THE POWER YOU CARRY
You Are More Powerful Than You THINK!
“Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.” - Wayne Dyer
What Counts as Proof?
This piece is a gentle follow on from the idea that perhaps we don't always need an external expert to begin the process of internal change.
After sharing stories of profound personal shifts, like the woman who realised she no longer needed to live as the frightened child she once was, a few people reached out with the same question:
“But is there any proof that mindfulness or awareness can really do that?”
It is a fair question as we live in a world that prefers numbers and studies, something we can point to and say, “There… that’s real.”
And yet, every day, people experience shifts that no chart can capture: a softening of fear, a release of tension, a moment of clarity that changes the shape of a life. Does something need a data table to be true? Or do we already recognize truth in our own, lived experience?
Science Meets Subjectivity
Science measures what it can observe from the outside, yet awareness is lived from the inside.
Mindfulness research does not ignore this intersection; it provides tangible biological evidence of change:
Increased neural density in areas related to emotional regulation.
Reductions in the physiological markers of anxiety, depression, and stress.
Improved immune and inflammatory responses at a cellular level.
But science cannot yet measure what happens when we remember who we are beneath our thoughts, the pure awareness witnessing it all.
Alan Watts said it well:
“You are an aperture through which the universe is exploring itself.”
Not easy to quantify, yet unmistakable once felt.
Epigenetics: The Body Follows the Mind
Perhaps the most compelling proof that your inner life influences matter comes from the field of Epigenetics.
We used to believe our DNA was a fixed script determined purely by genes and luck. Epigenetics shows that while your DNA code stays mostly the same, how it expresses itself changes constantly.
Thoughts, emotions, environment, stress, food and belief all influence this expression.
How, I hear you ask..
Well when we experience sustained stress or fear, our brain releases corresponding neurochemicals and hormones (like cortisol). These substances act as environmental signals that travel to the cell, telling our genes to express pathways related to survival, protection and inflammation. Conversely, states of calm and connection promote gene expression related to healing and repair.
We may not rewrite our DNA, but we actively influence how it behaves. The genes hold the script and our awareness directs the performance.
Case Studies: Stories That Widen the Frame
We have leaned heavily on experts and protocols, perhaps forgetting to include our own intuition in the healing equation.
A Friend’s Story
In his late 20s, a friend developed a tumor. Surgeons removed most of it, but a small, risky part remained. He changed his life, shifted his relationship with his thoughts and every day visualized the remainder dissolving. Months later, it had reduced; over time, it eventually disappeared and that was thirty years ago. Did he defy science, or activate something science is now beginning to understand?
Anita Moorjani’s Story
After a near-death experience, Anita Moorjani described seeing herself not as a body, but as pure awareness, unharmed, limitless, whole. When she returned, her terminal cancer healed rapidly.
Neither person claimed to “think” themselves well. They described a shift in identity maybe even energy, a remembering of who they really were beyond the diagnosis and the body followed. Brandy Gillmore explores this intersection, sometimes showing in real time (via thermal medical equipment) that focused consciousness can shift the body’s response. Science may call this neuroplasticity, yet it still points to the profound power of the mind.
Intention and Intuition
Science is slowly catching up to what ancient traditions have said for centuries: attention carries energy and energy shapes form.
Dr. Masaru Emoto’s work, which showed water crystals shifting shape depending on the emotion directed toward them, serves as a powerful metaphor. (Note: While intriguing, these specific studies lack rigorous scientific controls and are not accepted by mainstream science, yet they serve as a potent symbol for the impact of intention.)
If words and attention can affect water and plants, what might years of fear, stress, or self-judgement do to us? And what might shift if we related to ourselves differently?
The Human Experience Is Not Bypassed, It Is Allowed
This work is not about forcing positivity or controlling emotion. It is about allowing what arises without collapsing into it.
Pain will come
Grief will come
Anger will come
Mindfulness does not erase the human experience; it creates space. Space to move, space to soften, space to be witnessed without becoming your identity. Freedom is not in avoiding pain, but in the recognition that all things are simply a moment and do not define us.
A Wider View of Healing
Maybe healing is not about choosing between therapy or awareness, science or intuition. Maybe it is about weaving them together.
When we remember ourselves as consciousness, not the conditioned self, we open a doorway that therapy can point toward but cannot walk through for us: the ability to witness, choose and transform from within.
We don't need to wait for science to map this fully to begin.
A Loving Caveat & Practice
This is not a suggestion to stop treatment, avoid therapy, or ignore medical advice. Healing is deeply personal. Mindfulness and Inner Peace tools are companions, not replacements. Only you can know what feels right for you.
Simple Practice: "Label and Let Go"
When you notice a painful, repetitive, or intrusive thought or story (especially one from the past), practice this simple technique:
Notice and Label: Silently label the thought with one neutral word (e.g., “Worry,” “Past Story,” “Judgment”).
Redirect: Consciously choose to redirect your attention to a neutral, physical anchor in the present moment, like the feeling of your feet on the floor, or the sensation of your breath.
By labelling the thought, you create distance and you are witnessing the thought, not becoming it.
Reflection Box
I invite you to sit quietly for a moment and ask:
“Where am I waiting for external proof of what I already sense is true?”
“Is this happening now, or am I only remembering?” (This is the real truth of the moment.)
Listen gently, the answer will be quiet, yet unmistakable.
Healing is not always a deep dive; sometimes, it is just touching the water and realizing you are consciousness, here now.
With gratitude for your time in reading this.
Be loving with your words, they shape you more than you think and others too!
Jo x
Sources & Further Reading
1. Scientific Concepts
Mindfulness/Neuroplasticity:
Epigenetics:
2. Key Figures, Quotes, and Anecdotes
Quote Source (Alan Watts): The line "You are an aperture through which the universe is exploring itself," is widely attributed to his lectures and writings, often associated with:
Watts, Alan. The Way of Zen (or other related works like Out of Your Mind).
Anita Moorjani:
Moorjani, Anita. Dying To Be Me: My Journey from Cancer, to Near Death, to True Healing. Hay House, 2012.
Brandy Gillmore:
