Love, Fear, and Biology
Love has a powerful effect on the body, naturally, because it is the force behind its creation. Common sense would therefore tell you that a heart and mind full of love would give you more success in healing yourself, others, your plants, your pets, your life and even the world.
A scientific study at Ohio State University of Medicine was examining the effects of a high-fat and high-cholesterol diet on rabbits. Scientists were feeding them the diet for a period of time then examining them for evidence of athero-sclerosis. The atherosclerosis level was expected to be very high throughout the rabbits but one group had 60 percent less of it than the other groups. Eventually it was discovered that one of the technicians had taken this group out of their cages every day and stroked them.
A repeat of the experiment confirmed this. The loving act of care and compassion had reduced levels of atherosclerosis by 60 percent. It had altered the biology of the rabbits enough to give them some protection from the damaging effects of a high-fat and high-cholesterol diet.
This came as a surprise to the researchers, but, as we now know, a mother’s touch will switch on genes that produce growth hormones, and love also helps the growth of children. So the feeling of love aids the biology-building process and causes an increase in gene expression that offers protection against disease.
Love is also important in successful prayer. When you pray for someone’s health or well-being, a good prayer contains a feeling of care and compassion for the person you pray for. And God, or whatever deity you pray to, is unconditionally loving, so the love is coming from two directions.
Love is important in all forms of healing. People who practice healing techniques know that the starting point is always care, compassion and a genuine willingness to help.
In the example of the cacti giving up their thorns, love and tenderness were key. There is real truth in the old wives’ tale that talking to your plants makes them grow better, especially when you speak kindly to them. In my own plant research described earlier, the words “love” and “happy” caused watercress seeds to grow much more quickly than normal. Seeds, like all life, thrive in a positive and loving environment.
You can easily conduct your own simple experiments to confirm this by measuring the growth of your plants over a couple of weeks, either with a ruler or by taking photographs. Talk to them kindly every day and you will find that they will respond, just as people do. They will grow taller and stronger, and be healthier.
Fear, as you would expect, has the opposite effect on biology. In my own research, the words “fear” and “sad” suppressed the growth of the seeds of watercress. You may also have noticed that plants do not generally grow as well in negative or depressive environments.
Consistent anger and frustration, both qualities of fear, can suppress the immune system and make heart rhythms shaky. Appreciation, care, and compassion do the opposite.
We also know that sustained neglect of an infant, which probably leaves it feeling alone and fearful, suppresses specific genes so much that its growth is hampered. Fear is detrimental to health, whereas love is beneficial.
In general, love promotes health and growth of mind, body, and spirit, whereas fear has the opposite effect.
Love and Intention
As already mentioned, any form of healing starts with love. Healing means to “make whole” and love always seeks to make whole.
In some distant-healing plant-growth experiments, love was the ingredient that was needed to make the plants grow. Some of the healers involved said that they could not bring about any significant changes until they had made a caring and compassionate connection with the plants.
An experiment by Glen Rein of Quantum Biology Research Labs in New York and Rollin McCraty of the Institute of Heartmath showed that love even allowed people to mentally influence the behavior of DNA. Research into gene expression has shown that genes are switched on and off depending on how you are thinking or feeling, but there is no direct intention in those experiments such as “I am visualizing switching on such-and-such a gene now” (although this should be possible and could easily be measured). However, the Rein and McCraty experiment showed that the feeling of love could make DNA directly respond to intention.
In the experiment, a group of people were given a jar containing DNA and were asked to try to mentally unwind the two strands while the scientists followed the behavior of the DNA using spectroscopic techniques. Half of the group had been instructed in standard Heartmath techniques for generating a genuine feeling of love and appreciation, and half had not.
Only the people who felt love and appreciation were able to unwind the strands of DNA. The efforts of the other group had no effect. The feeling of love was vital in being able to mentally influence DNA.
This shows that, at a very deep level, healing with intention is much more likely to occur when you have a genuine wish to help.
It follows that if you show kindness, care, and compassion to everyone around you — family members, friends, colleagues, and people you come into contact with — you will have a beneficial effect on them and on yourself. What you give out always comes back in one form or another. The love you give out will affect your own body and your life.
Love is inside you, even if you don’t always see it. Let it out! Kindness can be a simple smile, or a few choice words, or agreeing to help someone. Care and compassion can be listening to someone who needs to talk or even just appreciating the differences in people.
Love can be active. Share it out a bit and you will notice that others will do the same. Your words and actions will unconsciously give people permission to rise to new heights. That can be your gift to them.