In the photo, the two agouti mice are genetically identical. However, the blond mouse is obese and predisposed to diabetes and cancer. The brown mouse is the healthy result of a change in the mother’s diet. The groundbreaking findings showed that a diet that has been nutritionally enhanced can result in changes in genetic expression of offspring, as explained in a 2006 Discover magazine article about Jirtle’s research, which was aptly titled, DNA is Not Destiny: The New Science of Epigenetics Rewrites the Rules of Disease, Heredity and Identity.[4]
Jirtle gratefully accepted the award for himself and the Duke University lab, and also expressed his appreciation for the recognition of the fledgling science of Epigenetics.
Sponsors of the awards ceremony and workshop presenters at the event included leaders in the energy psychology and energy medicine fields. Epigenetics and energy medicine both recognize the primary role of environment and belief in health and wellbeing.
In their book, The Promise of Energy Psychology, David Feinstein, Ph.D., Donna Eden, and Gary Craig explain how energy psychology methods such as Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) work. When our emotions are triggered by a harmless sight, sound, smell, feeling or thought, that trigger connects us to a memory of a previous experience relating to physical danger or emotional threat. The trigger is recognized by the primitive area of the brain called the amygdala, which sends impulses to the autonomic nervous system that elicits a “fight, flight, or freeze” response in the body, resulting in both physical sensations and anger, fear, or the inability to take action. However, in between the memory and the emotional response to it, there is a disturbance in the body’s energy. In EFT, a series of acupuncture points are physically stimulated by tapping with the fingers to send impulses to the amygdala. These impulses cause a reduction in the number of neural connections between the image and the alarm response, and often, after one or more repetitions of this procedure, the situation can be remembered with no emotional charge.
Gary Craig, creator of EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques),[5] one of the most well known methods of energy psychology, also presented at the two-day event. He said that over one million copies of his free manual have been downloaded from his website, and over 400,000 subscribers receive his email newsletters. Craig said, “In my opinion, every health practitioner on the planet should consider skillfully using a form of energy medicine, such as EFT, before prescribing drugs, surgery, radiation or other invasive procedures. In my estimation and based on my observations, if this was done, it would reduce the cost of health care in the U.S. by 80 percent.”
Another presenter, the exuberant Donna Eden, author of Energy Medicine, said that “Energy is the very best medicine for your body. It is the oldest, safest, organic, most effective medicine on earth …. Energy medicine is both a complement to other approaches to medical care, and a complete system for self-care and self-help. It can address physical illness and mental disorders, and it can also promote high-level wellness and peak performance.”
Eden notes that Mehmet Oz, M.D., of Columbia University, recently stated on Oprah, “Energy medicine is the next big frontier in medicine.”
And through the groundbreaking work of Dr. Jirtle, Dr. Lipton, and other gifted professionals, the science of epigenetics is opening the doors to new understandings of health and wellness.
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