Sussex Hypnotherapy Research Centre...

 

 

I happen to have been watching a 2005 documentary recently on Epigenetics and Genetic Imprinting that can happen within someone's life-time and be passed on to off-spring.

Something on the programme I remember reading (not mentioning Epigenetics or anything) many years ago about pregnant mothers traumatised by 9/11 being monitored and discovering that Mothers that were in the last trimester had children with higher natural cortisol levels and lower tolerence to stress.

I didn't give the idea any thought when I learnt this (it just seemed like what you would expect to happen) but now on watching the documentary stating the same research (saying that the changes in the children were at a genetic level) it suddenly dawned on me that I have also learnt that we have more rapid eye movement in the last trimester before birth than any other time in our lives and that this is thought to be because we are laying down patterns required for life like a pattern for suckling, etc...

Suddenly I thought does this mean that once we have gone through 6 months of physically getting 'built' we then go through a process of laying down the patterns for life, including genetic expression, and as well as creating these mental patterns is there a connection between the rapid eye movement state (or the cause of that state) and programming going on throughout the body within the genes?

And given the link between hypnosis or emotional trance states and the REM state and influencing patterns and learning; is this then more evidence of how triggering that state (or any emotional state) can directly access processes that create the right messenger molecules to turn genes on or off?

I often talk to people about all emotional states being trance states with there own styles of thinking and behaving and there own filters and perception of the world, in the same way as the 'hypnotic state' is.

This all fascinates me yet there (at least from my searching) doesn't seem to be much in the way of research or writing on possible connections?

All animals are born with instinctive responses, like flying to a feeding ground, or knowing to go to water to spawn etc yet they don't have a guidebook to teach them this. These 'memories' seem to be imprinted and obviously were passed on through the genes. So it (to me at least) makes sense that as these get expressed and guide the formation of the brain to make sure the animal/person has access to these responses that physical learning or setting also uses the REM state to 'fix' physical traits (including levels and sensitivity of hormones; chemicals; etc...) in place.

The other side of this is whether when epigenetic changes occur do they occur in conjunction with the REM state or involving 'trance' like psychological changes/problems do (for example anger, depression, fear, OCD, anxiety, addiction etc are all trance states and can all be helped by guiding the person into a resourceful trance state).

In Eastern cultures very often trance is used as part of the process of removing physical problems as well as psychological problems. I have seen a variety of instances of people with physical problems; even confirmed incureable genetic problems removed using trance all adding to the thought that trance helps remove and create epigenetic changes.