Jacob Holistic Healing

Recommended Reading

I am a voracious reader and you can look forward to reviews of some of my favorite books being added to this page regularly.

The Biology of Belief: Unleashing the power of consciousness, matter, and miracles

Bruce Lipton, PhD

Mountain of Love/Elite Books, 2005 

Bruce Lipton is a conventionally trained cellular biologist who began, in the 1970s to question biology’s Central Dogma; that genes control life.  In this book he carefully explains his awakening to the understanding that environment is the key to triggering gene activity, and that we are gifted with multiple options for impacting this all important environment.  Lipton argues, very convincingly, that the current scientific focus on genetic answers to disease needs to be scrapped, especially in light of the findings of the Human Genome project that there are simply not enough genes to account for the complexity of human life or human disease.

In a chapter entitled The Magical Membrane, he points out that cells have receptors that act like antennae which can read energy fields.  This evidence challenges the “old biology” notion that only physical or chemical molecules can impact physiology.

One section of particular interest to energy healers describes the principle of harmonic resonance.  Energy waves can be understood to either combine in power (constructive interference) or cancel each other out (destructive interference.)  Knowing  that vibrational frequencies can alter the physical and chemical properties of cells provides scientific support for energy therapies intended to create harmonic resonance.   In fact, Lipton points out that energy is a more efficient means of affecting matter than chemicals, suggesting that energy therapy is more “in tune” with our beings that pharmaceutical remedies.  

Lipton then goes on to discuss how thoughts can impact ones energy vibration, and thus cellular function, physiology, and overall state of well being.  Thoughts are the mind’s energy, and they directly influence how the physical brain affects the body’s physiology.  Thoughts can activate or inhibit cell function through the mechanics of constructive and destructive interference.  Thus, it is important for our health and well-being to shift our mind’s energy toward positive, life-generating thoughts.  Taking this one step further, our perceptions and beliefs, no matter how closely they reflect reality, have a profound impact on our health,  Many of the perceptions and beliefs that control our habitual thinking and automatic responses are seated in our subconscious mind, and as a practicing hypnotherapist I know that hypnosis is uniquely effective in helping individuals recognize harmful negative programming and replace it with positive and life-affirming beliefs.

Lipton expands his theory about improving individual well being through the internal environment to encompass the well being of all of Gaia, the earth and all if its communities.  He ends the book by calling for the elimination of “survival of the fittest” thinking, declaring that “survival of the most loving is the only thinking that will ensure not only a healthy personal life but also a healthy planet.”

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle:  A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver 

This wonderful author has a new book which chronicles the year that she and her family spent eating only locally grown or raised food, most of which they produced themselves.  The book begins with their move from Tuscon, AZ  to a farm in rural Appalachia.  They then faced the tough decision about when to begin their experiment, knowing that few fruits and vegetables are available during many  months of the year.  Beginning in the spring, they ate a great deal of chard and lettuce until summer vegetables began to grow.  They allowed themselves only a few items that were not available locally, namely coffee, olive oil, and wheat flour.

This book reads like a combination of poetry, science, and high adventure.  Kingsolver takes the reader along as she faces the hilarity involved in the reproductive lives of turkeys, and you can just feel her heavy sighs as she looks out over her kitchen where every surface is piled high with tomatoes that must somehow be preserved.

For me,  the book was a real eye-opener. I find myself more and more interested in where my food comes from and how far it has traveled.  I am increasingly interested in searching out sources of local foods which are fresh, seasonal, and haven’t required massive amounts of fuel for transportation.  Yet, I am passionate about grapefruit which I buy knowing that it always has to be transported to Michigan from somewhere far away.

I do believe that Kingsolver is on to something.  Transporting food great distances consumes tremendous amounts of fuel, not to mention the nutritional impact of picking produce well before it has ripened.  Bottled water alone is one of the most egregious contributors to environmental degradation.  For every one million bottles shipped 18.2 tons of carbon dioxide are dumped into our air.

For now, I plan to purchase more of my food from farmer’s markets where I know I will find local products, and I’m already scouting sunny areas of my yard so that I can build a vegetable garden next spring.  Another option you may want to consider is to join a Community Supported Agriculture farm which will deliver boxes of organic produce to members for 20 weeks each year.  Maple Creek Farm in Yale, MI delivers to various sites in metro-Detroit.  (www.maplecreekfarm.com, 810-387-4365). 

I highly recommend this wonderful book and I’m confident that all who read it will find themselves changed in some small but positive ways.  And small steps taken by many can lead to great change.