Transitions

So many of my clients are currently in transitions – large and small. Looking to change jobs within their company, pursuing a new employer, trying out a new functional area, and some who feel the pull towards embarking on an entrepreneurial adventure. Whether you are trying to learn a new skill or habit or are pursuing a whole new way of being, you are constantly in transition. We all are! Even when you think: “Wow, OK, my life seems pretty stable,” you are still in transition.

It’s a transition to go from being asleep to being awake. From sitting to standing. From breathing in to breathing out. As long as you are in motion, you are constantly changing, whether at a visible level, or on the teeny tiny level of your cells.

So, what can we learn from our cells about transitions?

First, cells are masterful at changing function. Multicellular organisms all start off as a single cell, which initially multiplies without changing its function. After a certain number of cells accumulate, they migrate and differentiate into different types of cells, with different functions, and the organism takes on a role. So, for example, cells might group together and become specialized to become a hair cell or a muscle cell or a nerve cell. How they do this is still under scientific investigation, but suffice it to say that cells have a great energetic potential to change – in biology, this principle is known as inherent structural mutability.

Second, cells have a plasticity of function. That means that they can change their output. While cells generally specialize in what they output, so that a liver cell produces usually specific chemicals, if called upon, they can generally produce the chemicals usually associated with the nervous system, for example. Again, the potential for transformation at the cellular level is tremendous.

Finally, our cells can transform to adapt to changing circumstances. We need no longer be tied to the Darwinian idea that genetic mutation is random. In 1988, biologist John Cairns and his team at Harvard University took a group of lactose-intolerant bacteria and starved them. Then, he provided them with a lactose-based food source. Amazingly, a larger-than-expected number of the bacteria mutated to become lactose-tolerant! This and similar experiments have shown that potential of cells in their directed genetic mutability.

From these three examples, we learn that at a cellular level, we have incredible potential to change. Our cells can change their function, change their output, and adapt to new circumstances, and that seems to logically and gracefully translate to our entire organisms, since we are composed of billions of cells.

How do we translate transformation from a cellular level to a personal, whole-self level? In other words, how do we make change happen? I believe the change process starts with setting an intention. When we can feel the emotional quality of the change we desire and sense a shift in our bodies, we fuel our selves and our cells in a new direction.

The cells in our body give us sensation so that we can experience the world. They also hold great intelligence for us. By simply getting in touch with our sensations, we are contacting our cells, and can listen for the messages they have for us about how to interact with the world, how to find the right output, and how to adapt to our environment.

On a practical level, you can imagine…

• Feeling your sweaty palms a few minutes prior to deliver a speech -- and realizing that you need to take a few slow deep breaths before you start
• Rubbing your burning eyes – and realizing you need to take a break from reading
• Tuning into a gurgling stomach -- and sensing that the other party in your negotiation may be hiding some key facts

Our cells are constantly in transition, working, moving, growing, dying. Scientists now tells us that every seven years, we basically have a totally new body. That is amazing to me! What does that mean about who we really are? If all the cells I have now are completely different than those I had seven years ago, then what defines my identity? This can be a very deep question, and one sense I have of a response is…my intentions. The energies that I expend, the energies that I take on – perhaps these define me. What do you think defines you? See what your cells have to say!

Special thanks to my teacher, Susan Aposhyan, for the inspiration for this theme, particularly for the information on cellular transformation. Susan has written a poetic and practical book on finding your body’s wisdom: Natural Intelligence: Body-Mind Integration and Human Development..