Molecules of Emotion

In preparation for Module 3, I read Molecules of Emotion by Dr. Candace Pert of What the Bleep Do We Know? fame.

During the 70s and 80s, discoveries about the actual anatomical links between the brain and the immune system gave birth to the field of psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) - yes, that's one word - the area of research dedicated to finding the connections among the mind, nervous system, and the immune system. An extraordinary breakthrough in the study of PNI was achieved by Dr. Pert. She discovered that specific brain chemicals - usually called neuropeptides - acted as couriers between the mind and the immune system. Her new understanding of the relationship between the brain and the body showed us that no barriers exist between our thoughts and feelings, on the one hand, and our biological healing system, on the other.

How do these interactions take place? Pert showed that the neuropeptides, which she calls the "chemicals of emotion," are like keys that lock into molecular keyholes on the surface of cells known as receptors. Thus, brain chemicals can circulate throughout the body, delivering messages to immune cells to perform particular functions, ultimately determining how well our systems operate to keep us healthy and to heal injuries or disease. But, Pert says, the interactions that reveal just how intertwined mind and body are occur between the neuropeptides and the cell surface receptors.

In the form of neuropeptides and their corresponding cellular receptors, our biological systems (the body) are literally flooded by cognitions and emotions (the mind). Furthermore, our mind is created anew on a moment-to-moment basis by the interplay of ligands [neuropeptides and related brain chemicals] and receptors previously associated only with the body.

Candace Pert is adamant that we no longer should even speak of a mind-body connection but only of mind-body unity. She has been the strongest scientific advocate of the idea that mind and body are not simply linked by some biological bridge but are totally inseparable. The "molecules of emotion," as she calls them, travel throughout the bloodstream, hooking onto receptors on cells in every corner of the body. (Pert has pointed out that our intestines are filled with neuropeptide receptors; hence the notion of "gut feelings" is not merely a metaphor, but an actual biological reality.)

As investigations continue, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the role of peptides is not limited to eliciting simple and singular actions from individual cell and organ systems. Rather, peptides serve to weave the body’s organs and systems into a single web that reacts to both internal and external environmental changes with complex, subtly orchestrated responses. Peptides are the sheet music containing the notes, phrases, and rhythms that allow the orchestra – your body – to play as an integrated entity. And the music that results is the tone or feeling that you experience subjectively as your emotions.

The following paragraph spoke to me quite powerfully:

… I believe all emotions are healthy, because emotions are what unite the mind and the body. Anger, fear, and sadness, the so-called negative emotions, are as healthy as peace, courage, and joy. To repress these emotions and not let them flow freely is to set up a dis-integrity in the system, causing it to act at cross-purposes rather than as a unified whole. The stress this creates, which takes the form of blockages and insufficient flow of peptide signals to maintain function at the cellular level, is what sets up the weakened conditions that can lead to disease. All honest emotions are positive emotions.

When stored or blocked emotions are released through touch or other methods, there is a clearing of our internal pathways, which we experience as energy. Free of Western dualism that insists on disanimated flesh, healers from various Eastern and alternative modalities can literally see the mind in the body, where it does indeed exist, and are adept at techniques that can get it unstuck if necessary. In fact, almost every other culture but ours recognizes the role played by some kind of emotional energy release, or catharsis, in healing.

This has greatly expanded and challenged my understanding of the concept of "energy healing" which has dogged me as whacky for so very long. After reading the book, however, I feel as though my horizons on this subject have opened up exponentially.

Is it controversial? Yup.
Does it force me out of my comfort zone? You betcha.
Can it possibly work? Oh yeah.

God's handiwork in the creation of our mind-bodies gives singularly new meaning to the words Creative Genius.