Trash Talk

By Steve Richardson

30-40 trillion cells make up the human body

When these cells are exposed to negativity or when they are fed negative thoughts, they become damaged and we become susceptible to disease, illness and emotional problems.

I have called the product of these negative thoughts, Trash Talk

Unchecked, Trash Talk converts into destructive beliefs that devalue your abilities and self-worth. And if that wasn't enough, Trash Talk plays havoc with your emotional and mental wellbeing.

Trash Talk is the thoughts you have which detail every reason why you can't have or do something. It is the private inner dialogue that lists all your perceived weaknesses and lets you know why your life sucks.

Trash Talk stops you finding love, makes you loathe your job and whispers lies such as; I'm just not good enough. It is the negative inner dialogue, which devalues your self-worth, your abilities and your potential.

Trash Talk is also the reason more money then ever is being spent on prescription drugs for mental illness and why there are record levels of stress-related illness at work.

The good news is there is a solution!

You can remove Trash Talk from your life by taking a few simple steps.

So, if you want to attract real love, enjoy better health, feel more confident and get more out of life - this is the book for you.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Steve Richardson
• Release date: Sep 13, 2018
• ISBN: 9781916485617

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

I THINK THEREFORE I AM

It is the mark of an educated mind to entertain a thought without accepting it

‘Aristotle’

There is a popular belief that we generate between 50,000 and 70,000 thoughts a day. Although this data may be difficult if not impossible to scientifically prove; what can be agreed, is that we do, as sentient beings, have the innate ability to have thoughts.

Everyday these thoughts and ruminations tumble into your head because of what you feel and see. They range from the ridiculous and mundane, to the inspiring and genius. Some thoughts will become life long companions, while others will last no longer than the time they took to form. They will occupy your waking hours and at night, find a whispering voice in your dreams.

Each thought is created and owned by you. You have the ability to add power to any thought or reduce it to ash. They can live in a grounded reality or create the most surreal fantasy. No matter the substance of your thoughts, one important factor remains true for us all: you are in command of your thoughts.

And being the guardian of your thoughts is an important responsibility because they have a greater impact on us than we can possibly imagine. Indeed, scientific research is telling us that our thoughts and emotions can have an impact at a cellular level.

Inside our DNA molecules are the instructions every human being needs to live, develop and reproduce. The whole genome, (give or take a few thousand) contains 3 billion bases and approximately 20,000 genes. That is a lot of information!

The DNA is packed tightly into chromosomes and sits in the nucleus of cells. It is here, in each cell, that DNA does its best work by sending various messages via proteins: the worker ants of our bodies.

So, why the physiology lesson?

Well, the environment in which we exist, is constantly seeking our attention. At work, home, and play, we are required, in a variety of ways, to interact with the environment and the people in it - hermits notwithstanding. These interactions are important because they form the life story of all human beings.

***

The advancement of body imaging technologies now provides a way of us being able to see how our environmental interactions influence our thoughts and emotions.

We are able to observe distinct neuron-firing patterns within various parts of the brain and see how these patterns coincide with chemical releases and reactions throughout the body.

Candace Pert,Ph.D., the celebrated molecular biologist and psychoneuroimmunologist famously said, "Your body is your subconscious mind. My argument is that the three classic areas of neuroscience, endocrinology, and immunology, with their various organs – the brain (which is the key organ that the neuroscientists study), the glands, and the immune system (consisting of the spleen, the bone marrow, the lymph nodes, and of course the cells circulating throughout the body) – that these three areas are actually joined to each other in a bidirectional network of communication and that the information carriers are the neuropeptides.

The behavior of these neuropeptides at the cellular level, can translate to large changes in behavior, physical activity, even mood."¹

Fundamentally, we own the physiological equivalent of a railway network, which coordinates and interacts at a subconscious level. When one train breaks down, the whole regional network in effected.

In the research field known as psychoneuroimmunology, it is now generally accepted that the brain and the immune system work together. Not only do they work together, but also their communication is bi-directional.

This tells us that, if the brain releases stress hormones it will impact the immune system. Equally, if the immune system is for some reason depleted, it can trigger in the brain various symptoms including sadness and depression.

It is important to remember that the brain is constantly communicating with the immune system and other systems in our body. Because we are the ones programming the brain, it makes perfect sense that if we use bad code (Trash Talk) certain parts of our body are not going to perform at an optimum level.

Or to cannibalize the oft-used computer maxim: garbage in – garbage stays in.

It appears then, that in the same way that diet plays a significant part in our daily health, thoughts and emotions too have an important impact on our wellbeing.

In researching the work by Candace Pert and other psychoneuroimmunologists, I wanted to discover if the way we program our brain, impacts our genetic make-up.

My answer lay in the area of cellular biology and specifically with the research undertaken by Dr. Bruce Lipton Ph.D. Bruce Lipton is a leading authority on how our emotions regulate genetic expression and human potential.

He believes that at the moment we change our perception, we re-write the chemistry of our body. And he is not just talking about our perception of the outside world; he is also referring to the perception we hold of ourselves!

Dr. Lipton affirms that, "Your beliefs act like filters on a camera, changing how you see the world. And your biology adapts to those beliefs. When we truly recognise that our beliefs are that powerful, we hold the key to freedom.

While we cannot readily change the codes of our genetic blueprints, we can change our minds and in the process, switch the blueprints used to express our genetic potential."

What Dr. Lipton and others are attesting and proving with research is that whatever hand we are dealt in terms of genes, does not mean we are doomed to play out a life with a predetermined suite of gifts and abilities. We have complete control over our genetic expression and how we learn and engage with gifts and abilities we thought beyond us.

Another scientist involved in the world of molecular biology is The Nobel Laureate Professor Elizabeth Blackburn. Professor Blackburn and her colleagues conducted studies into the telomere - a structure at the end of chromosomes that protects the chromosome.

Over time, telomeres tend to wear down and shorten, and are unable to protect chromosomes properly. The consequence is that cells are unable to replenish and they malfunction.

These malfunctions create physiological changes in the body, which in turn, increase the risks and diseases associated with ageing. This deterioration in telomeres also influences cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and the immune system.

Professor Blackburn argues that to lengthen the telomeres or at the very least reduce their shortening, we need to improve our lifestyle. One of these areas is the ability to manage stress.

And in order to do that, one of the things we can do is rewire faulty perceptions, beliefs and eliminate unfiltered Trash Talk into our brains.

Think of it! You have the power to change your biology by altering your perception and how you think. Equally, if you encourage the same delimiting and damaging scripts into heart and mind, you will very likely be negatively impacting your cellular make-up.

When you consider that if we perceive our health needs a boost, we will switch to a healthier diet. By the same token, it seems to make complete sense that if we wish to heal and fully empower our whole organism, we need to remove unhelpful perceptions, beliefs and Trash Talk from our lives.

The knowledge that we can do amazing things with our thoughts should be a liberating experience. After all, if we have the power to manipulate the brain into believing that a bogeyman lurks in the wardrobe or under the bed, surely it is sensible to believe we are able to do the opposite.

The world of medical research utilizes this amazing ability of the mind when it employs the use of a placebo. Placebos are used to great effect by offering patients a substance or treatment with no active therapeutic effect: fundamentally, a sugar pill. The surprising results in many trials where placebos are used, is that patients see improvements in their condition based on their personal expectations.

In one study² assessing the psychogenic (originating in the mind or in mental or emotional conflict) impact on a group of volunteers, students were randomly assigned to inhale or not inhale an inert placebo. The placebo was described as a mild airborne toxin and participants were informed of the symptoms they could expect.

Interestingly, participants who inhaled the placebo reported a greater increase in symptoms, and the increase was significantly larger, when they were told which symptoms they, could definitely expect.

Equally fascinating, is the fact that if one of the participants witnessed another exhibiting a symptom, they too would experience an increased level in their own symptoms. At a subconscious level, they told their brains that the air they were breathing was toxic; despite the placebo to which they were exposed, being perfectly harmless.

Of course, our mind is not content only with being able to pull just one effect out of the metaphorical mind control hat; it can also pull another.

The opposite of a placebo is, a Nocebo. This effect occurs when you think medication is going to make you worse off.

For example, you may believe that a medication is going to give you muscle pain and nausea because they are listed as side effects on the back of the packaging. The ingredients that will give you these side effects may not even exist but the very fact you are expecting them, encourages the mind to activate them.

In a study³ examining the Nocebo effect, patients were asked to try two creams that dealt with dermatitis. One of the creams was presented as being more expensive than other, and contained ingredients likely to increase their sensitivity to heat and pain. In reality, no such conditions existed.

The researchers found that after applying the expensive cream, patients reported experiencing greater pain when exposed to heat than when using the cheaper version. The reality was that both creams were placebos but the idea that pain was forthcoming, was sufficient for the patients to experience the nocebo effect.

So, it seems we have a natural propensity to generate circumstantial and subjective belief systems, based on the slimmest evidence. Thereafter, we can neatly convert them into fact. This is particularly true of religion and belief systems based on superstition.

These two belief systems rely heavily on faith, i.e. those things expected or hoped for but not seen.

Faith can, in the right circumstances, see devotees overcome either rational thought or physical pain. There have been many examples over the years of the religious faithful being miraculously cured.

I witnessed an example of such faith when I lived in Malaysia. At the annual religious festival of Thaipusam, hundreds of thousands of Hindu devotees would congregate at the holy site found in the Batu Caves.

During this colourful festival, many worshippers display their devotion by piercing their cheeks and tongues with skewers, puncturing their backs with huge hooks or carried elaborately decorated frames called Kavadi. These kavadis can weigh up to 100kg and are often carried for over ten hours as they make their pilgrimage from the centre of Kuala Lumpur to the Batu Caves.

In effect, these faithful devotees placed themselves in a self-induced trance to bypass their bodies’ normal reaction to pain. This very individualized form of devotion was not for everyone because of the perceived level of pain involved.

However, group-think and a shared belief system can also distort accepted knowledge and fact into something medieval and sinister.

In the Caribbean Island of Haiti, nearly half of the country’s 10 million population are believed to practice voodoo, a religion brought from West Africa several centuries ago by slaves. It is a religion recognized and protected by the country’s constitution.

***

In October 2010, an outbreak of cholera occurred on the island. Many of the inhabitants thought that the ‘houngan’ (male priests) and ‘manbo’ (female priests) were to blame. Their strongly held view was that the priests had cast lethal black-magic spells on the cholera victims.

Earlier that year, the same priests were accused of causing the devastating earthquake that claimed the lives of over 200,000 Haitians. For many in this deeply superstitious community, Cholera was the last straw, and mobs sought revenge. The subsequent violence against the priests saw over fifty of their number murdered.

To the rational mind, their reaction to natural phenomena may appear strange and archaic. However, superstition can sit in society being hardly noticed and over time, develop slowly into an accepted practice.

Such norms involve black cats, salt being thrown over your shoulder and a groom not seeing the bride’s wedding dress before the ceremony.

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