrained into the subconscious part of our brains that we actually believe them to be true. (Even when we don’t know it consciously!) The negative ‘downloads’ we receive, the anti-nutrients we’re allowed to consume (read: junk food), the adverse childhood events we are exposed to… They all have the potential to set us up for believing and feeling that we’re unworthy, unhealthy, unhappy and/or unfulfilled.
The programming and risk factors don’t end once you’re through the formative years, either. It’s an on-going process throughout your JoL. Your friends, teachers, peers, bosses, extended family, role models (both good and bad), acquaintances and even your experiences on social media continue the process, pretty much forever.
I often describe the JoL as being at university except – unlike actually going to university – you never graduate from your JoL! However, just like if you were to attend varsity, not all the courses or teachers are enjoyable. There are detours, curve balls, potholes and some courses that you just have to battle your way through.
Life is sort of like that, too.
How then do we mitigate the risks and the ‘less than optimum’ programming we’ve been exposed to which can set us up for failure, instead of success?
Once the conscious brain (that clever decision-making part of your brain), matures sufficiently to the point of being able to make choices, we are then at the point of being able to make different choices. We are able to choose to develop different behaviour patterns that serve us better.
The problem?! Our subconscious brain is around 100,000x more powerful than the conscious brain… This means that you can tell yourself to “think positively” or not to stress, not to overeat, not to react negatively, to be confident, to refuse to become anxious over inconsequential things, etc, as many times as we wish. But if we haven’t repaired our ‘programming’ withing our subconscious brain, then these will all be fruitless exercises… Our programming – whatever and however we’ve conditioned during our formative years in particular – will win every time.
Our Journey of Life is Fraught with Risks and to make it a little tougher (not that anyone needs it in today’s times!): the older we get and the more often we hard wire these processes and conditioning into our subconscious, the more effort it takes to reprogram our subconscious.
There is hope, however. Through the power of neuroplasticity, the ability of the subconscious brain to be reprogrammed, we can alter our behaviour and reactionary patterns. We can definitely mitigate the risks that our JoL bombards us with.
HOW DO WE DO THIS?
- Read books that are positive, uplifting, motivational and provide clear tips and tricks on how to reprogram your subconscious
- Associate with the kind of people you would like to be like, so that you learn new programming by association
- Ensure that your cells are all functioning optimally: the only way to do this is by making healthy nutritional choices, drinking enough water, exercising, getting sufficient sleep, and by taking supplements to support your cellular function
- Practice the principles of Mindfulness
- Have a personal purpose
- Practice meditation, affirmations and visualizations
- Work in an environment that is uplifting and enjoyable
- Develop a flexible mindset
- Be community-orientated with a healthy circle of friends, and spend time with people you care about (and who care about you). If you can volunteer with a cause you are passionate about, even better!
- Be compassionate towards yourself and others
As Einstein once said, “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used to create them.”
Life doesn’t change by chance, it changes by choice.
The key is to realize that there has to be what I call a Mind State Re-Calibration. While all change is uncomfortable in the beginning, it’s by no means impossible.
Our Journey of Life is Fraught with Risks and making great changes in your life may require you to invest in your new JoL! You may well need to employ the services of a coach or mentor, just as many people employ the services of a personal trainer in order to get the most out of their gym sessions.
True Functional Wellness should be your ultimate goal. Functional Wellness is where you are naturally firing on all cylinders and feeling ‘bright eye’d and bushy tailed’. That vitality is palpable. It’s when you’re literally functioning on all levels (mentally, physically and emotionally) as your happiest, healthiest and most terrific self!
Because there’s a lot of myth and misconception around the subject of “Functional Medicine” in general (note: not Functional Wellness), book a Complimentary 30min Private 1-on-1 call with Dr Kevin direct to find out more about why Functional Wellness is important for you to understand and integrate into your lifestyle.
Author: Dr Kevin Lentin
PERSONAL PROFILE Dr Kevin Lentin is a revered business owner, chiropractor, personal coach and leadership mentor. He's also regularly invited to present to groups, and writes articles for print. Perhaps most importantly, however: he's incredibly passionate about LIFE and PEOPLE! After studying and working in America for four years, Dr Kevin returned to Cape Town, South Africa, and opened the doors to his private practice in 1985. Fast forward to 2020, and Dr Kevin now maximizes his diverse blend of education and experience with over 35,000 individuals with the purpose of educating, empowering and enriching the lives of others around the globe.
