NICABM BruceLipton Brain2014

Epigenetics: What Really
Controls Our Genes and

Why We Dont Have to Be
Victims of Our DNA
A Webinar Session with
Ruth Buczynski, PhD
and Bruce Lipton, PhD
Epigenetics: What Really Controls Our Genes and Why We Dont Have to Be Victims of Our DNA
Epigenetics: What Really Controls Our Genes and Why We Dont Have
to Be Victims of Our DNA
Contents
(Click on the section title to jump to the page)
Epigenetics and Why It Matters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

How Life Experiences Change Our Genes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
How Beliefs Connect to Genetic Expression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Experience Influences Our Genes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
How Experiences - Positive or Negative - Affect our Genes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Fractal Geometry and Genetics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Brain Programming during Gestation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
An Explanation of Relationships via Epigenetics and Quantum Physics. . . . . . . .18
TalkBack Segment with Ron Siegel, PsyD and Kelly McGonigal, PhD . . . . . . . . . 24
What Stood Out Most . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
How Epigenetics Puts Life in Our Hands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Ways to Adjust Lifestyle to Improve Overall Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Being More Aware of the Acts of the Conscious Mind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
The Most Exciting Areas of Epigenetics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
About the Speakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
The National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioral Medicine

www.nicabm.com
Epigenetics: What Really Controls Our Genes and Why We Dont

Have to Be Victims of Our DNA
with Ruth Buczynski, PhD
and Bruce Lipton, PhD
Dr. Buczynski: Hello everyone and welcome.
I am Dr. Ruth Buczynski, a licensed psychologist in the State of Connecticut and the President of the
National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioral Medicine.
Welcome to this series on The New Brain Science.
Tonight we have an especially great webinar for you and it is on epigenetics. This is such an important area
to understand and to see the implications of epigenetics for really all of life.
We have an expert with us Bruce Lipton. He spoke years ago at a conference at Hilton Head and I was
in awe of his ability to bring science to our field, and make it real and clear to so many people.
Bruce Lipton is a cell biologist, has a doctorate from Stanford University and has done a lot of the
groundbreaking stem cell research. He is the author of The Biology of Belief as well as The Honeymoon
Effect.
I dont want to spend a lot of time talking about Bruce because I want to jump right in and talk with Bruce.
So, welcome, Bruce, its good to see you again.
Dr. Lipton: Ruth, Im so happy to be here to have the honor of talking to your audience.
Your audience, without even knowing it, has been leading a cultural evolution, and that is really important.
They started to move into this nature of how behavior influences health, and this is the area that science
is now just unfolding.
To the pioneers, one and all my deepest appreciation for taking that step out of the box!
Dr. Buczynski: Thanks!
Epigenetics and Why It Matters

I guess Id like to start with a general question because there are a lot of people here who have listened to
us when weve talked before, but there are many people who are new tonight. Lets just start with what is
epigenetics and why it matters?
Dr. Lipton: Epigenetics is the leading edge of science right now, and it is a revolution.
It is a complete revolution. We have been programmed with a belief of genetics, which is the story of how
genes are ultimately the primary cause of our existence and our expression.
Genes create traits and traits are our lives, and the genes are passed down from parent to child through
reproduction.
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We get a set of genes from our mother and father. These genes come together and unfold and here we are.
When we talk about genetics, we come with the belief that the genes
control us: they control our traits; they control the characters of our
lives.
And then we recognize, But wait. Did I pick these genes? The
answer is we dont know probably not, but maybe we did. The idea
is that our traits are controlled by these genes.
When we talk
about genetics,
we come with the
belief that the
genes control us.
If we are really troubled by the traits we have or want to change the

traits, then can we change the genes? The answer is no.
But then, all of a sudden, you realize one very important fact: genes control our lives, we didnt pick them,
and we cant change them.
If we are victims of
our genes, meaning
genes control our
lives, what can we
do about it?
By definition, we acquire a belief about genes as we are victims of our

heredity, meaning genes control our lives. What can we do about it?
When people buy into victim, that becomes a problem right there
because then they stop trying to take care of themselves. They realize
that is not in their domain but it is the domain of other people.
Victim means you have to go get a rescuer. That is the story we

grew up with, and that is the story that the books are still saying right now especially college or high
school books they keep talking about genes controlling life.
The new science is called epigenetics and it sounds almost the same
but there is a prefix, epi and epi is the source of a revolution.
Epi means above. When I say, skin integument, I also can refer to it as
epidermis, meaning the layer above the dermis. If I say epigenetics,
then what I am saying is control above the genes.
The new science,

epigenetics, is
conrol above the
genes.
Then people will say, Wait a minute we thought genes turned on and off . . .
But genes do not turn on and off; genes have no self-control; genes are blueprints.
We now know that some action has to select a blueprint and read a blueprint and all of a sudden we
realize that the action isnt controlled by the genes.
Genes do not
turn on and
off genes are
blueprints.
The action is controlled by the environment and our perception of the

environment.
That action becomes very significant because if our genes and our life are
controlled by our relationship to the environment, then we are not necessarily
victims anymore.
We are the ones, who can change the environment or change our perception of the environment, and in that
case, we have control above the genes we have epigenetics.
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Here is the profound difference: we go from a belief that our health

is the consequence of being a victim of our mechanical biology to
realizing that our health is predominantly under the control of our
perception and our environment.
This becomes a change from victim to master and this is why it is
so important.
Our health is
predominantly
under the control of
our perception and
our environment.
How Life Experiences Change Our Genes

Dr. Buczynski: Lets get into this idea of how life experiences can change our genes. What evidence is
there to back that up?
Dr. Lipton: Lets first understand how epigenetics came about.
I was, fortunately there forty-six years ago now back in 1967 cloning stem cells not just finding stem
cells but cloning stem cells. I was culturing stem cells, and while doing that, I was teaching students about
how genes control life.
As I was cloning stem cells, I wanted to get the stem cell definition clear. A stem cell is just another name
for an embryonic cell.
If I took a tissue biopsy from you a moment before you were born and looked at some of the cells, I would
call these embryonic cells. If I took the same tissue biopsy moments after you were born, I would call
these stem cells.
What it really means is this: once you are born, I cant call these cells embryonic, but they are embryonic.
Stem cells are

multi-potential.
Stem cells are multi-potential and we have them throughout our body.
Every day we lose hundreds of billions of our normal cells through damage
and attrition, just old age.
That means every day you have to replace hundreds of billions of your
cells. The question is: Where do they come from?
The answer is: new cells come from a reserve population of stem cells scattered throughout your body that
function as embryonic cells to re-grow you every day!
We have these embryonic cells stem cells whatever
you want to call them at this stage and I was cloning
them.
Here is the experiment that blew my mind it presaged by
about some twenty-some years the science of epigenetics.
I was growing stem cells in a culture. I put one stem cell

in a culture dish by itself. It divides every ten or twelve
hours, so first there is one, then there are two, four, eight,
sixteen. . .
New cells come from a

reserve population of stem
cells scattered throughout
your body that function as
embryonic cells to re-grow
you every day!

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After a week in culture, I have about fifty thousand cells all from that one stem cell. But the most important
point is they are genetically identical they all came from the same parent cells. I have fifty thousand
genetically identical embryonic cells.
But here is what I do: I take some of those stem cells out of that culture dish that I am growing them in and
I put them in a different culture dish I change the environment.
So, what does that mean? What is the environment for a cell?
I take stem cells from

a culture dish that I am
growing them in and
put them in a different
culture dish I change
the environment.
First of all, cells are like fish; they live in fluid. Thats why if
you cut yourself open, all the fluid leaks out. We are an aquarium
inside.
The environment is reflected in the composition of whatever I put
into that culture medium.
So I take the cells out of my stem cell dish and put them into
another culture dish and I change the environment, and this means
that I change the chemistry of the culture medium a little bit.
Now, in this dish, the cells form muscle. Then, I go back to the original stem cell dish, get some more of
the cells out, and put them into a second Petri dish with yet a different culture environment and they
form bone.
I go back to the same dish and get more of the stem cells and put them into a third Petri dish into a third
and little bit different environment and the cells form fat cells.
Now we are left with a very profound question: what controls
the fate of the cells? The answer is as simple as this: they
were all genetically identical. The only difference was the
environment, and in this case, the culture environment the
fluid in which the cells grew.
This is the new understanding that led to epigenetics. The
signals that control the genetic expression are not in the genes
but are coming from the environment.
The signals that control

the genetic expression
are not in the genes but
are coming from the
environment.
This whole new understanding led me to an important realization that basically says this: when we look in
the mirror, we see ourselves as individual entities that yes, each of us is a single human being.
A human being is a
skin-covered Petri dish
with fifty trillion cells
inside, and the culture
medium is the blood.
By definition, I am a human being comprised of fifty trillion

cells. The cells of a single living entity named Bruce are a
community of fifty trillion cells.
That means we can think about it this way: a human being is
a skin-covered Petri dish with fifty trillion cells inside, and the
culture medium is called blood.
In fact, when we define or decide how to make a culture medium for cells, we try to match it to the blood.
A culture medium is a synthetic, and in this case, blood.
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In a plastic dish, we create the culture medium to complement the blood. So in your skin-covered Petri
dish, you have fifty trillion cells with a culture medium, which is your blood.
Why is this relevant? The answer is this: to the cell, it makes no
difference if it is in a plastic culture dish or inside a skin-covered
culture dish the fate of the cell is still controlled by the environmental
information, which is called culture medium.
The culture medium of the blood is what controls the cells inside our
skin-covered dish.
The fate of the cell

is controlled by
the environmental
information.
We then come to the next most important question: since the composition of the culture medium is
connected to the expression of the cells, what controls the chemical composition of the blood?
The answer comes down to this: it is the brain. The brain is releasing neurochemicals and neurohormones,
the regulatory agents that are coordinating and conducting the concentrations of different elements in the
blood.
So, that means the brain is the chemist the brain creates the culture medium and by definition, the
information coming in that culture medium controls the fate of the cells. That is a scientific connection it
is totally real.
The brain is the chemist

the brain creates the culture
medium, which controls the
fate of the cells.
But then we have the next most important question. The

brain controls the chemistry, which in turn controls the
epigenetics, the expression of the cells, but what chemistry
should the brain release?
All of a sudden we jump to another level and it goes like
this: it is related to the mind.
The function of the brain is to connect the cells of our body with the environment outside so that the cells
can adjust their biology, just like cells in a Petri dish are adjusting to the environment.
But the issue is this: my liver cells cannot see the outside directly, so that is why the nervous system
connects my awareness of the outside, through all my receptors, to the brain.
My brain transmits the information to the cells, which controls
their behavior so that the cells are still in harmony with what is
going on in the environment.
The nervous system is between the environment and the cells, and
then theres another aspect not just perception, but interpretation.
The function of the

brain is to connect
the cells of our body
with the environment
outside.
Interpretation is really what the mind is doing. Two people can

be in exactly the same environment but through their different
interpretations, they can read it totally differently, seeing two different worlds in the exact same place.
What information do the cells get about the environment? What do we perceive?
Perception is converted into the chemistry released by the brain, which then goes to the cells and, via
epigenetics, controls the genes.
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Perception is converted
into the chemistry
released by the brain,
which then goes to the
cells and, via epigenetics,
controls the genes.
All of a sudden, we have this mind/body connection a

physical, mechanical connection. The minds energy, which
is involved with neurological function, is what ultimately
determines which secretions come out of that brain.
Heres the simple point and I will close on this part: I open
my eyes and I see someone I love. The perception of that
person and the interpretation of love from that person lead me
to release chemicals from the brain that match the perception.
Love is associated with dopamine release; it is associated with vasopressin release; it is associated with
oxytocin release; it is associated with growth hormone release.
Very interesting: if I take the chemicals just released by the
brain in the perception of love and add them to a plastic culture
dish of cells, the cells grow exuberantly well.
All of a sudden you realize why people who fall in love almost
always are exuberant in their own health; they glow with love
because the chemistry going into the culture medium of love is
a chemistry of health and growth.
If I take the chemicals

just released by the
brain in the perception
of love and add them
to a plastic culture
dish of cells, the cells
grow exuberantly well.
Now that same person opens their eyes and sees something that
scares them. They are not going to release the chemistry of love
they start to release cortisol, inflammatory and stress agents into the blood.
Two different chemical

compositions of love
chemicals versus fear
chemicals and the
result is two different
biologies.
If I add these agents to a plastic Petri dish, they will cause the
cells to shut down their growth and the cells begin to die. That is
why fear causes death fear shuts down the cells.
Again, the significance is that the same individual can have two
different perceptions two different chemical compositions being
controlled by the brain of love chemicals versus fear chemicals
and the result is two different biologies.
We now have a whole scientific lineage on how a thought turns

into a chemical released by the brain, which goes into the blood the culture medium, which then goes to
the surface of the cell where the receptors pick up the signals.
The receptors send the information to the genes and adjust the genetics. We are not victims of our genes
our life is controlled by our perceptions.
That is where all of the new medicine has to go a recent
article revealed that. Originally, I said in my book that
it is about five percent, but its now down to about one
percent of illnesses are related to genes.
We are beginning to see that lifestyle and responses to

life are responsible for the vast majority of illness on this
planet.
The receptors send the

information to the genes
and adjust the genetics. We
are not victims of our genes
our life is controlled by
our perceptions.

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How Beliefs Connect to Genetic Expression

Dr. Buczynski: I would like to bring us back and recycle over that again. How do beliefs affect us and
in what sense are beliefs connected to genetic expression?
Dr. Lipton: The concept of cells being controlled by environmental signals leads us to the first important
point: what are the environmental signals that cells respond to?
Cells live in a culture medium in a plastic dish and we
call it a culture medium. In the body, this culture medium
is the blood. The chemistry of that blood is where the
signals come from.
We are beginning to see

that lifestyle and responses
to life are responsible for
the vast majority of illness.
Those are environmental signals. Whether there is

estrogen or testosterone or serotonin or dopamine
whatever is out there the cells are reading the chemistry. The cells are reading their environment just as
much as we see or hear or smell. Cells read their environmental signals.
The cells, to stay alive, have to respond to these environmental signals. By reading the signals, the signals
adjust the behavior of the cell so that the cell becomes a complement to the environment the cell lives in
harmony with the environment.
If you are being chased by a saber-toothed tiger, you have to run and if there is a peaceful environment,
you can relax. You are reading the environment and adjusting your biology.
Its as simple an understanding as this: you go outside and it is hot. The temperature on the outside is being
picked up by the nervous system and then that information is then used to adjust your biology or your
metabolism and you start to perspire and cool off.
The cells are

reading their
environment just
as much as we see
or hear or smell.
If you go out and it is cold, that signal information is picked up by the

nervous system, interpreted and then, to keep you alive and your body
temperature right, your metabolism is raised to heat up.
Basically, whether your metabolism and your body temperature go
up or down is not controlled by the body per se; it is controlled by the
environmental signal.
Of course, there are all kinds of signals: there are signals that promote growth and there are signals that
promote the need for protection. The biology has to read these signals.
So we are back in the body. The cells are reading environmental signals
from the blood.
The cell lives in

harmony with the
environment.
The environmental signals are really the result of signals sent by the
brain to inform the community of cells what is going on in their world
so that the cells, the fifty trillion cells that make up a body, can coordinate their behavior and their action
to keep you alive.
Environmental signals come through the blood to coordinate behavior and action that is the function, the
behavior, the genetics, the expression of the cells.
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Again, the signals from the blood are based on the brains response to the environment.
What, basically, is the source of control for our biology? The answer is: the signals from the environment.
Environmental signals
come through the
blood to coordinate
behavior and action.
Signals from the environment will determine which behaviors are

going to be expressed and which change is going to be read.
If I change my response to the environment, then I change the
signals going from my nervous system to my cells, and in doing
that, I change the genetics and the behavior of the cell.
We really come down to this basic understanding: the brains chemical control of blood, which in turn has
the signals that control the genes, which is the direct connection between brain action and the biological
expression of our body and our health and our behavior.
When we ask: Where did you get your perceptions from? What did you learn about the environment to
respond to it this way or that way? In the end, it comes down to this: what we acquire from our experiences
programs our biology.
Experience Influences Our Genes
Dr. Buczynski: I have often understood epigenetics as leading us to the conclusion that experience is
what influences our genes. Lets take it from there: why do we think that experience influences our genes?
Dr. Lipton: First of all, the knowledge of how we
respond to life is based on our experiences. It is
habituation. This is how you learn how to do anything
in life.
You experience and then you create a response to it,
and after you repeat the experience and the response,
it becomes habit at some point. Our experiences shape
these behaviors.
If I change my response to the

environment, then I change
the signals going from my
nervous system to my cells,
and I change the genetics and
the behavior of the cell.
Once we start to learn, the experiences we have are being programmed and there is a reason for this.
In order to function in society, there are so many rules you have to learn . . . Who is in charge? We have to
learn how to say what to whom. A parent talks differently to a child than this same person talks to another
adult. The parent talks differently to a policeman than to another person. Every one of these is a different
form of behavior and that becomes really important.
What we acquire
from our experiences
programs our biology.
If I want to be a member of my society, then I have to have a

knowledge of this behavior how to do this because otherwise I
wont fit in.
So, when does a child learn all this?

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Here comes the interesting part. We now know that in the last trimester
of pregnancy and in the first seven years of our lives, our brains are
operating at a lower EEG frequency than conventional consciousness
primarily theta, which is expressed as a state of imagination.
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After you repeat

the experience
and the response,
it becomes habit.
Theres a reason for this. When kids, especially from two to seven,
are functioning in theta, they share a world, the real world, with their
imaginary world. They blend them together. This is the experience of a child.
This is not just a coincidence theres a reason why, and it goes like this: in order to be conscious, you
have to have data.
I will give a simple example. Lets say I buy an iPod and I take it out of the box a fresh iPod out of the
box, and I push the play button. Well think of play as consciousness it creates the playlist you
create with that one.
Now, you have that brand-new iPod out of the box and you push the play button and nothing happens.
When kids, especially

from two to seven, are
functioning in theta,
they share a world,
the real world, with
their imaginary world.
Somebody says to you, No, no you cant have anything happen

unless you put some programs in the hard drive, and then you can
select from the programs and create a playlist. The same thing
happens with consciousness.
Consciousness needs data. During a childs first seven years, the
brain is functioning at theta as a primary brain activity, and theta
is hypnosis!
What does that mean? An individual child experiences life, and

from those experiences, sees the repetition of those experiences. The child sees these repeat patterns and
the repetition of patterns create a habit.
Once that pattern is seen again, the child doesnt have to relearn it; the child knows it every time. This
development is necessary for us to be conscious.
So, what do children learn in the first seven years? They learn how to be a member of a culture by
observing their parents, their siblings, and their community and more importantly for their own health,
children learn who they are in that community.
How does a child know who he/she is? The answer is simply this: other
people tell children who they are as they are in this hypnotic state of
recording: You are a wonderful, loving child. You are the most beautiful
child ever. You can do anything in the world.
Consciousness
needs data.
Unfortunately, this is not the conventional programming that most of us get. Most children get: Who do
you think you are? You dont deserve that. Youre not that good at this/that.
These are the critical assessments the child records these assessments become the recorded life experiences
and habits of life. When we get negative programming like that, it becomes the habit in our lives.

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How Experiences Positive or Negative Affect Our Genes

Dr. Buczynski: How does that experience or any experience affect our genes?
Dr. Lipton: I will give a scenario. I am in my backyard with my mother as an infant. A snake slithers
across the backyard. My mother sees the snake and screams her head
off its a life or death situation.
When children are

in their hypnotic
state of recording,
other people tell
them who they are.
I, as a child, watch my mother see the snake and then I feel as if

the snake is extremely dangerous and I could die! Now, the snake
continues along and goes into the next yard.
There is another infant, exactly my age, and the mother is a biologist.

As she sees the snake, the mother says, Oh, its a nice garden snake.
She picks up the snake and shows it to the child and shows how wonderful the snake is, and everything in
the childs experience is positive.
Now, both of us are older, and we are walking down the street together. A snake comes in front of us. You
can guess what happens.
My life experience is, Oh, my God this snake is going to kill
me! This is threatening. . . Hormones run through my body;
Im feeling stressed.
Negative (or positive)

programming becomes
habit in our lives.
The person whos walking beside me sees the exact same snake
and is totally calm as if saying, Oh, cool what a neat garden snake that is.
Now, why is that relevant? These responses to life experiences translate into the biochemistry of our body
and our behavior and when we learn them, they become automatic.
What are the

snakes in our
world? What
are the fearful
experiences?
When a snake shows up, my immediate response is my first response: Oh,

my God! This is deadly. My whole physiology is completely altered by that.
If I live in a world of snakes and I have that belief, you can bet my life will
be fully stressed from one minute to the next!
The more general question is this: What are the snakes in our world? What
are we afraid of? What are those experiences?
This is important because if we buy into that fear from our earlier life experiences, then as we go through
life from day-to-day, those are the signals from the environment that push the buttons and control our
behavior and our genetics.
Thats how epigenetics works.
Fractal Geometry and Epigenetics
Dr. Buczynski: Lets talk about fractal geometry and fractal patterns the structure of cells. How does
that play in here?

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If we buy into fear from our

earlier experiences, then as
we go through life, those are
the environmental signals that
control our behavior/genetics.
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Dr. Lipton: How do we know anything in science?

The answer is we do our research. But how do we know
if something is true or not?
The answer is predictability. When something is
predictable, we understand the process and we can
predict the outcome. It really becomes incumbent upon
us to recognize how we learn and that is through a
pattern.
For example: I did the experiment and every time I did the experiment, I get the same answer. That
means, I got the pattern! Thats how it works! From there, we get a scientific fact.
An interesting fact of science is that theres geometry in nature.
Geometry, first of all, is structure in space; it is the math of making structure in space. When we were
growing up, the conventional geometry we learned is the geometry of triangles, squares, cubes, spheres
Euclidian geometry.
Thats the geometry of designing buildings and making machines. But can you use that geometry to make
a tree? Can you make a cloud with that geometry? Can you make an animal? The answer is No!
But maybe theres a different geometry that makes living structures

on the planet.
A new geometry called fractal geometry beginning in the
eighties has been more recently understood.
Fractal geometry is a completely different geometry its simple
and not very complicated.
When something
is predictable, we
understand the
process and we can
predict the outcome.
With fractal geometry, you use the same equation just repeat it
by solving the equation and taking the answer that you got from solving the equation and feeding it back
into the equation. You solve it again, get another answer, feed it back in, and solve it again. You can do this
millions and millions of times.
An interesting fact
of science is that
theres gemoetry
in nature.
To see what the outcome would be required the development of the

computer.
So, fractal geometry didnt become real until about the 1980s when
computers could make two million repetitions of this and plot the data.
When scientists did this, they found that geometry mimicked nature
that the structures of nature were reflected in fractal geometry.
In fact, in a computer program of a fractal, you can put in some data of a fractal and get a plant or a snail.
By sticking in a number, something comes out of the geometry, and we call it the geometry of nature.
That might seem like a big deal we have a new geometry for nature than the one we learned. But thats
not really the case.
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A fundamental characteristic of fractal geometry is that you use the same equation and repeat it over and
over again.
The significance is that in a fractal expression, the images repeat themselves at self-similar, almost identical
expressions at any level of the organization.
It is the epitome or it is the mathematical expression of an ancient mystical statement: As above, so
below.
Thats not just a nice little mystical statement. It is a characteristic feature of fractals. If you understand
nature as fractal, then there are repeat patterns that you can see by looking at nature.
One of those repeat patterns is the answer to why we study cell biology: by function, a cell is a miniature
human.
A fundamental
characteristic of
fractal geometry
is that you use the
same equation
and repeat it over
and over again.
A conventional cell has every system that is in your body. A single cell
has respiration, digestion, excretion, reproduction, the nervous system,
the endocrine system. Cells have immune systems.
What is the relevance of this? A cell is a fractal image of a human.
Why is that important? If you understand the patterns of a cell, then
inherently, because of our fractal and self-similarity, the human will
have self-similar patterns.
That is why you can use cell biology research and apply it directly to a human: cells and humans are fractal
images of each other.
This becomes even more important when we ask: How can we
translate cells into human medicine and human biology?
The answer is their functions are the same. They operate in the exact
same way that we as humans do, and it is a built-in character of fractal
self-similarity or as I said earlier, as above, so below.
A cell is a
miniature human.
Heres the point: if we understand this, then we are opening our doors to get greater knowledge of the
world.
If you can find a similar expression at a different level and you know one level, you can apply that
information to understanding the other level.
Cells and humans

are fractal images
of each other.
Understanding how a cell works gives us insight to how a human

works, which also gives us insight to the nature of our own imminent
evolution.
Humans are the new version of the cell and we are coming together
with seven billion cells creating a super-organism called humanity. The
patterns between the cell, the human, and civilization are all similar.

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15
Brain Programming during Gestation

Dr. Buczynski: I would like to switch now from fractal geometry to brain programming in utero. That is
a bit of a jump there but what does recent research say about the influence of the mother on fetal brain
development?
Dr. Lipton: This is very important and interesting information and is
critical, actually.
When I was teaching in medical school, what did we teach? We taught
that genes control the development of an organism and the role of the
mother is to take this fertilized egg with its genes and support it by
providing it with nutrition.
Understanding
how a cell
works gives us
insight to how a
human works.
The genes would control the development of the child, and the mother would control the availability of
nutrition.
Back in those days, we would say to a woman who was asking how to be a better mother, Eat well, take
vitamins and supplements, and do exercises to enrich your nutritional source.
That was in the old days when we thought genes were in control. But now, with the science of epigenetics,
we recognize that the environment is controlling the unfolding of pregnancy.
The mother is providing blood and thats the nutrition, but theres a lot more to blood than just the nutrition:
theres the emotional chemistry, all the regulating hormones, and all the growth factors that are controlling
her biology to the world.
The mothers biology is being controlled by her experience of the world. If she is afraid, then she is going
to release stress hormones into her blood.
With the science of

epigenetics, we recognize
that the environment is
controlling the unfolding
of pregnancy.
What is the relevance of that? Not only is nutrition crossing

the placenta, but all of the information is crossing the placenta.
If the mother is in stress due to what she is life-experiencing
at the time, the chemistry of her blood is going to express the
stress.
Her stress is going to control her biology to respond to her world, and that signaling also crosses into the
placenta. The fetus, which is growing in that environment, has a culture medium full of stress hormones!
What is significant here is that the physiology of the fetus is the same as the mother. Physiologically, if the
mother feels fear, the fetus feels fear.
The difference is the mother has an interpretation of why she feels the
fear; the child just feels the fear! The fetus doesnt have any awareness
of what is going on, except that the environment is stressful and scary.
This in utero environment becomes influential. Through epigenetics, the

signals from the environment program the babys biology.
The mothers
biology is being
controlled by
her experience.

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Here is the most fundamental difference and this is critical to how stress influences the body. When Im
releasing stress hormones, physiologically, the number one thing that happens is the blood vessels in the
gut constrict.
Stress hormones force the blood from the viscera, which is growth and maintenance of the body, and push
the blood to the outside to the arms and legs where I am going to
have to fight or flight for my survival. I deplete my visceral organs
Physiologically, if
of blood as I preferentially push it into my arms and legs.
the mother feels fear,

the fetus feels fear.
What would be the consequence of that on a developing fetus?

Its really quite simple to understand because the blood, which
controls tissue development, is the babys nutritional energy. If
you give the baby a lot of energy and nutrition, it grows really big. If there is a small supply of energy and
nutrition, it doesnt grow much at all.
So, then, what is the expression of the epigenetics which controls the behavior and the genetics of the cell
when there is stress in the mothers blood? What happens in the fetus?
Through
epigenetics, the
signals from the
environment
program the
babys biology.
The stress hormones cross into the placenta and now they are in the blood
of the fetus. The signals are now bathing the fetal cells the environmental
signals are adjusting the behavior and the physiology of the fetus.
And we know what happens next. It is exactly the same as what happens
in the mother. These stress hormones cause the blood vessels in the gut to
constrict and open up the blood vessels in the arms and legs.
So, whats the consequence? Because the blood determines the

development, this child is going to have greatly developed arms and legs
when it is born, but that is going to be at the expense of a depleted visceral system.
But theres more. The second thing that stress hormones do is that they shut off the immune system to
conserve energy. That is going to depress immune function during development and affect the immune
system after birth.
Theres a third consideration and this is the one that is most important when talking about brain function.
When you are in fight or flight, you use hindbrain function to operate
from, not creative conscious thinking.
Conscious thinking is too slow in an emergency if your car is going
out of control and you had to just live in your conscious mind for that
moment, all you would be doing is holding on to the wheel screaming,
Oh, my God! before you could think of a response.
When stress is present, you dont stay in the conscious mind. The stress
hormones cause the blood vessels in the gut to constrict, which pushes
the blood to the periphery.
The stress
hormones cross
into the placenta
and now they
are in the blood
of the fetus.
We now know that when the stress hormones are in the system, the blood vessels of the forebrain constrict
to push extra blood to the hindbrain.
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When you are in

fight or flight, you
use hindbrain
function to operate
from, not creative
conscious thinking.
17
Reflex behavior operates from the hindbrain. When stress occurs,

were not going to be operating from the thinking brain.
What would be the consequence of a fetus raised in a stressful
environment where the mother is in a stressful environment?
The blood flow to the gut will deplete the development of the viscera
but make very large arms and legs. The blood flow in the brain will
shorten the development of the conscious, prefrontal cortex, but
will enhance the development of the hindbrain so that there is great
control of those large muscles in the arms and legs.
When a woman finds herself with a fetus and she lives in a very stressful environment, she creates a street
fighter that is natures design.
Why would nature do that? The answer is this: if the world is as bad
as the mother perceives it, then the most effective child to be produced
is one that will fight its way to survival. We shift a child into a street
fighter with a large hindbrain to coordinate a large physical body.
In contrast, if the mother lives in a happy, wonderfully supportive

environment, blood preferentially goes to the viscera and to the
forebrain, and therefore the amount of consciousness of a child that is
grown in a happy environment is enhanced way beyond that of the child
in a stressful environment.
When the stress

hormones are in
the system, the
blood vessels
of the forebrain
constrict to push
extra blood to
the hindbrain.
In this case, the mother is feeding the forebrain allowing the

development and the nutrition to nourish this part of our brain and enhance its function.
If the world is as
bad as the mother
perceives it, then
the most effective
child to be
produced is one
that will fight its
way to survival.
The viscera are going to be extra strong so the child will be healthy
for a long lifetime compared to a child who grew up in a stressful
environment.
The parenting the conscious part of gestation is very critical.
The mothers perception is exchanged into chemistry by her brain to
control her body but that chemistry also controls the fetus in the same
response.
Another interesting part is if there is a repetition of this pattern, the
fetus learns the pattern.
That is relevant to thinking about behavior. Consider behavior as a song with lyrics and music. Now,
consider life experiences providing the lyrics and emotions the music.
If there is a repeat pattern of emotions that the mother is experiencing,
then the child is recording the music of that emotional programming.
When the child is born, he/she will create life experiences that will create
the lyrics to go along with the music.
The parenting
the conscious
part of gestation
is very critical.

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The child as a fetus is being preprogrammed by patterns that the mother is experiencing in her world.
An Explanation of Relationships via Epigenetics and Quantum Physics

Dr. Buczynski: Lets go in from there from the infant in the womb all the way to pre-adulthood and
adulthood. Lets think about epigenetics and quantum physics, and how that explains relationships or
feelings of romantic love.
Dr. Lipton: During our development, we start to experience
the world and we have sensory experiences coming in.
But the sensory experiences are also influenced by what is going
on around us as well. We are not just having a feeling of love,
but we see love in relation to what it reflects in our world. We
start to connect the physical world with our emotional world.
The child the

fetus is being
preprogrammed by
patterns that the
mother is experiencing
in her world.
In the first seven years this is where you have to download the
programs the child is essentially in a state of hypnosis, and the
significance is, again, who we are and how we function in culture. This includes the thousands of things
we have to know. Were facilitating the download, and the brain just records these life experiences.
These life experiences are like programs in a jukebox; if a certain set of stimuli show up, it can push the
button and engage a program associated with those stimuli.
For example, if I see a snake as an infant and then see the snake as an adult a different snake, of course,
but the snake button gets pushed and boom, the behavior is the same an automatic unfolding.
Life experiences
are like programs
in a jukebox.
This becomes very critical because it means that fundamental behaviors

are stored in the subconscious as programs that are based on our life
experiences.
The conscious and subconscious minds are profoundly different in
regard to a)how they learn, and b) their functions.
If we dont understand the profound differences between the two, then it leads to a lot of confusion, and
that confusion then leads to a lot of problems dealing with our lives.
First, lets define the conscious mind. The conscious mind is the latest development of the brain; it is the
prefrontal cortex, a lobe of tissue right behind the forehead.
The prefrontal cortex is the seat of our personal identity, our uniqueness,
our spirit. That is where we, as individuals, reside the prefrontal cortex.
The prefrontal cortex is about ten percent of the brain; ninety percent is
the rest of the brain which is behind the prefrontal cortex.
Fundamental
behaviors are
stored in the
subconscious.
The prefrontal cortex is the seat of consciousness; the other ninety percent of the brain is the seat of the
subconscious.

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The prefrontal
cortex is the seat
of consciousness;
the other ninety
percent of the
brain is the seat of
the subconscious.
19
Now, here is the difference between the two. The conscious mind,
connected to our personal identity, is unique. It is creative. It is the
mind that can imagine and put things together through this creative
mind we reach the level of our humanitys expression.
The subconscious mind, in contrast, is not very creative at all. It is like
a precocious five-year-old.
It is primarily habitual. It learns a set of stimuli, and when they show
up, it engages a behavior that complements those stimuli by learning
from these experiences.
So the conscious mind is creative, and in that regard, being also the seat of who we are, we use that
creativity to have wishes and desires and aspirations for life.
If I say, Ruth, what do you want from your life? Your answer is going to be creative because it is what
you want coming up. Your future isnt here yet, so you are going
to create it.
You might say, Oh, I want to be healthy. I want to have a great
romance. I want to have a great job.
I might say, Oh, good thats creative thinking. Its positive

thinking.
The conscious mind

is creative. The
subconscious mind
is like a precocious
five-year-old.
Thats very different from the subconscious the subconscious is

not really a thinking mind. Its a stimulus-response mind: push the button and play the program.
Where the programs come from gets us to the problem. The fundamental programs in our mind our
subconscious mind dont come from our creativity.
The fundamental programs came in the first seven years last trimester of pregnancy and the first seven
years downloading other peoples experiences as ours.
The subconscious is
a stimulus-response
mind: push the button
and play the program.
The fundamental programs in our subconscious minds do not in

any way reflect our wishes or desires or aspirations they are
other peoples lives!
We have to remember that when these were downloaded,
consciousness was not yet a predominant brain function.
What was downloaded didnt go through consciousness it was just downloaded straight into the system.
We didnt filter the download we just got the download.
We have fundamental programs and these fundamental programs arent even ours. We observed our
mother, father, family, and others.
The creative conscious mind is the one we really like. Thats the one that manifests the life we want, and
the only problem with that is two minds dont learn in the same way.

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Theres one other big difference let me just bring this primary difference up: the conscious mind is not
time-bound, which means that we can think about what were doing next week.
Your conscious mind lets go of the moment and can move
into (like a Rolodex) next week. Your conscious mind can go
into what you did last week. The conscious mind lets go of
the present moment like the Rolodex, it goes forward and
backward.
The downloadable,
fundamental programs
in our subconscious
mind are not even ours!
For example, if I say, In your mind I want you to think of

this. Your mind lets go of the current moment because now it is going up into the thinking place.
The significance of this is very profound every time the mind is in thought, the conscious mind, by
definition, is not paying attention. That doesnt mean you stop the biology in your life, or just like a robot,
all of a sudden the power shuts off and you are standing there just thinking.
There is a default and the default is the subconscious mind. When you let go of conscious control, you
go to autopilot.
Every time the

mind is in thought,
the conscious mind,
by definition, is not
paying attention.
The autopilot knows how you speak, it knows what you do for a
living, it knows how to drive the car it knows how to do all the
things, basically, but it is doing it from programs.
So, now here comes the problem: we believe that we are running our
lives with our conscious wishes, desires and aspirations. Then we go
out in the world and find out we are always hitting a wall; it doesnt
seem to work.
We come home at night going, Oh, my God its like the universe must be against me because I wanted
to be successful and Im working so hard and its not really working. Its not me; its the invisible thing
out there and so Im a victim.
Now comes the truth and this becomes so liberating and it goes like this: it is now recognized by
neuroscience that we are probably spending only between one to five percent of our life being controlled
by our conscious mind our wishes, desires and aspirations.
The reason it is a very small percent is because it turns out that about
ninety-five percent of the time or more, we are thinking and when we are
thinking, by definition, we default to the subconscious. The conscious
mind is not paying attention.
When you let

go of conscious
control, you go
to autopilot.
Now, why is this important? The conscious mind has your wishes, desires,
and positive thoughts working about five percent of the time but ninety-five percent of the time, you are
coming from the fundamental programs that you got in your subconscious mind and then recognizing that
those basic programs are not even yours.
As a matter of fact, psychologists suggest that seventy percent or more of those fundamental programs are
disempowering, limiting and self-sabotaging beliefs.

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And this is relevant because ninety-five percent of the time, we are engaging in behaviors that do not
conform to our wishes and desires.
Here comes the part that is the monkey wrench in the big picture. When we shift into the subconscious
programming, we are shifting in because the conscious mind is busy.
We are probably spending

only one to five percent of
our life being controlled
by our conscious mind
our wishes, desires, and
aspirations.
When the conscious mind is busy, by definition, it is not

paying attention. If the conscious mind is not paying
attention, then most of the time it never observes our own
behavior.
It turns out that that behavior that we are playing, but we are
not paying attention to, isnt even our own behavior it is
behavior we are downloaded with!
If there are negative behaviors or self-sabotaging behaviors, we play them. Yet we are the ones that dont
see them.
So when I give a lecture, Ruth, I have an audience and I say,
Look, Im sure you had a friend you were close to when you
were very young and you knew your friends behavior very,
very well and you happened to know your friends parent.
Ninety-five percent
of the time, we are
engaging in behaviors
that do not conform to
our wishes and desires.
One day you see that your friend shares some of the same
behavior with their parent so you volunteer something really
casually by saying, Hey, Bill, youre just like your dad. You
back away from Bill, who goes totally ballistic: How can you compare me to my dad?
If the conscious
mind is not paying
attention, then
most of the time
it never observes
our own behavior.
Most people laugh because they are familiar with it. The most profound
story is this: everyone else can see that Bill behaves like his dad. The
one who doesnt see it is Bill and the reason why is that he is playing
his dads behavior.
Bills behavior is subconscious and he downloaded it. But why is he
playing it? The answer is his conscious mind is busy, he is on automatic,
and he doesnt see it.
This is when we put the picture together. Were going out there trying
to create our lives. We struggle through all this stuff and we believe that the struggle is because the
universe doesnt support us our wishes and desires and now it
turns out that this is not true at all!
It is our own invisible behavior that sabotages us the behavior we
got from other people.
There is a wonderful movie I am sure most people have seen

it called The Matrix. Its Science Fiction, but it should be a
documentary it is a documentary.
If there are negative

or self-sabotaging
behaviors, we play
them. Yet we dont
see them.

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Basically, the movie says, Weve been programmed. And I say, Yes, we have weve all been
programmed up through seven its the programming period.
In the movie and this is the fun part they say, If you take the blue pill, you go back into the program
and life will go on just the way it always has, or you can take the red pill and get out of the program. They
never really say what life would be like if you took the red pill and got out of the programming.
This is what I introduce in my new book, and Ill introduce it to you now the honeymoon effect.
Lets think about the honeymoon effect in this way. For most people, they fall in love go back to a
time you fell head over heels in love with somebody. It didnt have to last long could have been a week,
a month, a year if youre lucky.
For almost everybody, the honeymoon effect is falling in love and
feeling exuberantly healthy, and theres a reason why.
When you fall in love, you release the chemistries such as vasopressin
and growth hormones and these other things which really enhance our
biologies. That is why we glow when we are in love; we are making a
culture medium that is the best for ourselves.
It is our own
invisible behavior
that sabotages
us the behavior
we got from other
people.
We also had energy! Now everybody laughs when I say that because
they know they made love for days without stopping for food or sleep they had energy all over the place!
If you go back to the time you fell in love, you probably feel as if life was so beautiful that you couldnt
wait for the next day to have more of it. It was like heaven on earth, wasnt it?
And here is the interesting science behind that. Science has now recognized that when you fall in love,
it is the one time in your life that you dont default to the subconscious program. You stay mindful you
stay present.
The reason for that is very simple. Everything you were ever looking for is now in front of your face. Why
would you let your mind wander when what you wanted is right here? So you keep your conscious mind
present.
When you fall in

love, you release the
chemistries such
as vasopressin and
growth hormones
which enhance our
biologies.
This is important because it is a period where you are not playing

programs from the subconscious.
And what is the consequence of living from the conscious mind
wishes and desires and aspirations? The answer is: you manifest
with another person, who is also doing the same wishes, desires
and aspirations.
When you do that both of the partners are not operating from
subconscious programs they manifest heaven on earth.
So, back to The Matrix, what is the consequence of taking the red pill?
The answer is: creating heaven on earth.

It is the programming that has disabled us and made dysfunction in our world.
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23
When you stop playing the program and you start living from wishes and desires boom! You have
created heaven on earth!
That is pretty direct feedback of the nature or the influence of the subconscious programming
Again, science has revealed that ninety percent or more of the time, when you are in love, you are operating
totally from conscious mind, which is desire as positive thinking and we manifest our life in that way.
This is an example critical to understanding what the influence of that programming really is. The answer
comes from the question: What is the influence when you are not being programmed? All of a sudden you
see the difference between a honeymoon world and a world that sometimes looks like hell.
Dr. Buczynski: I am afraid we are going to have to stop. That
was amazing and we only scratched the surface of getting into
this idea of love and the conscious mind.
To everyone on the call, if you want to refer more to this, Bruces
most recent book, just published this year, is The Honeymoon
Effect and we will send you the links to all of his books.
Bruce, thank you very much. Its nice to see you again and I
appreciate the time this hour talking with you and going
with you on this trail of thoughts. Thats amazing. Thank you.
The programming
has disabled us and
made us dysfunctional.
When you stop playing
the program and start
living from wishes and
desires boom! You
have created heaven
on earth!
Dr. Lipton: Thank you so very much for having me speaking

with you and your audience. The simple truth is that the earth does become heaven if everybody is living
this life in conscious mind and that is what I am hoping our revolution will lead us to.
Dr. Buczynski: Take good care.
Dr. Lipton: Thank you.

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TalkBack Segment with Ron Siegel, PsyD and Kelly McGonigal, PhD
Dr. Buczynski: There sure are a lot of ideas there! We are going to start our TalkBack Session now. This
is when we are going to chew over those ideas.
I am joined by my two colleagues, as I have been every week: Dr. Ronald Siegel and Dr. Kelly McGonigal.
Ron is Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychology at Harvard Medical School and the author of several
books including The Mindfulness Solution.
Kelly is a psychology instructor at Stanford University and the author of The Willpower Instinct, which is,
by the way, just out in paperback.
As you know, we try to put a little bit of emerging theory into everything we do and when you do
emerging theory, some things will turn out to be right and others wont!
What Stood Out Most

I would like to start as we do every week with what stood out to you in this session. Kelly, lets start with
you.
What stands out

most is the idea
that genes are
influenced by our
environment.
Dr. McGonigal: What stands out to me most and what is really valuable
for clinicians and for individuals is the idea that genes are influenced by
our environment.
We are so used to hearing that there is a genetic basis for conditions like
disease risks, psychological disorders, personality, intelligence and
the idea that our environment influences gene expression gives us a lot
of hope about the possibility for intervention and change.
Dr. Buczynski: Kelly, before you move on, I want to just stop you for a second.
When you use the term environment, sometimes people think environment refers to chemicals or pollution.
Other times, people are using the word environment differently. How are you using the word environment?
Dr. McGonigal: If you take a look at epigenetics research, people have looked at all different levels of
an environment. For example, your social environment can
influence gene expression whether you live in an urban
The idea that our
area and your neighborhood is safe.
environment influences
Environments have been shown to influence gene expression.
These environments like close social relationship the
security you feel with a partner, with your parents and family
have been shown to influence gene expression.
gene expression
gives us hope about
the possibility for
intervention and change.
These outside environments influence our inner

environment our emotional and mental environment that then influence our physical environment
literally what is happening in our bloodstream and the chemicals that are present in our body, and this
includes things like inflammation or hormones.
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Basically, our bigger environment gets translated into our

biological environment that then influences gene expression.
Our bigger environment

gets translated into this
biological environment
that then influences
gene expression.
What also stands out in Bruces talk is that you can intervene at
any level along that chain of environment.
You can influence gene expression by changing the neighborhood
that you live in, and you can change gene expression by
changing how you think.
There is opportunity for change at every level thats what we might mean by environment.
Dr. Buczynski: Or by your behavior.
Dr. McGonigal: Yes by how you behave the environment and the experiences you give to your brain
and your body.
Dr. Buczynski: How about you, Ron what stood out to you in
this webinar?
Dr. Siegel: I was most struck by how nicely Bruce laid out why
this might work in the way that it does.
There is opportunity
for change at every
level.
He reviewed some of the early experiments that were done in Petri dishes with cells. By changing the
milieu of the Petri dish the chemicals that a cell was in a cell would develop into one kind of cell or
another kind of cell, and the genes would be turned on and off by
this change.
The petri dish for

the cells of our body
is our bloodstream.
It is interesting that the Petri dish for the cells of our body is our
bloodstream. He built a very nice argument that, since emotions and
attitudes change our blood chemistry, this changes the environment
for our cells. It makes sense that this would change gene expression.
What we dont know is to what degree and exactly how this works. It would be very interesting to study,
for example, how long a given emotional state has to last for it to change gene expression and whether that
is different for sadness or anger or love.
As he emphasized, those would be very interesting to study, going forward.
The other thing that stood out for me was his discussion of
fractal geometry, which you dont hear much about, certainly
not in psychology circles, but it is a very useful observation.
Artists have made the observation that the patterns we see
on a micro-scale how a cell is constructed, or networks of
blood vessels are reproduced on these very large macro
scales.
It would be interesting to
study how long a given
emotional state has to
last for it to change gene
expression.
For example, blood vessels look like the veins of a leaf or look like the rivers on a planet. The pattern of
an atom looks like what we see at the level of astronomical bodies.
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This idea, while seemingly just kind of quirky or interesting, has profound implications for us.
How our personhood is part

of larger, societal systems
helps us loosen up on the
narcissistic preoccupation that
causes so much suffering.
When we see that systems exist on so many different

levels, whatever we think of as the individual is
actually part of these larger networks.
We can think of ourselves as individuals that are part
of larger networks of cells. Bruce talked about how
our personhood is part of larger, societal systems.
All of this helps us to loosen up a little on the narcissistic preoccupation that causes so much suffering for
us.
I thought that was an interesting point that we dont hear about very often.
How Epigenetics Puts Life in Our Hands

Dr. Buczynski: Kelly, epigenetics can lead us to thinking that life is in our hands, that we dont have to
succumb to the idea of genes mapping it out for us.
Do you think that is the correct conclusion? What are your thoughts
on that?
Dr. McGonigal: I do think that is the correct conclusion. All of

the research points to the idea that change is possible.
I wanted to add to the conversation the idea that researchers have
found that we differ in how plastic we are and how plastic our
gene expression is.
Researchers have
found that we differ
in how plastic we are
and how plastic our
gene expression is.
There are genes that encode how much you will be influenced by your environment how much your
gene expression will be influenced by your social relationships, where you live, your behaviors, and your
thoughts and emotions.
Some people are pretty robust and not quite as plastic, and others are quite plastic. People who are most
plastic are also the ones who appear to be most vulnerable.
People who are

most plastic
appear to be
most vulnerable.
This is really exciting news for clinicians and people who suffer from
the types of vulnerabilities that clinicians may be working with people
who have experienced depression, addiction, anxiety disorders.
These seem to be the people who are most influenced by their social
environment and their emotional environment their lifestyle factors.
The fact that vulnerability is associated with increased plasticity, means, I think, that research is going to
continue to point us in the direction of even more hope about what change is possible.
Dr. Buczynski: Ron, I wonder if you could answer the same question give us your thoughts on this.

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The tension
between freewill
and determinism
becomes important
in clinical practice.
27
Dr. Siegel: I find, as a clinician, that the tension between freewill

and determinism becomes really interesting and important in clinical
practice.
To what degree do we think of things as predetermined, and to what
degree do we think of things as under our control?
The study of epigenetics is fascinating and provides tremendous hope

in the sense that many things we thought of as not being under our
control really might be under our control.
But then again, there is value to learning that some things
arent under our control.
I think of Marsha Linehan as she developed dialectical
behavior therapy and saying that the central dialectic is the
tension between what we can change working with agency
to change what we can change and learning how to accept
that which we cant change philosophers have talked about
this over the ages.
The central dialectic

is the tension between
what we can change and
learning how to accept
that which we cant.
The study of epigenetics

provides tremendous
hope that many things
we thought of as not
being under our control
really might be.
The way it plays out clinically is really interesting. For some

people, feeling that, I can take control of this. I can change
my lifestyle. I can change my health outcomes. I can influence
my relationships. I can improve my life in all sorts of ways by
taking action is of course terribly useful.
And it is very, very helpful to have scientific support for the

idea that the brain is plastic and that these changes that we
make in our behavior, in our thought patterns, also appear
as changes at the level of brain structure and function. This
It is very helpful to
supports people in many ways.
Yet, there are many situations that are InshaAllah, and this is
the idea many religious people talk about as God willing, and
that can be very useful for people.
have scientific support

for the idea that the
brain is plastic and that
these changes appear
at the level of brain
structure and function.
We know all the ways in which people who have a lot of

faith often have better health outcomes because they are not
constantly vigilant; they are not constantly reacting with this
kind of fight or flight
How can I control this? How can I regulate this outcome?
People who have a
lot of faith often have

better health outcomes
because they are not
constantly vigilant.
We see that that is also very often a useful attitude. I find it really
interesting to think of which is going to be most effective.

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28
Ways to Adjust Lifestyle to Improve Overall Health

Dr. Buczynski: Kelly, back to you. Bruce has said that lifestyle and not genetics is most responsible
for illness and disease.
In what ways can we adjust our lifestyle to improve our overall health?
Looking at how
lifestyle choices
affect health is one of
the most interesting
areas of research.
Dr. McGonigal: Looking at how lifestyle choices affect health, and

particularly affect gene expression, is one of the most interesting
areas of research.
So far, it has been done mostly on animal models, looking at
rodents and non-human primates, but there is a lot of interesting
human research just beginning to come out.
Were seeing that the effects of lifestyle seem to be very quick on gene expression on the way lifestyle
can influence health; at the same time, health is very quick to change when a lifestyle behavior goes away.
For example, there is a lot of research on how diet affects gene expression
in animal models. You can basically be turning up-regulating/downregulating genes on the basis of almost an immediate change in diet
we are talking days and weeks, not months and years.
A study with human subjects that came out recently points to both the
promise as well as the challenge of this idea.
There is a lot of
research on how
diet affects gene
expression in
animal models.
You might have seen the study that came out of the University of
Wisconsin-Madison, from Richie Davidsons lab. They looked at changes in gene expression related to
immune function and inflammation among people who
are highly trained in meditation versus people who do
When they took highly
not meditate.
trained meditators and had

them practice mindfulness
for eight hours in a retreat
setting, they saw immediate
changes in gene expression.
There was a lot of press about this study that sometimes

missed the actual point of the study: the researchers found
there was no difference in gene expression between the
highly trained meditators and the non-meditators.
But when they took the highly trained meditators and

had them practice mindfulness for eight hours in a retreat
setting, they saw immediate changes in gene expression in a way that would suggest improvement in
immune function.
That is a really fascinating finding because it challenges some

of our ideas about how lifestyle might save us, in the sense
that it may really be what we do day-to-day-to-day, and our
commitment to the processes or practices or choices such
as what we eat, how we exercise, and how much we meditate.
It requires true
commitment to maintain
any benefit we get from
lifestyle changes.
It requires true commitment to maintain any benefit we get

from lifestyle changes.
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Changing diet, introducing

exercise and meditation, and
increasing social support are
very intensive lifestyle changing
interventions, which may have
more effect on gene expression
than any other lifestyle choice.
29
We have seen this again also in the work of Dean

Ornish looking at the changes in gene expression
related to tumor growth and tumor suppression
among men who have prostate cancer.
He has found that all the things we might hope would
have a positive effect on gene expression for cancer
are having that effect.
But changing diet, introducing exercise and

meditation, and increasing social support, are very
intensive lifestyle changing interventions, which may have more effect on gene expression than any other
lifestyle choice we can make thats just how socially connected we are.
I look forward to more research on this and also thinking about how this emphasizes the importance of the
daily choices we make.
Being More Aware of the Acts of the Conscious Mind

Dr. Buczynski: Ron, how can we be better aware of the acts of our conscious mind in an attempt to change
our reactions and how we view things?
Dr. Siegel: How the conscious mind acts is certainly a fascinating area where studies of epigenetics and
brain and body chemistry meet the ancient wisdom
traditions they meet all of our depth psychology
How the conscious mind acts
traditions, which are all about trying to make us more
is a fascinating area where
conscious of what is happening in each moment.
studies of epigenetics and

brain and body chemistry meet
the ancient wisdom traditions.
If we think of the Western depth psychologies, such as

psychoanalysis, we see that it was about where ego
shall be. Here the idea was that, where previously
things had happened automatically, now they will
happen with some conscious awareness of what is happening.
David Silbersweig, who is a neurologist and psychiatrist at Brigham and Womens Hospital here in Boston
said, When the first worm developed its first ganglion
instead of simply having a sensory neuron connected
The shift from automatic
to a motor output there was this ganglion where some
stimulus and response to
kind of processing happened that was the beginning of
there being consciousness of
consciousness.
an event, and then a decision

made before a response, is
the key element of increasing
complexity in organisms.
humans have the greatest capacity for this.
The shift from simply automatic stimulus and response

to there being an experience in consciousness of an
event, and then a decision made before a response, is
the key element of increasing complexity in organisms.
It has happened evolutionarily over time and of course

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But even though we have a tremendous capacity for this, we vary

tremendously in how much we exercise it.
Many of us go through life really pretty much in stimulus-response
patterns where we have conditioned reactions to things that have
happened, usually from what has been pleasurable or painful in the
past. We just play that out automatically.
30
Many of us go
through life pretty
much in stimulusresponse patterns.
Others of us have spent a lot of energy trying to be aware of what is happening basically trying to be
aware of and mindful of what is happening moment to moment.
Others have spent a lot of

energy trying to be mindful
of what is happening
moment to moment.
There are, of course, many, many ways to do this: there are

all the different psychotherapeutic approaches and all of the
worlds meditative traditions to do this.
What they all have in common is a certain exercise of

restraint. When an impulse arises, a feeling that, I want
this/I dont want that, rather than acting on it immediately,
we can turn our attention to it with curiosity: What is this
impulse? What is this desire at this moment?
We can even think about what the consequence might be

both the consequence immediately as well as the more distant
consequences.
This is really what we think of as wisdom or maturity, and
there are many, many different pathways to it.
Even though scientists are now mapping the advantages of
being more conscious, humans have intuited this for quite
some time.
When an impulse arises,

rather than acting on
it immediately, we can
turn our attention to it
with curiosity.
Dr. Buczynski: That was so well said, Ron.
Even though scientists are

now mapping the advantages
of being more conscious,
humans have intuited this for
quite some time.
What you are talking about is what we sometimes refer

to as reactivity and folks who are listening might know
of the anger-management training programs that people
are sent to when they act out or explode.
A lot of that is trying to help people to reduce their own

reactivity and to make choices; they get upset about
something and dont act immediately, but see themselves
as having choices, or getting curious about what is upsetting them.
The Most Exciting Areas of Epigenetics
Before we stop, let me just ask both of you: are there any areas of epigenetics that you are most excited
about?
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Dr. McGonigal: I have to say that I am most

curious about whether the development of this
field will motivate people to enact policies that
support people in making the choices that we
know improve health and well-being.
It has been interesting to watch the science digging
deeper and deeper, from just saying, Exercise
is good for you. Eating healthy is good for you.
Therapy is good for you, to then saying, Look,
it changes the brain.
31
I am most curious about whether

the development of this field will
motivate people to enact policies
that support people in making
the choices that we know
improve health and well-being.
Now we are saying, Look it changes your genes.
Epigenetics is
radically affecting
our well-being.
At some point, I am hoping that people will say, This stuff is serious
enough for public policy we should have legislation and we should
create environments that support these behaviors
Dr. Buczynski: Yes.
Dr. McGonigal: Epigenetics is radically affecting our well-being. I dont know if that is going to happen,
but that would be my hope.
Dr. Siegel: I would certainly agree with that.

The other thing that is very exiting around epigenetics is how it
is turning around earlier beliefs.
Gene expression gets

turned on or off based
on what happens to
us, and we pass that
on to our children.
I remember in high school learning about natural selection,

biological mechanisms, and Lamarckian evolution this idea
that what happens during your lifetime changes what you pass
on to your offspring the idea that giraffes necks got longer because mothers stretched out to try to get the
higher leaves, and that that was going to produce offspring with more stretched-out necks and how silly
that was and how much more sensible Darwinian notions were. But indeed, that does hold, by and large.
Epigenetics opens
up such a fascinating
area and helps us to
know how much we
dont know.
One of the things that I find fascinating in the epigenetics research

is this idea that it is not a hundred percent: there are ways in which
gene expression gets turned on or off based on what happens to us
during our lifetime, and we pass that on to our children.
We dont know to what extent this is actually going on in humans,
but we have seen the evidence of it in rats with their nurturing
behavior.
Epigenetics opens up such a fascinating area and particularly helps us to know how much we dont know
about how remarkably complex biological organisms we are and how far weve evolved.
Dr. Buczynski: The thing that I most want people to leave with, when we are thinking about epigenetics,
is that, yes, you were born with genes you got them from your mother and your father but that doesnt
mean that everything is set and predictable and a fait accompli.
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32
A lot of your genes have to do with whether they are turned on or turned off, and that has to do, somewhat
at least, with your experiences and how you respond to your experiences whether you are with people
a lot or have close relationships, or whether you are alone, or
whether you exercise.
You were born with
I think this is important, particularly for those in a leadership role
parents, since the intimate relationship is so critical to gene
expression, managers, and certainly teachers and counselors.
We have to stop now but next week we will be talking with
Dr. Helen Fisher, and we will be focusing the entire session on
your brain in love.
genes but that doesnt

mean that everything
is set and predictable
and a fait accompli.
We will look at the role your brain plays in sexual desire, and what happens in the brain when you are
rejected.
That will be a very exciting webinar.
Thanks, Kelly and Ron. We will see you and everyone on the call next week. Bye now.

www.nicabm.com
About The Speaker:

Bruce H. Lipton, PhD is an internationally recognized leader in bridging
science and spirit. Stem cell biologist, bestselling author of The Biology
of Belief and Spontaneous Evolution, and recipient of the 2009 Goi Peace
Award, he has been a guest speaker on hundreds of TV and radio shows,
as well as keynote presenter for national and international conferences.
Featured Books by Speaker: Bruce Lipton, PhD
33
The Biology of Belief: Unleashing the

Power of Consciousness, Matter, &
Miracles
The Honeymoon Effect: The Science

of Creating Heaven on Earth
Click HERE
to Purchase Now!
Click HERE
to Purchase Now!
Find out more about this and related programs at:

www.nicabm.com
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About The TalkBack Speakers:
Since 1989, Ruth has combined her commitment to mind/body

medicine with a savvy business model. As president of The National
Institute for the Clinical Application for Behavioral Medicine, shes been
a leader in bringing innovative training and professional development
programs to thousands of health and mental health care practitioners
throughout the world.
Ruth has successfully sponsored distance-learning programs,
teleseminars, and annual conferences for over 20 years. Now shes
expanded into the cloud, where shes developed intelligent and
thoughtfully researched webinars that continue to grow exponentially.
Ronald D. Siegel, PsyD is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychology at Harvard Medical School, where he has taught for over 20 years.
He is a long time student of mindfulness meditation and serves on
the Board of Directors and faculty of the Institute for Meditation and
Psychotherapy.
Dr. Siegel teaches nationally about mindfulness and psychotherapy
and mind/body treatment, while maintaining a private clinical practice in Lincoln, Massachusetts. He is co-editor of Mindfulness and
Psychotherapy and co-author of Back Sense: A Revolutionary Approach
to Halting the Cycle of Chronic Back Pain.
Kelly McGonigal, PhD, is a health psychologist and lecturer at Stanford

University, and a leading expert in the new field of science-help. She
is passionate about translating cutting-edge research from psychology,
neuroscience, and medicine into practical strategies for health,
happiness, and personal success.
Her most recent book, The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works,
Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It, explores the
latest research on motivation, temptation, and procrastination, as well
as what it takes to transform habits, persevere at challenges, and make
a successful change.

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34

NICABM BruceLipton Brain2014

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Epigenetics: What Really

Controls Our Genes and

Epigenetics and Why It Matters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Fractal Geometry and Genetics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

The National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioral Medicine

Epigenetics: What Really Controls Our Genes and Why We Dont

Epigenetics and Why It Matters

If we are really troubled by the traits we have or want to change the

By definition, we acquire a belief about genes as we are victims of our

Victim means you have to go get a rescuer. That is the story we

The new science,

The action is controlled by the environment and our perception of the

Here is the profound difference: we go from a belief that our health

How Life Experiences Change Our Genes

Stem cells are

I was growing stem cells in a culture. I put one stem cell

New cells come from a

The National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioral Medicine

I take stem cells from

The signals that control

By definition, I am a human being comprised of fifty trillion

The fate of the cell

The brain is the chemist

But then we have the next most important question. The

The function of the

Interpretation is really what the mind is doing. Two people can

All of a sudden, we have this mind/body connection a

If I take the chemicals

Two different chemical

We now have a whole scientific lineage on how a thought turns

We are beginning to see that lifestyle and responses to

The receptors send the

The National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioral Medicine

How Beliefs Connect to Genetic Expression

We are beginning to see

Those are environmental signals. Whether there is

The cells are

If you go out and it is cold, that signal information is picked up by the

The cell lives in

Signals from the environment will determine which behaviors are

Experience Influences Our Genes

If I change my response to the

If I want to be a member of my society, then I have to have a

The National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioral Medicine

After you repeat

When kids, especially

Somebody says to you, No, no you cant have anything happen

What does that mean? An individual child experiences life, and

The National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioral Medicine

How Experiences Positive or Negative Affect Our Genes

When children are

I, as a child, watch my mother see the snake and then I feel as if

There is another infant, exactly my age, and the mother is a biologist.

Negative (or positive)

What are the

When a snake shows up, my immediate response is my first response: Oh,

Fractal Geometry and Epigenetics

The National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioral Medicine

If we buy into fear from our

Dr. Lipton: How do we know anything in science?

But maybe theres a different geometry that makes living structures

To see what the outcome would be required the development of the

Cells and humans