Free Secrets of Your Cells: Discovering Your Body's Inner Intelligence by Sondra Barrett Page A

stress places demands on our energy, our cells can burn up their resources too quickly. When this happens, we can bring them replenishment and ease them back toward a state of peace through collaboration between mind, molecules, and cells.
    They are incredible communicators, these molecules, speaking their myriad languages in simultaneous chorus within us. If you feel threatened by something in the present moment, or if a thought about the future worries you, your cells are called to immediate active duty to protect and defend your home turf, mobilizing resources to ensure survival. Moment to moment, we and our cells share the ability to move away from danger toward safe haven. And knowing that our cells listen to all messages—what we’re thinking, imagining, or physically experiencing—gives us pause to remember how important it is to be present in the now.
    Body Clues of Cellular Communication
    Many years ago, Carl Jung, the Swiss psychiatrist who transformed the field of psychology, became aware that some emotional states were accompanied by corresponding physical reactions, such as a rapid heartbeat or sweaty palms. 4 Since then, many physiological signals have been harnessed into useful emotional measurements that can be detected by machines such as the polygraph (lie detector). Yet we’ve had machines for only a blip in human history. What about our own sensing abilities? Let’s take some time now to become aware of our body’s innate emotional signals.
    The easiest molecular change to notice in our bodies comes from the cocktail of stress hormones. We fear a man walking down the street—he seems menacing. We narrowly avoid a traffic accident. We imagine awful things that will probably never come to pass: we worry. At the cellular level, adrenaline, the preeminent stress signal, prepares us for flight orfight. 5 Remember that it ensures that our blood sugar is elevated, which requires our heart to beat faster—a body clue that emotional and molecular change is taking place. Circulation shifts to fuel the big muscles in the legs, enabling us to run away if we have to. When blood moves to the legs, it moves away from the hands; this is why icy, clammy hands signal that we may be experiencing stress or fear. We breathe faster and shallower. The jaw clenches and muscles in the shoulder and neck tense. All these physical changes result from the communications between molecules and cells; in this case, molecules of adrenaline (along with other stress hormones) connect with receptors on heart, muscle, and lung cells—and in the case of long-term, sustained stress, immune cells.
    When our cells broadcast a signal of danger, the whole body responds with detectable evidence. The same is true with the opposite signal: the all-clear that comes when we realize the “menacing” man is smiling hello as he passes by, or our near-accident has been avoided. We relax. Our breathing slows down; our clenched jaw and tight muscles release their tensions, and our hands warm up. Just as our cells listen to their surrounding environment, so can we listen to the echoes of their activity within us. And as our awareness of these responses increases, we can learn how to manage and, if need be, influence them intentionally. As we get better at reading our body’s clues, we can learn to respond in healthier ways.
    Set aside a few minutes now to tune in to how your body is feeling in this moment.

    EXPLORATION
    Body Scan
    Close your eyes. Notice whether there are any places in your body that feel tense or tight.
    Notice the temperature of your hands.
    Now put one hand on your chest and the other on your belly and become aware of the rhythm of your breathing. Which has more movement: your chest or belly?
    Notice how you are holding your jaw and shoulders.
    These observations give you a sensory picture of now. 6
    If you are inclined to carry this exploration further, remember a particularly stressful time or a frightening moment. Hold that