Perception Is the Switch That Controls Our Biology
What we believe to be true will become our reality
As originally published in In Fitness And In Health on Medium.com.
Image: Anika Huizinga on Unsplash
The human body is a marvel of biology and energy. The science of epigenetics has revealed to us the profound connection between our thoughts, environment, and biology. By understanding that our genes are not our destiny and that perception shapes our health, we gain the power to heal, thrive, and rewrite our biological story.
The Rise of Chronic Illness: A Misalignment of EnergyLess than 5% of the population is born with birth defects, meaning 95% of us have the biological foundation for a healthy, thriving life. Yet, despite this potential, illness has become more prevalent than ever before.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), 76% of all deaths are predicted to be caused by chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and this figure is expected to increase to 86% over the next 15 years.
The term NCDs refers to a group of conditions that are not mainly caused by an acute infection, result in long-term health consequences, and often create a need for long-term treatment and care. These conditions include cancers, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and chronic lung illnesses.
— The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)
Chart: World Health Organisation
This then begs the question, what causes a chronic condition?
According to Bruce Lipton, there are only three reasons for disease — trauma, toxins, thoughts. And the mind is the primary cause of illness on our planet today.
The statistics above are less surprising when we consider how many people live in a constant state of doubt, stress, and fear. Stress hormones are designed to prioritise survival in moments of crisis. They redirect the body’s energy toward immediate action — preparing us to fight or flee — by shutting down functions that aren’t essential in that moment. Unfortunately, one of the first systems to be suppressed is the immune system.
Our bodies naturally harbour viruses, bacteria, and parasites. Under normal conditions, a properly functioning immune system keeps them in check. However, when stress hormones shut down immune activity, these opportunistic organisms can begin to thrive, leading to illness.
We don’t “catch” many diseases; rather, they already exist within us, waiting for the right conditions to take hold. That’s why it’s essential to treat not just the disease but also the underlying stress that allows it to flourish.
But what is stress? The WHO defines it as “a state of worry or mental tension caused by a difficult situation.”
And why do we worry about any given situation? Because of how we perceive it. We worry because of what we think and believe may or may not happen. But how we perceive everything is a choice.
The Emotional Blueprint of DiseaseI grew up with an intimate understanding of what it means to lose one’s health. My mother was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) while pregnant with me. For those unfamiliar, MS is an autoimmune disease that attacks the nervous system, gradually eroding the protective covering of the nerves. The effects vary widely — some people experience mild symptoms, while others lose their ability to see clearly, write, speak, or walk.
By the time I turned 13, my mother relied on a walker, and shortly after, she was confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life. My grandmother had endured the same devastating fate. And at just 13 years old, I was told to prepare for the same.
I didn’t know my grandmother well, so I can’t speak to her feelings about the disease. However, I know my mother carried a deep resentment toward her father, believing he was to blame for her illness. Over the years, she recounted the stories of the difficulties he caused in her life, particularly leading up to her marriage. She described being so angry that she felt something physically snap within her body.
When I was told I would suffer the same fate because the disease is considered genetic, I became angry too. In an attempt to fight my supposed fate, I channeled my anger into competitive sports.
I remained MS free, but in my mid to late thirties my health began failing anyway. I experienced chronic fatigue, brain fog, a brain seizure, short-term memory loss, and deteriorating vision. A herniated disc nearly severed my sciatic nerve, requiring emergency surgery to prevent paralysis. I suffered from iron deficiency, an inability to retain nutrients, and other symptoms. Doctors could not explain any of it. And so I began my own journey of self-discovery and an understanding of how significant the mind-body connection is.
Understanding the Mind-Body ConnectionLouise Hay notes the probable cause to MS as mental hardness, hard-heartedness, iron will, inflexibility and fear.
Using my mother as an example, her unresolved feelings toward her father could have been described as emotional rigidity — manifesting as mental hardness, hard-heartedness, an iron will, and inflexibility. These emotions, coupled with the fear she must have felt after witnessing what MS had done to her own mother, likely played a significant role in her experience with the disease.
But why did MS manifest instead of another illness? Because MS symbolically mirrors those very emotions. It strips away the ability to move freely, reflecting inflexibility. The resulting dependency on others amplifies feelings of vulnerability and fear. Ultimately, it traps you in your own body, a physical manifestation of mental hardness and emotional rigidity.
When I began to reflect on my own symptoms through this lens, everything started to make sense.
Take my vision deterioration, for instance — our eyes are symbolic of clarity and perception. At the time, I was unable to see just how toxic my relationship truly was.
Then there was the herniated disc. The term “hernia” refers to an organ pushing through the muscle meant to contain it. Louise Hay connects hernias to ruptured relationships, strain, burdens, and blocked creative expression. The back, meanwhile, symbolizes the support we receive from life. My chaotic relationship left me feeling unsupported, constantly stressed, and burdened by the responsibility of cleaning up after each proverbial storm.
As for the seizure, they are often linked to a desire to escape — from family, from oneself, or from life itself. By the time it occurred, I no longer felt like myself; I was merely a shadow of who I once was.
Today, the mind-body connection feels completely logical to me. I believe that every physical symptom stems from an emotional root cause. This understanding isn’t just based on my own experiences but is reaffirmed time and again during RTT hypnotherapy sessions with my clients.
If our emotions have the power to make us unwell, then surely they hold the potential to heal us too.
The Power of Emotional HealingEvery cell in our body functions like a battery, carrying both positive and negative voltage. Each cell generates approximately 0.07 volts of energy. With 50 trillion cells in the human body, that amounts to an astounding 3.5 trillion volts of electrical potential coursing through us — a powerful resource that, when directed properly, can support healing and restoration.
According to Dr. Joe Dispenza, the vibration of this energy is directly influenced by our thoughts and emotions. Negative thought patterns and feelings lower the frequency of this energy, while positive ones elevate it. The frequency we emit acts like a magnet, attracting energies of a similar frequency back to us, shaping our experiences and well-being.
Epigenetics further reinforces the idea that we are not mere victims of our biology but active participants in shaping it. This field of study examines how our behaviors and environment influence gene activity. Unlike genetic changes, which alter the structure of proteins, epigenetic changes regulate when and how genes are expressed by turning them “on” or “off” (CDC, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention).
A gene is a blueprint — it provides instructions, but it doesn’t dictate outcomes. Instead, our perceptions act as the switch that governs our biology. As Dr. Bruce Lipton explains, our view of the world determines how our biology responds, and I tend to agree with him.
The placebo effect is perhaps the most compelling demonstration of mind over matter. Research shows that one-third of all medical healings, including surgeries, can be attributed to the placebo effect.
I’ve learned firsthand that if you hate your life, your body will help you die. And on the flip-side, despite a strong genetic predisposition for Multiple Sclerosis and a family history stacked against me, I not only remain MS-free at 43, but healed my other ailments too. The turning point wasn’t luck — it was my decision to make different choices, to change my perception, and to take responsibility for my health.
Change Your Mind, Change Your LifeA belief has the power to make you sick — or to make you well.
For years, I stayed in damaging relationships because of a deeply ingrained belief that I wasn’t worthy of more. The challenge was that I wasn’t even aware of this belief. If someone had asked me to describe myself during that time, I would have used words like confident and committed.
But a truly confident person wouldn’t tolerate the kind of behaviour I endured. And as for commitment? It certainly wasn’t to myself or my well-being.
Our external world mirrors our internal beliefs. The law of attraction teaches that “like attracts like,” meaning the energy we project into the world determines the experiences we draw back to us. As Albert Einstein famously said:
Everything is energy and that’s all there is to it. Match the frequency of the reality you want and you cannot help but get that reality. It can be no other way. This is not philosophy. This is physics.
If we want to uncover the beliefs we hold about ourselves, we don’t need to look far. Our life — the people we attract, the situations we endure, and the patterns we repeat — is a direct reflection of those beliefs.
Knowledge is power. Knowledge of the self is self-empowerment.
For several years, I’ve been deeply engaged in this journey of self-evolution — refining my ability to objectively examine my subjective self, day after day. While I feel more self-aware than ever, I’ve learned that self-awareness is an active, ongoing choice. Each day, I must re-commit to recognising negative thoughts as they arise and asking myself a crucial question: Is this belief serving me? If the answer is no, I consciously choose to embrace a belief that empowers me instead.
And as I continue on this journey, I remind myself that it’s about progress, not perfection.
Wherever you are on your journey, always remember that YOU ARE ENOUGH.
