Petrea King writes about the biochemistry of love, what happens when we’re ‘in love’ and ways to be in love with life regardless of whether you’re in a romantic relationship or not.
Human beings are made for love.
We are biologically programmed to be in community, to be in relationship with other living beings and indeed, all of creation. We are a part of an extraordinary, interconnected web of life and yet, we still search for ‘the one’ who will love us and be loved by us in return. Valentine’s Day is a celebration of the love – of ‘the one’ – in our life at this moment.
When we’re in love with another person, we produce a potent biochemistry that strengthens our immune system, increases our energy and makes us feel as if we can accomplish anything we set our hearts to. This is the proverbial “seeing the world through rose coloured glasses.” Being ‘in love’ is good for our health and sense of wellbeing.
Bruce Lipton in his book, The Honeymoon Effect, challenges us to ‘be in love with life’ rather than confining ourselves to just being in love with ‘the one’.
A human body is made up of an ecosystem of 50 trillion individual cells
These cells are constantly communicating via chemical messengers called neurotransmitters. These neurotransmitters lock onto matching receptor sites on the surface of the cell and, like a key in a lock, provide a chemical message to the interior of the cell. This chemical messaging system accesses the blueprint held in our DNA and, with repeated stimulation can cause a gene to express, modify its expression or remain suppressed.
Your DNA is like a palette of paint, or possibilities – but you are the artist.
Many of these neurotransmitters are generated from the brain and gut according to the feelings we experience. We’re quite right when we say, “I have a gut feeling about this” as, next to the brain, our gut secretes the greatest number of neurotransmitters – the biochemistry of our emotions – in the body.
When we’re ‘in love’ we secrete a frenzy of these neurotransmitters which explains why we might lose our appetite, endlessly daydream or obsess about our love, experience euphoria and sometimes delirium! As Shakespeare’s fairy Puck explained about humans in love:
“Lord, what fools these mortals be!”
William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream
We secrete these love potions, and they in turn inspire the cells and tissues in our bodies to perform optimally
This capacity to deliver to the cells the chemical consequences of our feelings is called the mind-body connection – or it’s medical term, psychoneuroimmunology. Until recently, many doctors downplayed or ignored the impact that stress – our thoughts and feelings – have on our mental and physical health.
The science of epigenetics demonstrates that individuals can – in some circumstances – modify their gene’s expression. Epi means ‘above’, so the word epigenetics means ‘above the genes’ as in, the authority above our genetic potential.
Our genes are the blueprint of what’s possible; epigenetics determines which blueprint is utilised.
Sadly, Newtonian physics divided up the human body into separate and non-relating parts. Whereas quantum physics reveals a world of possibilities enabling us to see the body as an integrated whole and that we can more consciously choose our experience.
In love with life
On Valentine’s Day, we celebrate the romantic relationship we have with our significant other; that person with whom we feel and express the best version of ourselves. However, regardless of whether we have a ‘significant other’ in our life, we can all work towards being ‘in love with life’, by being the best version of ourselves.
To love something or someone, means to give our wholehearted attention to that person or passion. When we’re in love with life and we know that we have the capacity to embrace whatever challenges may come, we find the same enduring peace and happiness that so many people seek in ‘the one’.
Related Articles
- Do You Feel As Good As You Look?
- Healing Your Life: Reclaim Your Life With Renewed Confidence
- Petrea’s Recipe For Happiness
Wellbeing Resources
- Wellbeing books Including Your Life Matters by Petrea King – a guidebook for life
- Meditation CDs and MP3s including Be Calm, Increasing Self-Esteem, Zen Garden
Regaining a Sense of ‘Being In Love With Life’
If you need inspiration to regain a sense of ‘being in love with life’ or embracing your challenges, Quest for Life can help you through our Residential program, Healing Your Life. By learning strategies and techniques to manage your response to life’s events and ways to calm an anxious mind, you can regain control of your life and move towards peace of mind.
Learn more about Healing Your Life
