The latest epigenetic research tells us that we inherit a family imprint.
With new discoveries in epigenetics now making headlines, many of us are wondering how this may be influencing our own lives.
We receive our lives from our parents along with our love imprint, essentially how we navigate our loving relationships.
If we go on to have children, the question that often arises what will I be passing along to my children?
To answer these questions fully, we need to include the latest scientific research.
The latest research in epigenetics tells us that we inherit gene changes from experiences that our parents and grandparents lived.
Here’s an example:
If your Grandma grew up with just enough food to get by and everyone in the family is focused on survival there was also limited attention and expressions of love along with hardly any time for play.
Grandma’s childhood experience was not quite enough of the essential nutrient for growth – LOVE – this too is shared with her children and grandchildren.
Now imagine this experience living in her daughter’s body as she does something as routine as grocery shopping. Likely how she feels in loving relationships is wishing there was more time, attention and love from her partner.
I worked with a client once with a similar family history to what I’ve shared, who filled her basement with “just in case” food – stockpiling shelves and shelves of food with a deep freezer full of frozen veggies to avoid EVER running out of food. Her primary complaint was that her husband was withdrawn and she felt she was withering away from the absence of his love.
This is just one example of how our parents’ and grandparents’ life experiences, including their losses, fears, pain and challenges – can all live on in us.
To make matters more severe, many of us never make the link between our issues—our relationship or money challenges or unexplained anxiety or depression—and how that connects to what happened to our family members.
Instead, we believe that we’re the source of our problem, that something must be wrong with us and that is why we are up against the challenges we face in life.
If we aren’t able to make these important connections, we may see the most painful situation of all – our children living with similar painful patterns or falling into the same pitfalls in life. With this terrible inner knowing that they continue to live with the pain we couldn’t seem to resolve.
Looking into the Past to Understand Your Future
There is something you can do….
Your Life Leaves Clues – explore any hurts or lingering resentment with your parents.
Ask questions to find out more about your grandparent’s life experiences and about your parent’s childhood experiences.
Self-Evaluation time:
How do your relationships go ?
Are you fulfilled by the work you do ?
If you have children, are they thriving in life ?
Are you happy with your health or energy levels, experiencing any stubborn symptoms ?You might choose to gain support from someone who includes an intergenerational approach. We all need someone else to ask us questions that will shine a light on the parts of ourselves we aren’t even aware are influencing us.
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