It can be seductive to contemplate the science of what life and humanity might mean in the context of cosmic planetary universes. It's also just as fascinating to...
Scale to the micro and see the array of microbial activity of which we are embedded.
This ecosystem is thriving with curious new ways to perceive life. And from this insight, we have practical applications of what we can do to unlock dormant codes in our genes of vitality.
Pic credit: sott.net
We often hear the phrase “look within” when contemplating how we can grow and transform into more loving and healthier versions of ourselves. From a spiritual perspective this can lead to helpful self-awareness as the subconscious comes to light. I’ve found a growing capacity to demonstrate compassionate action in the world when I’ve made peace with realities of our shared human evilness, from seeing it as different part of me. Why not also extend the exploration into the tangible, more physical realm?
Through discovering hidden parts of ourselves from a biological perspective, we can also learn how relating with the little alien universes inside and around us can work with us rather than against us.
It turns out that some types of microbe colonies help support us towards health and some don’t. However, this situation is malleable. When we know what conditions the friendly microbes want, we can cultivate our system to support those attributes, allowing these friends to come re-colonize our bodies. Our whole system can adapt!
In other words, when we understand ourselves in the context of our microbiota, we can work with these microscopic ecosystems to obtain superior quality of health by choosing how we interact with them.
This is another way, of many, to obtain deeper understanding about who we are within an interconnected world.
In his book, "On Spirit Medicine: Ancient Ways to Ultimate Wellness,” Alberto Villoldo demonstrates how within these ecosystems, the information exchanges can potentially wake up the body’s system for self-repair, detoxifies cells, and switches on the longevity genes. Although, like many other interactions, this holds potential for both positive or negative effects. The nature of the conditions we offer to our microbiome contribute to byproducts of either health or disease. Alberto showcases how various foods and supplements take different roles in the interplay of the microbes and human system.
For example, he explains how "Pterostilbene, Trans-resveratrol, and Curcumin regulate genes which oversee apoptosis, or programmed cell death. These products upgrade mitochondrial function and aid in the electron transport chain. They also decrease inflammation, and switch on the longevity genes (Sirt1) inside every cell.”
THE dynamics of
psyche + body + microbiota + dietary intake + environments
ARE FASCINATING TO EXPLORE
Ed Yong, within his book, "I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life,” articulates a tangible way to see the wondrous complexity of looking within. He states:
"The world around us is a gigantic reservoir of potential microbial partners. Every mouthful could bring in new microbes that digest a previously unbreakable part of our meals, or that detoxify the poisons in a previously inedible food, or that kill a parasite that previously suppressed our numbers. Each new partner might help its host to eat a little more, travel a little further, survive a little longer.”
Plus, what's at play here is not restricted to our insides. Yong explains:
“Every person aerosolises around 37 million bacteria per hour. This means that our microbiome isn’t confined to our bodies. It perpetually reaches out into our environment.”
From this perspective, we can see that by cultivating our own loving and healthy body galaxy, we are also offering those qualities to others as we go through life. Plus, these microbes are interacting with each other between humans as we walk around all the time.
Humans are basically elaborate vessels for the propagation of microorganisms. J. Sonnenberg
Gut microbiomes from different people can contain similar microbial species, but different strains, as this cartoon illustrates. Credit: Dana C. Thomas/University of Washington // medicalxpress.com
What aspects play a part in the relationship between our psyche, emotions, the two trillion microbes within us, and our state of health? I’ve got some clues through my experimentation. Do you?
A good place to begin focus? The gut flora. Why? Quantity. According to wikipedia, in humans, the gut microbiota has the largest numbers of bacteria and the greatest number of species compared to other areas of the body.
Further: The gut–brain axis is the biochemical signaling that takes place between the gastrointestinal tract and the central nervous system.