For too long, we have been brainwashed to believe that when it comes to our health, we are victims – victims of our genes, and the fact that ‘we can’t make new brain cells beyond our teens’. Fortunately, both have now disproved. ‘Epigenetics’ has demonstrated that while we may be genetically predisposed to an illness, whether the genes are expressed, or not, is affected by behaviour and lifestyle factors, but mostly by ‘how we think’ and ‘how we feel’ Epigenetics has demonstrated that each cell in our body has antennae that are constantly tuning in to our thoughts and feelings before deciding which action to take. Also, ‘Neuroplasticity’ has proved that we keep making new brain cells until we die. We are not victims. We are powerful beyond belief! We just need to know how to harness that power.

For decades, doctors claimed that the reason drugs did not work the same for everyone was because of peoples’ different genetics, their metabolism, their age, or their lifestyle. This is true, however, Marjorie questions why there is no mention of what she believes is the number 1 reason... our body’s Autonomic Nervous System’s response to chronic stress, which is almost at pandemic level. The ANS is divided into two parts: 1] The Sympathetic Nervous System and 2] The Parasympathetic Nervous System. When we first walked the Earth, our Sympathetic Nervous System aka ‘Fight or Flight’, was triggered to help us escape danger from warring tribesmen or animal predators. Our SNS triggered chemicals to help boost strength, reflexes and alertness, so we could fight or flee... to ensure survival of the species. The exertion of fighting or fleeing balanced the circulating stress chemicals, and within a short time, our body would switch to Parasympathetic mode aka ‘Rest, Digest, Repair and Reproduce’.

Once our body had made the switch to its default ‘parasympathetic nervous system’ mode, it would be primed to optimise digestion, repair of cells and tissue, reproduction, growth and restful sleep’, and it was thus for eons. The PNS acts like a biological brake, halting the production of stress chemicals, and allowing organs to metabolise any that remain in the system. The PNS also triggers the release of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which promotes digestion, reproduction, decreases heart rate and blood pressure, boosts the immune system and promotes cellular repair, growth and also tissue repair. So, you can perhaps appreciate that if we – like so many people today- are going from one stressful episode to another, it can be very easy to become ‘sympathetic dominant’ – stuck in Sympathetic Nervous system mode. This means that stress chemicals are constantly circulating in our body, preventing us from receiving the myriad health benefits from switching to Parasympathetic Nervous System mode aka ‘rest, digest, repair and reproduce’.

After eons of peoples’ nervous systems switching automatically between SNS ‘fight or flight, and PNS ‘rest, digest, repair and reproduce, there has been a seismic shift towards many being stuck in stress mode - ‘sympathetic dominance’. What caused this shift? Well, the world we live in is unrecognisable from a few decades ago. Until the 1980s, we had three TV channels in the UK. Technology -as we know it- was non-existent, and we were not overwhelmed by choice, or Social Media, as we are today. Until the 70s / 80s, most fathers worked and most mothers looked after the home, and most families survived reasonably well on one wage. Fast forward a few decades and in spite of both partners working -often more than 1 job- many couples are heavily in debt and having to juggle their family life with work. For teens, social media and cyber bullying are the most profound changes. Plus, a few decades ago, it was normal for people to take time to reflect on emotional upsets, with a view to resolving them. Nowadays, instead of reflecting, many people dwell on their feelings and often seek validation on online forums.

For the reasons mentioned above, if our body is unable to switch from Sympathetic Nervous System mode - fight or flight- to Parasympathetic mode –rest, digest, repair and reproduce mode, this means our body will struggle to digest food properly, sleep properly, repair damaged tissue, reproduce... and in recent years, we have been informed that stress causes ‘leaky gut’, and a dominance of ‘bad bacteria’; both of which lead to inflammation - a leading cause of chronic illness. Thanks to ‘Epigenetics’, we now know that our cells eavesdrop on our thoughts and feelings, and they interpret stressed/negative thoughts and feelings as ‘danger’, which of course activates our sympathetic nervous system – fight or flight. To digest food properly, sleep properly, repair damaged tissue, reproduce, and prevent ‘leaky gut’ and bad bacteria, we need to be in Parasympathtic mode most of the time.

I believe the reason most people are unaware of how important the autonomic nervous system is, is because drug companies have been unable to invent a drug that would allow people to switch from sympathetic mode to parasympathetic mode, and get all the associated health benefits. Sadly, Western medicine falls woefully short when it comes to treating the fallout from being sympathetic dominant, ‘stress and anxiety’. Doctors are wary of prescribing sedatives due to the high risk of addiction, and other drugs to treat stress and anxiety come with long lists of side effects. Talk therapies can help, but many are expensive and can take months or years, and even then people can relapse if they are triggered. I believe that to conquer sympathetic dominance, the best way is first to release the trapped energy that is keeping people stuck in a loop of stressful thoughts and feelings. The second is to rewrite the subconscious programming that is fuelling their stressful thoughts and feelings. That is exactly what Hypno-Sensing does and why I believe it is the best way to help people overcome chronic stress, and improve their physical health in the process.