One of the most exciting books in recent times is the remarkably readable research by Nobel prize-winning Elizabeth Blackburn PhD and heath psychologist Elissa Epel PhD, who zero in on telomeres, the part of our chromosomes that impacts our health and longevity.
What excites me about this book are the very clear links between our thoughts and environment, and our health. This research further strengthens the mind-blowing revelations coming out of the growing science of epigenetics, which demonstrates we’re not slaves to our genetic heritage.
Alongside these revelations is the now well-established evidence of the plasticity of the neurons in our brain, elegantly explained in Dr Norman Doidge’s best-selling book, The Brain That Changes Itself. Put these insights together, and we begin to glimpse how much we can impact our lives, how choosing to live positively, to nurture ourselves, to engage with others matters.