Our Thoughts and Intentions: Anything Is Possible
Baby Boomers will live longer than any previous generation. Will we live better?
My grandfather used to say that man would never walk on the moon. I remember him sitting in his favorite green chair in the living room, grumbling about all the tax dollars we were wasting on what he thought was an arrogant and futile attempt to achieve the impossible. Before long, millions of Boomers were crowding around their television sets to watch Neil Armstrong take his first tentative step onto that beautiful orb we had only observed from afar. We experienced the impossible that day, and it was one of the first signs that we Baby Boomers were in for an exciting journey.
Since then, our generation has experienced an avalanche of change. We’ve seen the emergence of thousands of new technologies, from microwave ovens and VCRs to cell phones and the Internet. We’ve witnessed the first successful heart transplants, and lasers that correct eye defects. In the early ’70s, physicians began using MRI and CAT scan technology to detect brain abnormalities. We now have prosthetics that enable formerly wheelchair-bound athletes to break world records, and scientists are currently developing handheld sensing devices that will “sniff out” lung and breast cancers in the same amazingly accurate way dogs are now trained to do.
And doctors are now able to repair holes in the diaphragms of fetuses, a genetic defect, while they are still in the womb.
In 1953, Watson and Crick discovered the double-stranded DNA in our chromosomes and were later awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine. This meant that we had literally discovered the “recipe book” for how to create a living form. And with the advent of computers, teams of scientists all around the world began competing with each other to actually read these recipes, with an eye to manipulating and fixing genetic problems.
Of equal importance, the new developments on the frontiers of stem-cell research will allow us to heal many damaged areas of the body. Because it is imminent, Boomers can also expect to see doctors doing gene-transfer procedures on fetuses in utero and curing babies of genetic conditions using stem cells.
We are a generation that rises to new health challenges with commitment and invention. Epidemics such as autism and AIDS have given us an important opportunity to study and understand the immune system. They have provided new insights into cellular intelligence and the important role our inner ecosystem plays in the prevention of disease. Autism, in particular, allows us to look at the connection between the gut and the brain … and we now know that pesticides; chemicals; and heavy metals such as mercury, lead, and aluminum are dangerous neurotoxins that weaken our children before they are even born.
Out of much pain and uncertainty have come enlightenment and discovery, and there are more world-changing breakthroughs ahead. I believe that a whole new level of science will emerge because of our desire to know and harness the positive forces of nature to create health and longevity. Baby Boomers can help bring about a revolution in how we heal ourselves and in how we address, and even defy, aging.
Science Supports Our Intention to Stay Young and Healthy
Consider this: had you been born in the late 1800s, your life expectancy would have been about 45. That doesn’t seem like much time to live a full life. As many of us Baby Boomers are just now hitting our mid-40s, it might seem inconceivable that had we lived a little more than a century ago, life might almost be over.
We’ve come so far! It is a brilliant time to be alive, because there is so much more that we know today about how to stay young and healthy. Baby Boomers are the first generation to truly reap the benefits of medical breakthroughs—and also holistic and nutritional advances—that make agelessness not just conceivable, but a reality. We will live longer than any previous generation, and we have the potential to live better—with the opportunity to reinvent what it means to be in our “golden years.”
Here are just a few of the medical advances that may change our world, the way we view disease, and how we age.
Resistance to Disease
In 2003, a team of scientists at Wake Forest University discovered a mouse that was immune to injected cancer. From this one miracle mouse they bred and produced many generations of healthy, cancerfree mice who lived normal life spans. The Wake Forest mouse had an unusual immune system—the ability to flood its system with massive amounts of white blood cells that destroyed the cancer.
Scientists were led to wonder why this genetic mutation is not seen in other mammals or even in other mice. It may be that as mammals evolved over time, they did not live long enough to develop cancer. Instead, they were succumbing to other diseases or circumstances that took evolutionary precedence. For example, a mouse might be eaten by a fox long before the mouse had a chance to develop cancer.
Soon we will not only be able to regenerate tissues and cells with healthy food, supplements, herbs, and alternative therapies; but advances in stemcell research are also unfolding that offer even more exciting possibilities for reversing the aging process.
Scientists must now figure out how this genetic mutation works at the molecular level, but the “mouse model” offers exciting possibilities for future therapies. Research suggests that the body’s natural ability to protect itself against cancer—host resistance—declines with age, which explains why many cancers surface in later years when the body’s immune system is not as strong. Fortunately, according to researchers, it will probably be easier to develop rejuvenating cell-therapy treatments for the immune system than for other systems of the body.1 Four major U.S. research institutions are now working together in an effort to accelerate this discovery into potential cancer therapy for humans.
Body Ecology offers you an exciting way to build immunity right here and right now with food and lifestyle changes.
Regeneration & Renewal
Even though many of us are unaware of this, our bodies were created with a marvelous capacity for self-regulation and self-repair. Soon we will not only be able to regenerate tissues and cells through healthy food, supplements, herbs, and alternative therapies; but advances in stem-cell research, offering even more exciting possibilities for reversing the aging process, are also unfolding.
Adult stem cells come from our bone marrow and fat stores; as well as from amniotic fluid, menstrual blood, and umbilical cords. These adult cells are different from the politically charged human embryonic stem cells that in some cases have been implicated in cancer.
Adult stem cells are unspecialized and retain the ability throughout life to give rise to cells that will become specialized. They can also take the place of any type of cell that is lost or dies. Stem cells contribute to the body’s ability to renew and repair its tissues. Unlike mature cells, which are permanently committed to their fate, stem cells can both renew themselves and create new cells at the same time. They are also remarkably “plastic,” meaning that those from one tissue can generate functional cell types of another tissue. Stem-cell therapies show great promise to repair nervous-system conditions such as Parkinson’s, brain and spinal-cord damage from trauma or stroke, epilepsy, autism, Alzheimer’s, Lou Gehrig’s disease, and more.2
A team at Newcastle University in England has grown mini-livers from umbilical-cord stem cells. Two scientists, Dr. Nico Forraz and Professor Colin McGucklin, collaborated with scientists at NASA to make the miniature livers, which can be used for drug testing and erase the need to test on animals and humans. In ten years, they believe they will be able to build a full-sized liver, and within as little as five years, pieces of this “stem-cell-produced” tissue could be used to repair organs damaged by disease, injury, alcohol abuse, and paracetamol overdose. The scientists project that in 15 years we could have entire transplants with livers grown in a lab.3
On a more cosmetic level, stem-cell research can also make some of those formerly unavoidable signs of aging a thing of the past. For example, until very recently we had to accept that problems with our teeth would only worsen as we aged. When we aren’t undergoing major repairs to our teeth, we face the possibility of losing them or replacing them with artificial versions. In the Western world, an estimated 85 percent of adults have had some form of dental treatment. After age 50, most of us will have lost an average of 12 teeth. In theory, a natural tooth made from a person’s own tissue and grown in its intended location would make the best possible replacement. But these “bioteeth” have, until recently, been more conjecture than reality. This is changing, however.
Researchers are now using advances in stem-cell biology and tissue reengineering to fashion new teeth out of old ones. Their approach is based on the fact that living tissues are made of cells that constantly signal to one another and move around in a kind of community (in Chapter 7, I’ll discuss how this applies to bacteria as well). Each cell knows its place and role in the larger group that forms and maintains a functional tissue. So, it stands to reason that if you could find the right mix of dissociated cells and reaggregate (regroup) them, they should instinctively re-form the tissue or organ to which they belong. We are now closer than ever to replacing a lost tooth with a new one made from our own stem cells.4 The potential for these medical innovations gives us hope that we may indeed live longer. But will we live better?
Armed with knowledge, medical evolution, and the power of our own minds and wills, our generation can literally transform how we live the last innings of our lives, as well as the legacy we leave future generations.
How do we Boomers become “a model for living”—a generation that feels, looks, and behaves with vitality? The answer lies in our diet, our lifestyle choices, and very important … our intentions. Wouldn’t it be a worthwhile mission to leave this world in better shape than it was when we first entered it? To have the energy to do this, we must reclaim the vitality of our youth.
Embracing the Mind’s Potential
While science continues to redefine the future, we are becoming more and more aware that in our own individual lives and bodies there is unlimited potential as well. The groundbreaking work of many scientists is revealing that we are masters of our genetic code. Biologist Bruce Lipton’s pioneering research in the area of cell science indicates that the environment—and, more specifically, our perception and interpretation of the environment—directly controls the activity of our genes, giving credibility to the phenomenon of “mind over matter.”
In his book The Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter & Miracles, Lipton speaks of how the energy of our thoughts can actually activate or inhibit a cell’s functioning. His studies of the cell membrane revealed that this outer layer of the cell functions rather like a computer chip—the equivalent of a brain.5 Far from the hardwired machine we’ve always assumed it was, the brain is a continually changing organ with the power to rejuvenate itself.
Lipton asserts that we humans have billions of regenerative cells in our bodies that are designed to repair or replace damaged tissues and organs. The activity and fate of these cells, says Lipton, “are profoundly influenced by our thoughts and perceptions about the environment. Hence our beliefs about aging can either interfere with or enhance stem-cell function, causing our physiological regeneration or decline.”6
Armed with knowledge, medical advances, and the power of our own minds and wills, our generation can transform how we live the last innings of our lives, as well as the legacy we leave future generations.
Health and Vitality … a Birthright and an Intention
Myriad philosophers and thinkers have noted how we humans tend to attract what we think. If we think negatively, we attract negativity back. This “law of attraction,” or what psychologists call the self-fulfilling prophecy, can have a tremendous impact on how we live and enjoy our lives. We have 60,000 thoughts a day, and every one of them has a frequency. But instead of the “good vibrations” that Beach Boy Brian Wilson sang about, too often our thoughts are pessimistic and come from a place of deficiency and discouragement: I’ll never own my dream house, I’ll never meet my soul mate, I’ll never have a career that fulfills me, or I’ll never feel as good as I did when I was 25. And yet, affirmative thought is a hundred times more powerful than these “bad vibes.”
When we focus on lack, that’s what we attract. Many of us ask ourselves why we keep ending up in the same unsatisfying relationships, playing out the same self-destructive patterns, enduring the same never-ending cycle of calamity and recovery. We wonder if we will ever have what our hearts desire. Most of us experience this type of life because we are not visualizing what we want in a limitless universe; we are visualizing what we don’t want in a universe of negative returns. This is the message that the universe hears, and it honors our intentions accordingly.7
But there is another, better way; and it can literally transform our reality.
My friend Louise Hay is a wonderful example of how thinking “different” can change the future. I first met Louise when she attended a Body Ecologist workshop. I was quickly inspired by her balanced way of taking care of her own growth and needs while helping the world and seeking the truth. Her openness and availability to new ideas keeps her perennially young and engaging. She follows the Body Ecology Way of Life, and it is wonderful to see how her body and demeanor are in harmony with her youthful spirit.
Louise has faced some hard challenges in her life, beginning with a traumatic and impoverished childhood. Still in her teens when she ran away from home, she ended up in New York City, where she became a model and married a prosperous businessman. Although it appeared that her life had turned around, it was not until the marriage ended 14 years later that her healing really began.
Baby Boomers will be encouraged to know that Louise’s personal mission and life’s work began when she was 52, an age when most of us start to slow down. In the ’70s, she attended meetings at the Church of Religious Science and began training in the ministerial program. She became a popular speaker at the church and soon began counseling clients. This work quickly blossomed into a full-time career. After several years, Louise compiled a reference guide detailing the mental causes of physical ailments, and she developed positive thought patterns for reversing illness and creating health. This compilation was the basis for her 1976 book, Heal Your Body, a bestseller that has been translated into 42 different languages and sold in 132 countries.
Louise was able to put her philosophies into practice when she was diagnosed with cancer years ago. She considered alternatives to surgery and drugs; and developed an intensive program of affirmations, visualization, nutritional cleansing, and psychotherapy. Within six months, she was completely healed.
Considered one of the founders of the self-help movement, Louise has helped millions of people create their hearts’ desires. In 1985, she began her famous support group, “The Hayride,” with six men diagnosed with AIDS. By 1988, the group had grown to a weekly gathering of 800 people and had moved to an auditorium in Santa Monica. Louise now heads Hay House, one of the fastest-growing publishing houses in the world. Her passionate intention to help the world heal emotionally, spiritually, and physically began as a small venture in the living room of her home. Today, it has turned into a prosperous corporation that has sold millions of books (including this one) and audio programs since its inception.
Louise is a great inspiration to me, and a powerful model for those of us in our generation who may think getting older means limitations rather than opportunities. Like Louise, I found that my own healing and happiness evolved out of a very personal health crisis and recovery. I was born with a sensitive constitution. It seemed as a child I was always coming down with lung infections and suffering stomachaches, and many of the foods I ate didn’t agree with me. When I was 15, my skin began to break out, and a wellmeaning but misguided dermatologist prescribed antibiotics. Fifteen years later, frequent use of antibiotics had weakened my body to the point where I had almost no functional immune system, and my stomach burned whenever I ate anything. By the time I was 30, I could tolerate only about five foods.
This launched me on a personal quest; and I began to explore every kind of diet available, including vegetarian, raw, macro, natural hygiene, and high protein. I also spent a fortune on supplements and found real value in neuromuscular massage, acupuncture, colonics, and craniosacral therapy. Everything helped, but I still felt weak, and my digestion never improved.
At the age of 38, confused and uncertain as to where to turn next, I found that fate intervened. I met Dr. William Crook, who had just written The Yeast Connection. After reading his book, I realized that I had a classic case of an extremely common systemic infection called candidiasis. The infection and its toxins had seriously compromised my digestive, immune, and endocrine systems.
After much study and trial and error, I eventually created an entire system of health and healing centered around repairing and restoring my inner ecosystem—killing off the bad yeast and the accompanying viruses and then recolonizing my intestines with friendly microflora, thus restoring proper digestion
More than anything else, I am a teacher, so naturally I began to share what I was learning with others. I knew my discoveries needed to reach more people, and in 1994, the first edition of The Body Ecology Diet was self-published. Slowly the book made its way around the world to the people who needed it. I also founded a nutrition company called Body Ecology, Inc.
Two decades later, the system of health and healing I was guided to create, step by step, is now providing answers to many other health challenges, not just candidiasis. Unbelievably, this book, currently in its 11th edition and now published by Hay House, has helped tens of thousands of people return to optimal health. To this day I can see so clearly a happier, healthier world. And I have embarked on an even larger mission to change the way the world eats. Like Louise Hay, I will never stop believing it will happen.
Our thoughts and emotions are always reassembling and reorganizing, but they follow our instructions! We can transform our reality if we change our beliefs. In fact, the body acts like a puppet to our thoughts, and it has a tremendous capacity for self-healing if we focus on health, not disease.
Our Thoughts Produce Results
Have you been resigned to or obsessing over the changes in your body? If this continues to be your focus, you will certainly find more and more signs of aging with each passing year. Instead, I encourage you to begin—right this moment—to direct your thoughts to how it looks and feels to be young. Focus on what you want to become, not on what you currently are. Your body will begin to respond with new health and vitality.
Now, imagine if 78 million of us collectively start to concentrate our thoughts on how it looks and feels to be young. Our cells will respond immediately, and the universe will begin to give us what we want. Why would it do this? Because the universe wants this, too! If millions of us remain young and healthy, we can be of much greater service to the world. We can begin the work we have come here to do.
This is our generation’s last, but truly most important, mission. With our great numbers—our collective wisdom, resources, and insight—we can begin right now to correct the mistakes of the past. It’s time … and timing is everything.
It is my greatest hope that this book will become the first in a series of “inspired thoughts” that will guide you to take your own “moon walk” to a younger, healthier, and even happier you.