Happiness Genes: Unlock the Positive Potential Hidden in Your DNA

Praise for Happiness Genes:

"Combining recent studies showing the epigenetic effects of changing our beliefs and behaviors with the wisdom of ancient spiritual traditions, Happiness Genes is a wide-ranging survey of the science of happiness. It asks the reader provocative questions, like considering how our behaviors might be affecting the genetic expression of our children. Baird and Nadel show you how to inventory your ‘happiness assets,’ those relationships, possessions and situations that contribute to your happiness, and then treat them like the valuable resource that they are. Wise and practical, the book is peppered with self-reflection exercises, and ends with a 28 day program that guides you in cleaning up everything in your life that stands between you and happiness. To understand the links between what happiness looks like at the molecular level in our cells, the happiness of entire nations, and how you can take lessons from everything in between to raise your own happiness level, this book is an excellent guide."

—Dawson Church,

best-selling author of The Genie in Your Genes

Happiness Genes

INCLUDES THE NATURAL

HAPPINESS 28-DAY PROGRAM

Happiness Genes

Unlock the Potential

Hidden in Your DNA

JAMES D. BAIRD, PHD

with Laurie Nadel, PhD

Foreword by DR. BRUCE LIPTON, New York

Times best-selling author of

The Biology of Belief

Copyright © 2010 by James D. Baird and Laurie Nadel

All rights reserved under the Pan-American and International Copyright Conventions. This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or hereafter invented, without written permission from the publisher, The Career Press.

Disclaimer: This book and its program are not designed to replace medical or psychiatric treatment for a serious health condition. Please seek professional help if you have questions about your physical or psychological health.

Happiness Genes

Edited and Typeset by Kara Kumpel

Cover design by Howard Grossman/12E Design

Printed in the U.S.A. by Courier

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Baird, James D.

Unlock the positive potential hidden in your DNA / by James D. Baird with Laurie Nadel ;

foreword by Bruce Lipton.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-60163-105-3 – ISBN 978-1-60163-735-2 1.

Happiness. 2. Conduct of life. 3.

Genetic psychology. I. Nadel, Laurie, 1948- II. Title.

BF575.H27B34 2010

158—dc22

2009051731

To my wife, Ellie. By her unselfish devotion, she gave me the best memories of my life’s journey, and by her example taught me how to love my neighbor.

Acknowledgments

We wish to thank Dr. Wayne Dyer and our literary agent, Lisa Hagan, for believing in this book from the beginning. To Bruce Lipton, our profound thanks for your generous Foreword.

Our appreciation to Dawson Church, Rollins McCraty, Caroline Myss, Gregg Braden, and Steve Bhaerman for their insights into epigenetics. Basha Hayem at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories allowed a tour of the labs’ campus and pointed us toward excellent reference material. To Margaret, Sally, and Deb, who keep Bruce and Dawson organized, our thanks and blessings.

Thanks to Michael Pye and Kirsten Dalley at New Page Books. For each of you who held our hands through the many stages of the editorial process, you have our sincere appreciation.

Finally, to our family and friends for their everlasting patience…we could not have done this without you.

Contents

Foreword

by Dr. Bruce Lipton

Introduction

Part I:

The Genes Made Me Do It

Chapter 1:

Your Genes Awaken

Chapter 2:

Epigenetics, Evolution, and You

Chapter 3:

The Power of Our Spiritual Genes

Part II: Love That Feeling

Chapter 4:

Your Ancestors’ Spiritual Instinct

Chapter 5:

Dimensions of Spirituality

Chapter 6:

Common Happiness

Chapter 7:

Natural Happiness

Part III: Making Happiness Happen

Chapter 8:

Getting on the Path to Happiness

Chapter 9:

The Natural Happiness 28-Day Program

Chapter 10:

Internalizing Happiness Habits

Afterword

Welcome to the Revolution!

Appendix I:

Behavioral Science and Epigenetics in Depth

Appendix II:

Self-Hypnotic Induction

Notes

Glossary

Bibliography

Internet Resource Directory

Index

About the Author

Foreword

by

Bruce Lipton, PhD

Crisis ignites evolution. The challenges and crises the world faces today are actually signs that change is imminent. We are about to face our evolution.

A paradigm-shattering synthesis of science and society reveals that the planet is in the midst of an incredible evolutionary event…the emergence of a new species, Humanity. This evolution is driven by a change in human awareness. We are, each and all, active participants in what will amount to be the greatest adventure in human history: our conscious evolution!

We are living in exciting times, for modern science is in the process of shattering old myths and rewriting the story that has shaped the fate of human civilization. It is a simple fact: Our world changes when our perceptions of life as we know it changes. The old ways of seeing, believing, and reasoning will not help us transform the current conditions, simply because they are the primary reasons for the crises that threaten us today. Changing our understanding of biology and human history offers information and inspiration that will help us navigate these turbulent times.

In order for us to more effectively deal with threatening global challenges and contribute to the evolution of our planet, we must first shed our image of being helpless victims and learn the truth as to who we really are. A good starting place is to first acquire a more accurate account of how life works, for conventional wisdom is being shattered by a revolution in modern science. The new science is toppling the unquestioned pillars of biology, including our perceptions of random evolution, survival of the fittest, and the role of DNA.

the road to empowerment

A fundamental disempowering misperception is evident when we look at ourselves in the mirror and perceive ourselves as single, individual entities. In truth, our body is actually a community comprising upward of 50 trillion individual living cells. This number is easy to say, but it is almost unfathomable to comprehend. The total number of cells in a human body is equal to the total number of people on 8,000 Earths!

Virtually every body cell has all of the functions that are present in a human body. For example, almost every cell has its own nervous, digestive, respiratory, musculoskeletal, reproductive, and even immune systems, among others. Each of these cells is, in a true sense, the equivalent of a miniature human being.

Every cell is innately intelligent and can survive on its own when removed from the body. However, when present within the body, each cell foregoes its individuality and behaves as a citizen of a multicellular community. The human body actually reflects the cooperative effort of a community of 50 trillion single cells. By definition, a community is an organization of individuals committed to supporting a shared vision. Consequently, whereas every cell is a free-living entity, the body’s community accommodates the wishes and intents of its central voice, a character we perceive as the mind and spirit.

In a community of cells, the central voice represents the equivalent of a government that helps manage the affairs of its citizens. The new science reveals that our minds, replete with thoughts and intentions, profoundly shape our biology, behavior, and genetic activity. An awareness of how our mind influences our genes provides us with an unparalleled opportunity to experience sustainable health and happiness. However, to arrive at this destination, we must first relinquish our old, flawed assumptions about the relationship between mind and body.

a new view of biological control

More than 40 years ago, my research was involved with isolating individual stem cells and placing them into tissue culture dishes. Stem cells are the equivalent of undifferentiated embryonic cells that are scattered throughout your body. Their primary function is to replenish the billions of cells that are lost every day due to normal attrition, as well as repairing damaged or dysfunctional tissues and organs.

The cultured stem cells divide approximately every 10 hours. After two weeks, the stem cell culture dishes contain thousands of cells. The most important point here is that all the cells in a dish are derived from the same parent cell. Consequently, all the cells in a dish are genetically identical. In my experiments, I would split a population of cells into three separate culture dishes, and feed each culture with a different nutrient media containing a unique chemical composition. For cells, the culture medium is the equivalent of their environment, the same as the air, water, food, and social networks that form our environment.

In one set of dishes the cells formed muscle; in a second set the cells formed bone; and in the third set of cultures, the cells formed fat cells. The big question: What controls the fate of the cells? Because all the were genetically identical, the answer was a no-brainer: The environment controls the fate of the cells.

This was readily apparent when I would put cells in a less-than-optimal environment; the cells would get sick and the cultures would inevitably die off. To heal the cells, we did not use drugs; we simply returned the cells to a supportive environment, and they immediately recovered and the cultures flourished. Simply, the cells adjust their biology to become structural and physiologic complements to their environment.

My research on how the environment controlled the fate of the cells presaged one of today’s most important fields of science, epigenetics. Epigenetics is the field of study that assesses the mechanisms by which environmental information interfaces the genome and controls genetic activity. Previous to epigenetics, science and the public were preoccupied with a belief emphasizing genetic control, the belief that genes controlled their own expression. Consequently, we generally speak of the fact that genes turn on and genes turn off, as if genes were self-actualizing and self-regulating.

New insights reveal that genes do not control the fate of cells. They are simply blueprints for proteins, the cell’s molecular building blocks. As blueprints, genes do not possess an on or off status. For example, ask an architect working a blueprint a simple question: Is your blueprint on or off? The question is absurd.

Genes are blueprints that are activated and controlled by the cell’s response to environmental cues, the information contained in the growth medium. Research in epigenetics now recognizes an amazing reality: Changing the chemistry of the growth medium directly alters the readout of each gene blueprint.

In fact, the astonishing finding in epigenetic science is that the environmental information can modify the readout of each gene so as to create more than 30,000 variations from each blueprint. Simply, genes do not represent concrete fates; they are moldable potentials directly influenced by the environment. As the environment changes, so do the biology and fate of the cells.

who’s in charge?

How do the findings in stem cell cultures relate to you? As I’ve described, a human being is not a single living entity; we are actually a community of upward of 50 trillion sentient cellular citizens. In truth, we are skin-covered Petri dishes containing trillions of cells. The culture medium in our bodies is blood. Consequently, the fate of our body’s cells is influenced by the composition of our blood in the same manner that the fate of cultured stem cells are influenced by changing the chemistry of the culture environment.

The big question then amounts to What controls the chemistry of our blood, which in turn influences the fate of our health and biology? As I’ve mentioned, the trillions of cells comprising our bodies are organized into a massive community, within which cells take on specialized functions to support the life of the community. Some cells form specialized heart tissue; other cells form bones, muscles, skin, and blood. The differentiated cells comprising the nervous system are designed to acquire awareness about the world (environment) and use that information to direct the fate and activities of the cellular community.

Specialized nerve receptors, such as eyes, ears, nose, and taste, read environmental information and send signals to the brain. Through the process of perception, the brain interprets the environmental signals, and in response releases regulatory chemicals into the blood, the body’s culture medium. The chemistry derived from the brain circulates throughout the body and controls the behavior and genetic activity of our cells. Consequently, they way we perceive our environment controls our health and fate. Most importantly, when we change the way we respond to the environment we change our health and fate.

Under the archaic belief of genetic control we essentially perceived ourselves as victims of our heredity—if cancer or Alzheimer’s was in our family lineage, we were led to believe that we should anticipate that we might get stuck with the same fate. However, epigenetic science completely rewrites that limiting belief, for it reveals that through our mind, we can change the chemistry of our blood, and, in the process, become masters of our fate.

When the mind perceives that the environment is safe and supportive, the cells are preoccupied with the growth and maintenance of the body. In stressful situations, cells forego their normal growth functions and adopt a defensive protection posture. The body’s energy resources normally used to sustain growth are diverted to systems that provide protection during periods of stress. Simply, growth processes are restricted or suspended in a stressed system. Although our systems can accommodate periods of acute (brief) stress, prolonged or chronic stress is debilitating, for its energy demands interfere with the required maintenance of the body, and, as a consequence, leads to dysfunction and disease.

the value of good driver’s education

The principle sources of stress are the misperceptions that have been programmed into the system’s central voice, the mind. The mind is like the driver of a vehicle; with good driving skills, a vehicle can be well maintained and provide good performance throughout its life. Bad driving skills generate most of the wrecks that litter the roadside or are stacked in junkyards. If we employ good driving skills in managing our behaviors and dealing with our emotions, then we should anticipate a long, happy, and productive life. In contrast, inappropriate behaviors and dysfunctional emotional management, like a bad driver, stresses the cellular vehicle, interfering with its performance and provoking a breakdown.

Are you a good driver or a bad driver? Before you answer that question, realize that there are two separate minds that create the body’s controlling central voice. The (self-) conscious mind is the thinking you; it is the creative mind that possesses your wishes, desires, and aspirations. It is also the seat of positive thinking.

Its supporting partner is the subconscious mind, the equivalent of a record-playback device that downloads our life experiences. The subconscious mind is a supercomputer loaded with a database of programmed behaviors. Some programs are derived from genetics; these are our instincts, and they represent nature. However, the vast majority of the subconscious programs are acquired through our developmental learning experiences, and they represent nurture.

The subconscious mind is not a seat of reasoning or creative consciousness; it is strictly a stimulus-response mechanism. When an environmental signal is perceived, the subconscious mind reflexively activates a previously stored behavioral response—no thinking required. The subconscious mind is a programmable autopilot that can navigate our vehicular bodies without the observation or awareness of the pilot—the conscious mind. When the subconscious autopilot is controlling behavior, consciousness is free to dream into the future or review the past.

The dual-mind system’s effectiveness is defined by the quality of the programs carried in the subconscious mind. Essentially, the person who taught you to drive molds your driving skills. For example, if you were taught to drive with one foot on the gas and the other on the brake, no matter how many vehicles you owned, each will inevitably express premature brake and engine failure.

Similarly, if our subconscious mind is programmed with inappropriate behavioral responses to life’s experiences, then our sub-optimum driving skills will contribute to a life of crash-and-burn experiences. For example, cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death, is directly attributable to behavioral programs that mismanage the body’s response to stress.

Are you a good driver or a bad driver? The answer is difficult, for in our conscious creative mind we may consider ourselves as good drivers; however, self-sabotaging or limiting behavioral programs in our subconscious unobservably undermine our efforts. We are generally consciously unaware of our fundamental subconscious perceptions or beliefs about life.

The reason is that the prenatal and neonatal brain is predominately operating in delta and theta EEG frequencies through the first six years of our lives. This low level of brain activity is referred to as the hypnogogic state. While in this hypnotic trance, a child does not have to be actively coached by its parents, for children obtain their behavioral programs simply by observing their parents, siblings, peers, and teachers. Did your early developmental experiences provide you