TRANSCRIPT: Bruce Lipton On How Your Thoughts (STRESS) Cause Illness and Disease.

And now it turns out that stress, the problem that fear generates, stress is responsible for up to 90% of all disease. We have to learn to let go of the fear. Consciousness needs to change. It’s chronic fear chemistry itself that is the cause of the problem. Change your mind, you change the chemistry. And therefore, you become empowered. I’d like to discuss today the concept of how fear influences our biology.

What we understand from the nature of epigenetics is that the composition of the blood is actually what controls our genetic activity. That the composition of that blood, the chemistry of it is based on the perceptions that we hold in our mind. And when we start to hold a perception of fear, we release different chemistry in the blood to prepare us to protect ourselves from the fear that we believe is going to affect us.

So I go, “Well, what happens?” I say, “When we hold a picture of fear, one of the things that happens is we start to get mobilized to forget our body to respond to that fear.” And most of us know that mobilization is related to the adrenal system, the fight-or-flight system built into our body. So I say, “Well, what happens physiologically when we’re experiencing fear in our mind?” And the answer is, “The brain releases elements such as stress hormones as cortisol or norepinephrine as well as agents that affect the immune system such as histamine or cytokines.” Like, “Oh, so, what is the collective response of the chemistry of fear in the blood?” And the answer is, “It redirects the flow of energy in our body.”

Understand this, that the blood is controlling the energy because that’s where all the nutrients and the resources are. And normally, when we’re not in fear, the blood is more or less concentrated in our viscera, the organs that actually help the body grow and repair itself and maintain itself. So, the blood energy is now being used to maintain our biology. However, if we live in fear such as the old concept of being chased by a saber-toothed tiger, the question is, “Where do you want the blood?” Well, since the adrenal system helps us in fight-or-flight, the adrenal system is going to redirect the blood flow into the arms and legs because those are the organs that we use to escape the fear.

So the first thing that happens when fear is present in our mind is that the stress hormones go in the blood. They actually cause the blood vessels in the gut to shut down. Why? Because we don’t need to use the energy to grow and maintain the body when we’re chased by that tiger. When the blood vessels in the guts squeeze shut, the blood is now forced to the arms and legs which are necessary for the fight-or-flight response. And centers it because, in a state of fear, some people experience what are called butterflies in the stomach. That butterflies in the stomach is the physiological consequence of the stress hormones causing the blood vessels to squeeze shut in the gut, pushing the blood to the arms and legs. And that’s where we need the energy of the system.

So number one, when you’re living in fear, you shut down the growth and maintenance of the body as you prepare for fight-or-flight. Number two, there’s another effect as well. And that is when fear hormones are put in the body, again, we want to conserve all the energy possible to run away from that tiger. So we shut down any mechanism that is not necessary in a fight-or-flight response.

This is particularly important in regard to the immune system. The immune system is like an internal adrenal system. The immune system protects me from threats on the inside. The immune system uses a lot of energy, as you well know because if you’ve ever been sick, you realize how little energy you have. You may not even have enough energy to get out of bed. So, the significance here is important. When the stress hormones are released in the body to conserve the energy for fight-or-flight, the stress hormones shut down the immune system. And this is very vital because the usage of that energy by the immune system is so high, it would interfere with the fight-or-flight response. So, a significant aspect is this. Not only do we redirect the flow of blood away from the viscera, which maintains our body, we also inhibit the immune system, which is protecting the interior of our body.

Now, if it’s just a run away from a saber-toothed tiger, 10 minutes and you escape the tiger, then the system can return to normal. But what happens in chronic fear? The fear of life of every day that we’re not being supported. The answer is this. Then chronically, we are shutting down the maintenance of the body which opens us up to infections and inflammations and all other problems. And while we’re open to those infections, guess what? We also now shut down the immune system, which is protecting us from those infections. So when I say we shut down the growth of the maintenance of the body, we shut down the immune system for a 10-minute escape from a tiger, no problem. But in today’s world, stress is not 10 minutes. It’s 24-7 365. What is the consequence of a long duration of living in fear?

And the answer is the body starts to become sick and starts to fall apart. Now it turns out that stress, the problem that fear generates, stress is responsible for up to 90% of all disease. And so, while we were thinking genes were causing the diseases, no. It’s the consequence of stress and the chemical consequence of that shutting down growth, shutting down the immune system, opens up the body for a failure. And this is why disease is the result of chronic fear.

So the relevance is this. We have to learn to let go of the fear. We have to recognize that most of the fear is just programming, people scaring us with beliefs about this is going to happen and that’s going to happen. And when we hold those beliefs in our mind, those beliefs are translated into the chemistry of stress, which then impacts the body in a very negative way.

So, consciousness needs to change. We have to stop the fear thoughts, we have to switch into healthier thoughts. If there’s a picture of fear, this is actually debilitating you. So in your mind, every time a fear comes up, if you change it into some other story, change it to some other vision, change it into visions of happiness, joy, anything you would rather do because the fear itself is the cause of the illness and the fear is a result of consciousness.

And it’s not actually real in most cases. It’s a belief. And if we change that belief surrounding the fear, we are then empowered to return back to a healthy vital system where the blood is flowing back into the viscera, maintaining us and the inhibitions on the immune system are stopped. In this process, we can then have a life of full health and happiness especially when you recognize that over 90% of the diseases facing this planet are all coming from fear. It’s up to us. We can change the fear. You consciously must redirect that fear and change it by replacing it with thoughts of love, happiness, joy, health and all those wonderful visions. Because in that mindset, the chemistry will actually enhance your vitality. It’s chronic fear chemistry itself that is the cause of the problem. Change your mind, you change the chemistry. And therefore you become empowered to survive and thrive.