Unleash Your Potential

By Dr. Allison Barriscale
Pride Wellness Columnist
Sent with permission from Pride News Magazine (www.pridenewsmagazine.com)
 

Recent advances in physics and cellular science are heralding an important evolutionary turning point. For almost fifty years we have held the illusion that our health and fate are preprogrammed in our genes, a concept referred to as genetic determinacy.

In cellular biology, a radically new understanding is unfolding at the leading edge of science, explaining that, in the function of cells, the environment of a cell is primary. In fact, our DNA (or genetic material) is involved in an intermediate step. This leads to the notion that we are not limited by our genes, and our true potential arises from a field of infinite possibility. 

New understanding in Quantum Physics has given scientists and philosophers alike, a framework for conceptualizing how our consciousness interacts with physical reality.  This is a powerful perspective that offers the possibility that our thoughts and perception of our environment are what create the reality and experience of our lives.

If we create our reality, and we each have access to a limitless potential for life, healing, energy and vitality within us, why and how is it that we do not experience this limitless energy in our daily lives? Consider the nature, predisposition and experience of children.

How is it that a child can be so full of life and energy, play 16 hours a day, and still have energy for more? 

How I understand it is through a potential energy theory. It explains:

The stress of life can be overwhelming for our bodies, so our bodies have developed strategies to protect us. When we have an overly stressful experience, our body brilliantly redirects the energy and information involved in the experience, so it can be stored throughout our body as potential energy.

If we think of this stored potential as the tint on the lens of a pair of sunglasses, each of us would have varying amounts of tint on our glasses. We view the world through this tint.

Children would have glasses with very little tint; their bodies have not yet accumulated as much stress as adults. The greater the tint on our sunglasses, the less light gets though. If your glasses have a darker tint, you would see a darker, less clear view of the world.

Over time, this stored potential (which shows up in the body as tension) can build up and filter out, or block, the _expression of life in our bodies.

When we hold a lot of tension, our perspective becomes clouded; our body functions and responds to our environment in less than optimal ways. Most of us are not aware this stored potential is affecting our lives; however, we are aware of its effects: pain, disease, chronic stress, volatile personality, depression and poor posture. 

The exciting thing about having this potential stored in our bodies is that it can be accessed and used as fuel for healing, growth and transformation. 

Our bodies brilliantly store old experiences; we never lose an opportunity to learn and evolve.

By connecting to and integrating our stored potential, our glasses become less tinted, we see life more clearly, and our body can function more optimally. When we lift the fog clouding our life, our innate potential is able to shine through. 

We all have varying amounts of potential stored in our bodies, and an infinite supply. 

What can we do to unleash our potential?

There are endless ways to access the power within; some are more powerful than others. 

Here are a few suggestions of practices that have stood the test of time:

Prayer, meditation, yoga, Tai Chi, exercise, positive thinking and affirmations, forgiveness, gratitude, generosity, acceptance, compassion, communication, and, most of all, doing everything you do with love. 

The more you can do for yourself to connect with the greatness inside the better. I personally believe gaining deep body awareness is a vitally important part of being well.

Future columns may include some instruction on somato-respiratory (soma = body, respiratory = breathing) techniques I teach people.

There are many other body awareness techniques you can learn or you may already practice. There are also practitioners who can help facilitate you connecting with your innate potential. They include, but definitely not limited to, people who practice acupuncture, reiki, shiatsu, and of course, chiropractic.