The emotions of our parents, and those of our grand-parents, can unwittingly become ours – the fears, anger and grief that they may have experienced, and even their addictions, could be a ‘legacy’ that we too feel, and also pass on to our children.
How many of us ever make the link between our issues – perhaps unexplained fear, anxiety or depression – and what happened to our family members in generations before us?
When someone experiences a traumatic event or suffers, due to a negative event, it is easy to understand why they may become ‘emotionally’ disturbed, but what if you struggle with an ‘unexplained’ sense of hopelessness or sadness, with nothing to identify as the trigger?
It may be emotional ‘inheritance’.
Civil War Prisoners
Researchers in California published a study of Civil War prisoners that came to a remarkable conclusion.
Male children of abused war prisoners were about 10% more likely to die than their peers were, in a given year after middle age, the study reported.
The findings, the authors concluded, supported an ‘epigenetic explanation’. The idea that trauma can leave a chemical mark on a person’s genes, which is then passed down to subsequent generations.
The mark doesn’t damage the gene, there is no mutation. Instead it alters the mechanism by which the gene is converted into functioning proteins, or ‘expressed’.
The alteration isn’t genetic. It’s epigenetic.
Epigenetic studies now explain how anxiety and depression can be passed on from generation to generation – inherited emotions.
Epigenetic changes in mice
In another study, scientists trained mice to feel fearful when exposed to the scent of cherry blossom. Their offspring also feared the scent, even if they were never exposed to it, and incredibly, the next generation after that also had the same trait!
The investigators discovered how a specific gene in the sperm of the mice had been epigenetically changed by the induced fear, causing the fear to stay in place and be passed on from one generation to next, even if the initial cause was no longer there.
Mouse photograph by Paul Tymon Photography.
What can we do about inherited emotions?
The good news is – once we make these links – we are able to break them.
Our bodies are designed to be self-regulating and self-healing. Negative events and our reactions to them can cause energetic blockages in the flow of energy throughout the body, impeding normal function and healing.
Using kinesiology and intuitive questioning, these energy blockages can be released, and promote the healing process.
According to Dr. Bradley Nelson, author of the book “The Emotion Code” he believes trapped emotions are responsible for causing inflammation, weakness and pain.
“At this stage of our understanding, we may not be able to do a lot to change our actual DNA, but releasing trapped emotions can help us to make changes on an energetic level that can make huge improvements in how we feel emotionally and physically.”
Dr Bradley Nelson
I continue to study The Emotion Code and find this energy work to be safe, natural and supportive.
Guest blog post by Sally Cross – Emotion Code Practitioner in training.
I’m always looking to hone my skills – if any of the above resonates – I’d love to help. Contact me on 07747 801532.
I have Dr Bradley’s book, the body code. It has helped me release so many trapped emotions that I am physically and emotionally more energetic and happier.
Debbie