Still, on topic with Energetic Memory, we are going to be talking about how energy changes us. Sometimes these changes are done slowly over time. And at others, a single generation can be so affected that the changes immediately take shape in their children.
And no, I’m not talking about the X-men or mutants either. What I am talking about is Epigenetics.
As described by the CDC, “Epigenetics is the study of how your behaviors and environment can cause changes that affect the way your genes work. Unlike genetic changes, epigenetic changes are reversible and do not change your DNA sequence, but they can change how your body reads a DNA sequence.” (https://www.cdc.gov/genomics/disease/epigenetics.htm#:~:text=Epigenetics%20is%20the%20study%20of,body%20reads%20a%20DNA%20sequence.)
Until recently, Epigenetics was proven in animals but not humans. Which is funny in my opinion because we are animals. But I said “recently” because we had the first human sample we were able to test and get a more definitive positive assessment of how humans are susceptible to Epigenetics. That sample was taken from Holocaust survivors and their children.
Scientists were able to study the genetic markers, or tags as they call them, in Jewish survivors of the catastrophic events of the Holocaust and compare those findings with the tags in Jewish people who were not in Europe when the Holocaust took place. Same generation of people alive at the same time, but not in the same location or environment. They then compared the tags to the children of both groups.
What they found was that the children from the group of Holocaust survivors had specific genetic tags turned on which made them more predisposed for mental illness such as depression, anxiety, and paranoia.
There have been other studies conducted on this topic with similar results for other people who have been subjected to catastrophic famines or diseases. But while this may seem like a pretty cut-and-dry case, there are of course skeptics in the scientific community that do not want to accept the results. The Biological Psychiatric Journal even states the following as the conclusion to the research of the Holocaust study, “This is the first demonstration of an association of preconception parental trauma with epigenetic alterations that is evident in both exposed parent and offspring, providing potential insight into how severe psychophysiological trauma can have intergenerational effects.” (https://www.biologicalpsychiatryjournal.com/article/S0006-3223(15)00652-6/fulltext)
The results of this study are critical not only for the psychiatric medicine community but also for the spiritual community. For the Spiritual community, it is a validation of things that have been spoken on for ages. I have kind of bashed scientists slightly in the previous post, but I do want to defend the critics of this topic because Epigenetics in humans is extremely difficult to study. With other animals, the generations are born faster, and through controlled studies, scientists can induce situations that will make Epigenetic changes happen. In humans, our generations are longer lived and, thankfully, there are ethics against inducing traumas on us just to see what will happen.
The Holocaust study was unique in how it could access:
A living group of a specific lineage of people who experienced an extremely concentrated traumatic event
A living group of people of the same lineage who did not experience the event.
Their living descendants.
The events of the Holocaust and WWII are recent in history, comparatively.
Had we the technology to do these studies on Native Americans who experienced the Trail of Tears or Africans in the slave trade the results would most likely have been the same. I make that supposition confidently because again this kind of thing has been known to spiritually based communities and practitioners. We learn the way that negative AND positive experiences can influence us and create lasting impacts on future generations.
In Foundations, I talked about the ideas of Good vs Evil. We have blown that out of proportion in our view of it today. To the point where we have systematically devolved as a species. In that post, I discussed how good was originally seen as “helpful to the community” while Evil was “harmful to the community.” This was from the leaders of the different communities understanding that if someone brought harm to a single individual the entire community suffered, not just the wronged person. To bring harm to one is to bring harm to all.
We tend to think of that mentality as what can be called “generational curses.” And we throw around things like, “Sins of the Father or Mother,” with the understanding that we are somehow responsible for the actions of our ancestors. I speak strongly against this generational curse mentality because you are not the actions of another person. You do not carry the weight of what others did. Those who carry the weight of those actions are those who were affected by that person’s actions.
The devolving aspect of our species is that now we do not treat or recognize harmful actions as being harmful unless they are extreme. We experience micro-aggressions daily which affect us and influence our future behaviors and the behaviors of our children. For example, taking a mental health day from work. We should do this because there are times when we need it. But the mentality around this has forced people to become apologetic for recognizing when they need to take care of themselves. They view doing that as “selfish” when it is more selfish for their employer to pressure them to come in and work when they are not at their best.
When a person is not in the best mindset and they are pressured by others or by feelings of guilt to still go to work they affect everyone around them. That mindset is going to translate through them into every interaction they are a part of. Energy is contagious. Yet our society does not seem to promote an understanding of personal wellness and socio-dynamics. Which fosters the idea that we need to deny and sacrifice our well-being. This further breeds a mentality of, “Well I had to sacrifice so you do too.” It creates a pattern. That pattern over time activates genetic tags slowly through each generation exposed to this. Until we have what we have now, broken people catering to broken people further breaking what is already broken.
Depression, anxiety, social disorders, and even neurological disorders are now normal. AND THAT’S NOT NORMAL!!! It is the direct byproduct of harmful behaviors in business, education, medicine, etc. allowed to perpetuate without repercussions. And when someone does try to stand up to these models in society they are the ones beaten down or criticized for it. The “evil” people are getting away with harming others by making others feel like they are the problem.
How do we change this? How do we re-write the damage done to our genetic tags from generations of this cycle?
We do what Ghandi said. “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” It starts with you. It starts with me. It starts with my niece. It starts with my best friend AND my worst enemy. I spoke a few times about my little bubble of indifference. Being in a bubble of indifference does not mean I don’t feel emotions. I do. I am a very emotional person. I have to be cognizant of my emotions though because if not I will sit and drown in them. Within my bubble of indifference, I can “see” the emotions I feel. I can ask why I feel those emotions. I can evaluate what triggered them. I can express them where they need to be expressed. I can take feedback from the expression and then apply it to future scenarios.
I had an altercation with a coworker and the manager I went to asked me to take a second to calm down. I was highly triggered admittedly. I expressed why I was upset to them and they listened. At the time they gave me their best advice for the situation. This was pretty solid advice I will admit, but it was still bandaid advice instead of a solution. The advice was of course to not take it personally but they went deeper and said, “Think of it like this, do they only talk to you that way? If so then yes it is personal. But if you see that they talk that way to everyone then it is not personal and it is not you. It's just who they are.” Fair! That was a very fair and accurate way of presenting the “don’t take it personal,” cliche. I had no direct rebuttal for it. But what I did say was, “Well if you know they behave this way with multiple people, why is it not being addressed? Because it is not ok and I’m just one person who is not afraid to throw it back at them. I’m not taking other’s abuse. And this newer generation is more vocal than I am. So I and they have to get in trouble for standing up for ourselves against someone else’s bad attitude and known bad behaviors?”
They took a second to let that simmer before we ended the conversation. They did eventually have a conversation with the other employee about their behaviors. There needs to be a shift in perspectives and in how things are handled. The people who stand up for themselves should not be punished for doing so with things like, “Don’t take it personally,” or “Just let it roll off your back,” or my personal favorite, “You don’t know what they are going through to…” I don’t need to know what someone else is going through to be completely honest. Just because they are having a bad day should not be an excuse for abusing others. The weaponizing of trauma is a harmful action that damages many.
You see epigenetics are personal but carry on through our lineages. The mistreatment of others at the moment spreads at the moment to further carry that harm to others. You’re having a bad day so you take it out on someone just doing their job. Then they carry that and take out your treatment of them on someone else. Harmful behaviors replicate and spread faster than any pathogen. It is an energetic relay race just constantly passing the baton.
By going into a space of indifference, we can recognize this and actively release ourselves from those energetic relays. That way we can maximize our potential for giving out inspiring or uplifting batons. That is how we “become the change we wish to see in the world.” That is how we “love thy neighbor as thyself.” That is how we “love all, serve all, and create no sorrow.” Being indifferent doesn’t mean you don’t care it means you are resilient and able to take care of yourself first. Just like in an airplane, you have to put an oxygen mask on yourself before you can help someone else. Same principle.
By helping to “dispel” the harmful behaviors by standing up to them and being a better example than them we can start to alleviate the pressures we have as a people. Depression, anxiety, and all that stuff will not be “solved” with a pill. It just won’t. The pills are only numbing the pain. It has to come from the root of the matter and the activated genes being calmed and turned back off through improved social interactions and dynamics.
Improving social interactions is not just a mental exercise in restraint or resilience though. It is a physical process that is once again healthily using energy. This post wraps up Energetic Memory but we still have so much further to go with energy. Next, we will begin to look at Energy Fields. This will take us through the different layers of your Body in energetic patterns, Chakras, etc. Energy still has a lot of weight to get through before we can even start on history. Understanding energy in all of its capacities is, in my opinion, more necessary to whatever path you choose than the history of said paths. A plant can be both poisonous and medicinal. Knowing that about the plant is one thing. How you choose to actually use the plant is something else entirely.
Until next time, thank you again for reading along. I know there is some density to all of this and I appreciate you for sticking it out. As always, if you have any questions please email me. Chances are, if you have a question so does someone else. Someone just has to ask first. I will post a quick recap/checkpoint of the last few posts to hopefully help. Find your peace within indifference and only give out what would be beneficial to all.
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