Dr. Mario Martinez - The MindBody Self: How Longevity Is Culturally Learned and the Causes of Health Are Inherited

Praise for

The MindBody Self is an absolute masterwork, combining science,
anthropology, and the wisdom of the heartall easily accessible and
beautifully written and explained. Marios use of language goes right
into my bone marrow. Just reading the difference between a ritual
and routine is life changing, not to mention the thousands of other
gems of meaning and understanding strewn throughout this book.
It should be required reading for everyone on the planet who wants
to live their very best and most fulfilling life.

Christiane Northrup, M.D., New York Times best-selling author
of Goddesses Never Age and Making Life Easy

This is the new medicine of the 21st century! Dr. Mario Martinezs
The MindBody Self is a wellspring of state-of-the-art discoveries,
rock-solid science, and practical wisdom that gives us the formula for
a long and vibrant life. In a conversational style thats easy to read,
yet packed with timeless wisdom, Martinez leads us on an 11-chapter
journey of self-discovery that reveals the hidden links between our
family, our culture, and our lifes potential. I especially appreciate
the debriefing section at the end of each chapter that gives us the
opportunity to apply what weve just read immediately in our lives.
If youre ready to move beyond the conventional theories of aging and
discover your personal code of extraordinary potential, The MindBody
Self is your personal prescription for success. I love this book!

Gregg Braden, New York Times best-selling author of
The Divine Matrix, The God Code, and Resilience from the Heart

Mind-blowing, heart-opening, and life-changing! Dr. Martinez
combines the latest scientific research with ancient spiritual principles
to reacquaint us with our Unconditioned Self, which is creative,
abundant, and powerful beyond measure.

Robert Holden, Ph.D., author of Shift Happens!
and Authentic Success

One does not have to agree with every assertion in this book
to recognize that in The MindBody Self Dr. Martinez combines
informed cultural analysis, original thinking, and refreshing insights
to create a helpful new theory of wellness. Best of all, he offers a
well-wrought methodology that will enable people to shed their
culturally derived limited selves and become the agents, the fully
empowered co-creators of their health.

Gabor Mat, M.D., author of When the Body Says No:
Exploring the Stress-Disease Connection

There is genius at work in these pages. Dr. Martinez presents ideas
and techniques that are so startlingly original and innovative that
they actually expand the readers capacity for astonishment. The
MindBody Self is a must-read book for therapists, physicians, and
transformational change agents of every kind.

Gay Hendricks, Ph.D., author of The Big Leap and
coauthor of Conscious Loving Ever After

ALSO BY DR. MARIO MARTINEZ

The MindBody Code

The Man from Autumn

Copyright 2017 by Mario Martinez

Published and distributed in the United States by: Hay House, Inc.: www.hayhouse.com Published and distributed in Australia by: Hay House Australia Pty. Ltd.: www.hayhouse.com.au Published and distributed in the United Kingdom by: Hay House UK, Ltd.: www.hayhouse.co.uk Published and distributed in the Republic of South Africa by: Hay House SA (Pty), Ltd.: www.hayhouse.co.za Distributed in Canada by: Raincoast Books: www.raincoast.com Published in India by: Hay House Publishers India: www.hayhouse.co.in

Indexer: Jay Kreider
Cover design: Tricia Breidenthal
Interior design: Pamela Homan

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any mechanical, photographic, or electronic process, or in the form of a phonographic recording; nor may it be stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, or otherwise be copied for public or private useother than for fair use as brief quotations embodied in articles and reviewswithout prior written permission of the publisher.

The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress

Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4019-5128-3

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
1st edition, March 2017

Printed in the United States of America

To my son, Patrick, and to my daughter, Lauren,
who are my heroes and my inspiration.

Contents

These are turbulent times we live in. And there is no shortage of solutions on offer to smooth the way. Virtually any approach you can think of to solve problems in your inner or outer worldyour relationships, your purpose, your physical health, your sense of self, your place in the worldhas been laid out somewhere by someone as a path to a better life. I said any approach you can think ofbut the fact is you cannot think your way to a better life. Change is not something your mind can accomplish alone. Its not something your body can do all by itself, either. You need them both together.

Its likely you already have an intuitive understandingperhaps a sophisticated and finely honed understandingof the way the mind and the body dialogue with each other. The science of biocognition that I have been developing and teaching over the past two decades takes this understanding to a new level: My concept of the mindbody describes not two separate entities having mutual impacts on each other, but an essential, indivisible oneness. The concept of the mindbody code, which I unpacked in my first book, explains the coauthoring of mind and body, cognition and biology, within a cultural context. It gives a name to the language you learn from your culture that allows you to interpret your world.

In the book youre holding now, I will delve more deeply into the cultural conditions that shape our lives, our health, our very selves. Youll discover a mindbody cultural science that illuminates how you coauthor your reality in collaboration with everything around you, and biocognitive tools you can use to change outworn patterns and create a healthier, happier, fuller life.

A NEW LANGUAGE OF THE SELF

The mindbody cultural language you will learn in this book has the flexibility needed to engage the turbulent challenges in your life with new and effective strategies that provide experiential solutions rather than intellectual explanations. Well replace rigid boundaries of learned helplessness with permeable horizons of potential empowerment, genetic sentencing of disease with propensities influenced by cultural beliefs, and aging as inevitable deterioration with learning healthy longevity at any age. Based on revolutionary mindbody science research, well debunk reductionist myths that view human biology as mechanistic processes void of cultural influence in the causes of health and longevity. You will learn why and how what you perceive is a culturally woven world, rather than a perception void of cultural contexts. But more important, you will learn that you can reweave your cultural fabric to release what no longer serves you and reclaim the personal excellence you were taught to ignore.