October 4, 2018

by Reiki Master, Andrea Pritchard

I have been inspired lately, to really contemplate the concept that we are what we eat. This isn’t a new saying, in fact, it’s been around since the early 1900’s. Though I have made significant changes to my diet over the years (pizza and fries were a main staple in my earlier years, and my baby-moon was filled with gorging on poutine, however a few years ago I made the shift to plant based), until now it hadn’t quite sunk in that each and every one of our cells is made up of the air we breathe, and the food, drink and thoughts we ingest.

Most people can get their heads around the air, food and drink part because we quite literally inhale/ingest them (even though most still continue feeding taste buds and emotions), but many struggle with the concept that we are what we think and believe.

To help make this a more user-friendly concept, let’s think back to a time when you were incredibly nervous about something. You most likely felt butterflies in your stomach, or in my case, I had to stick close to the restroom. Nervous is an idea, shifting into emotion, manifesting into physical form, feeling sick. Our brains are directly linked to our bodies via the vagus nerve. Our emotions (energy in motion) have a very strong impact on our physical bodies and their ability to stay healthy or heal. If a fleeting thought can cause one to feel queasy, imagine what a chronic belief can do.

Research has now shown that things like yoga and meditation can actually change our gene expression. Telomeres (the caps at the end of each strand of DNA that protect our chromosomes, like the plastic tips at the end of shoelaces) shrink as we face chronic stress and as we age, and as they shrink, DNA becomes damaged, cells then cannot do their jobs, and disease is able to grow. However, with engaging in things such as yoga and meditation these telomeres have been found to stay strong and intact, keeping our bodies, and subsequently our minds, healthy (check out this article). Reiki, due to how relaxing, restorative and healing it is, is also a very powerful counter to the negative impacts of our more stressful lives. Here is one of many sites that gives a better understanding of the role telomeres play and how important it is that we pay attention to their impact.

It can be incredibly difficult, feel downright impossible, to change our beliefs. Especially the ones that we have held close to our hearts since we were children (and don’t we grow more stubborn as we age!). But it is possible. It just takes being open to a new way. It takes letting go of what we think that we know in order to be curious as to how we developed that belief in the first place. It takes us allowing the possibility that we were/are wrong. Once we open that door, it is amazing how quickly we can shift. And when we let go of old outdated beliefs that have kept us small, potentially quite sick, likely angry at someone or something, we get lighter. Energy is lifted out of our bodies and we are able to vibrate a little higher.

Today, look at what you are ingesting. The air you are breathing, the food you are eating, what you are drinking and how you are thinking. Are you made up of what you want to be? I am working on it; believe me, I know how hard it is…