Epigenetics

Lianne & Corey dive straight into a detailed interview with Mark Wolynn, the leading expert in the field of inherited trauma and author of award-winning book "It Didn't Start With You".

By asking the right kind of questions, Mark explains how to identify unresolved traumatic events from our parents' and grandparents' lives, and even from our own early childhoods, that can impact our DNA and produce symptoms and behaviors we simply can't explain.

Amazingly, Mark keeps this fascinating and complex topic light on the science and easy to understand by newbies like our hosts.

Prepare to have your mind blown and few cases of the goosebumps as Mark shares almost spooky yet undeniably impacting stories of inherited trauma in his and his clients' lives.

You won't be the same after listening to this.

Get To The Point

Show Notes

Epigenetics: the study of changes in organisms caused by modification of gene expression rather than alteration of the genetic code itself.

It's important to understand epigenetics not only to be aware of what our ancestors have passed on to us but also to know what you will pass down to the next generation. Being mindful of your thought patterns could give your future children a better start to life.

Key Interview Takeaways

• We all have an urgent, core language we think is ours but is often a generational language. If we find ourselves saying things like "I'll go crazy", "I'll be locked up", or "I'll do something terrible", those things may have happened to our parents or grandparents. If a trauma never heals, that language persists in our family history and in our awareness.
• Epigenetics is the idea that the stress response of parents and grandparents can transfer forward and pass down to the offspring. The structure or sequence of the DNA doesn't change, but gene expression can.
• In his book, It Didn't Start With You, Mark teaches how to be detectives and dig up rocks that need to be turned over to identify unresolved problems. Ask questions like is this anxiety ours? Did this depression start with us?
• Other types of trauma to be aware of are early childhood trauma, birth trauma, and in utero trauma. For example, early traumas like parents breaking up, or a mother losing a family member during pregnancy can cause the child to have difficulties feeling safe and secure in life.
• There are two types of trauma language to listen for - generational trauma language. (e.g. "I'll hurt somebody" or "I'll be ostracised") and developmental trauma language to do with attachment (like "I'll be abandoned" or "I'll be rejected").
• Several scientific studies are being conducted on reversing trauma.
• To heal, we need positive experiences that can calm down the stress response. Whether trauma is inherited or something that happened to us in utero or in our childhood, it can be stopped through positive experiences like daily practicing mindfulness, gratitude, generosity, patience, or compassion. We can regulate the stress response and change our trauma brain.
• Find more information on www.markwolynn.com.