"What reality do you choose to live?"
- You Are the Placebo, page 123
"You have to finally see your old, limited beliefs for what they are – records of the past – and be willing to let go of them so you can embrace new beliefs about yourself that will help you create a new future."- You Are the Placebo, page 165
Dr. Joe’s personal journey began shockingly at just age 23. During the biking portion of a Palm Springs triathlon, he was run over by an SUV barreling along at 55 miles per hour. Never even saw the vehicle coming… Doctors insisted he undergo devastating Harrington rod spinal surgery or face sure paralysis.
Contrarily, he embarked upon an “inward reconstruction”. In so doing, he proved his book’s sub-title, making the mind matter. Essentially, if a given (healing or beneficial) gene has been previously expressed by the body – but then turned off due to stress or illness – we can turn it back on. New genes can be instructed to behave in new ways.
"Ninety-five percent of who you are by the time you’re 35 years old is a set of memorized behaviors, skills, emotional reactions, beliefs, perceptions, and attitudes that functions like a subconscious computer program."- You Are the Placebo, page 71
As Dispenza declares, the hardest part about change is not making the same choices we made the day before. Did you know 90% of today’s thoughts are the same ones we had yesterday? Indeed, we cannot create anything new from the known.
Goodness! The conscious mind’s 5% capacity is constantly working against the 95% of unconscious programs we’ve memorized for years. Your (unconscious) body remembers each negative ever harbored. To change will feel like swimming upstream.
Literally, cravings (to return to old ways) are withdrawals from the body’s familiar chemical-emotional addictions. However, if we can understand our discomfort is “simply” the biological, neurological, chemical and even genetic death of the old self, we have greater power over change.
Some call this experience the dark night of the soul. The author terms this necessary process the phoenix igniting itself and burning to ashes. To get started, here are some suggestions:
"Use elevated emotions to drive you into a new future."- You Are the Placebo, page 136
We shouldn’t merely avoid negative emotions like fear or anger. Rather, we are encouraged to cultivate heartfelt emotions like appreciation, joy, excitement, fascination, awe, inspiration and kindness. Over time, your sub-conscious mind and body begin to believe your preferred future has already occurred.
To begin to manifest what you DO seek:
For me, the uplifting effect of Dr. Dispenza’s tediously-won lessons is this: I can absolutely bring a new future into concrete material existence by changing my belief and perceptions at a biological level. What power!
Our genes do not doom us. We can modify our destiny by turning on the genes we want and turning off those we don’t want. Changes in human consciousness produce physical changes, both in structure and function, in the human body.
Joe Dispenza, D.C., first caught the public’s eye as one of the scientists featured in the award-winning film What the BLEEP Do We Know!? Since that movie’s release in 2004, his work has expanded, deepened, and spiraled in several key directions—all of which reflect his passion for exploring how people can use the latest findings from the fields of neuroscience and quantum physics to not only heal illness but also to enjoy a more fulfilled and happy life. Dr. Joe is driven by the conviction that each one of us has the potential for greatness and unlimited abilities.
