By Tara Greenway

A wonderful thing about children is their effortless ability to hope. They don’t need to learn or try to hope. They come into life trusting that they’ll be fed, held and loved. Most children hope even in the face of great hardship. That’s why we adults are sometimes jealous of children: they get to hope. And we know better ... right? Because as adults, many of us have learned, unfortunately, not to hope anymore.

Good news: there is now scientific evidence in favor of hope. At least, that’s how I interpret the science of epigenetics (which literally means “control above genetics”). We used to think that DNA was destiny. If your parents had cancer or depression, there you were—you could expect to get cancer or depression.

But epigenetics has proven this idea false by showing that our cells are controlled more by their environment than by their DNA. This means that we are not dictated by our bodies or our heritage. We are the creators of our selves, our very cells.

The environment of your cells is created by the nutrition you put into your body and by the emotions in which you bathe your mind and body. You know how to change your nutrition, but how do you change your emotions? By changing your beliefs.

In my ThetaHealing practice, I’ve seen hundreds of people re-create themselves by transforming the subconscious beliefs running their lives. ThetaHealing is a deep, thorough mind-body technique that changes beliefs at four levels: the core, genetic, history, and soul levels. We address the emotional and physical as one, always using what I call “the energy of all that is.” It’s amazing to watch people excavate their beliefs and heal from their emotional trauma and from physical pain or disease.

So congratulations on creating your own life ... and welcome back to hope.

Tara Greenway is a master ThetaHealer and cofounder of ThetaHealingNYC, a healing center and ThetaHealing school in Manhattan. To arrange a session or register for a workshop, email [email protected] or call 212.260.5727. For more info, visit ThetaHealingNYC.com.