Dr Candace Pert, PhD
The New Scientific Paradigm
Cutting-edge research has evolved into a new scientific paradigm which indicates that body and mind are not two separate
entities, but are in fact one of the same: a single indivisible organism that we call the self. For those with an inquiring
mind, there is a whole host of scientific research to support your understanding of the mind and body as one.
The most acclaimed contributor to this field is Dr Candace Pert, PhD. Dr Pert is an internationally recognised psychopharmacologist who holds a research professorship in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at Georgetown University, Washington DC. She has lectured worldwide and appeared in the film What The Bleep Do We Know. She is the author of several books including Molecules of Emotion and Everything You Need to Know to Feel Good. She is best known in the scientific community for her discovery of opiate receptors in the brain.
Dr Pert's Research
Your brain is not in charge. Candace Pert PhD
receptors and neuropeptides
Dr Pert has made a life-long study of the chemical links between our physical cell structures and our emotional experiences. In her research she uncovered the chemical processes that trigger our moods, behaviours and beliefs. In her work she has shown that the mind and body are, in fact, one.
On the surface of every cell in the body are numerous tiny molecules called receptor molecules. These molecules are like sense organs. Just as the nose is programmed to respond to smell and ears to sound, each receptor is designed to recongise and attract a specific stimulus.
The stimuli associated with states of mind are called neuropeptides. These neuropeptides bind to the receptor molecules on the surface of the cell, and in doing so transmit specific instructions to the cell.
An example is the peptide endorphin, which triggers the cell to generate feelings of well-being.
The mind and body as one
We are all aware of the bias built into the Western idea that the mind is totally in the head: a function of the brain. But your body is not there just to carry around your head.
Candace Pert PhD
The brain is very densely populated with the types of receptors designed to attract neuropeptides. However, Dr Pert made a breakthrough discovery with her partner Dr Ruff. Their discovery was that the same receptors are duplicated everywhere in the body. In fact, every part of the body houses these receptors, and the neuropeptides that bind to them.
What this means is that our cells are intelligent entities. The mood altering neuropeptides are active not only in our brains as traditionally thought, but also in our blood, muscles, bones and organs.
Previously it was believed that when our emotions make us blush, sweat, or feel bliss, for example, that the body is responding to a signal from the brain. Dr Pert's research reveals that these responses are actually being produced at a cellular level.
So when neuropeptides bind with their receptors, it makes both the peptides and receptors become molecules of emotion.
The discovery by Dr Pert and Dr Ruff puts to rest the classical Western understanding that the mind is a function of the brain. Instead, mind can now be understood as a consistent changing flow of molecular information in motion through out the body.
Your body is your subconscious mind. Candace Pert PhD
What's more, virtually all the information exchange takes place outside the realm of conscious awareness. This is why we have come to understand that it is the subconscious mind that is the source of psychosomatic ailments such as stress symptoms. Dr Pert explains that the subconscious mind is actually the body itself, faithfully reporting the chemical processes within our cells. These processes only enter our consciousness when we recognise them as emotions.
Healing The Bodymind
Dr Pert's research gives a scientific basis to Eastern philosophy, and supports the long held traditions that have understood all along how the mind affects the body and the body affects the mind. The scientific breakthroughs of Dr Pert's research can give you an understanding of the processes your body is undergoing when you use techniques such as EFT and PSYCH-KTM at Bodymind Healing. As you release your trauma and negative patterns on a physiological and psychological level, you are also releasing them on a cellular level, thus changing your body's biochemistry.
You don't have to understand the science for the techniques used at Bodymind Healing to work for you, but it may help you to know that there is a scientific basis for the changes that you undergo as you release your past and become happy and healthful.
Dr Candace Pert and EFT
Dr Pert recommends EFT to balance the body, mind and emotions:
EFT is at the forefront of the new healing movement. Candace Pert PhD