['lizbeth]

"In addition, everyone should know that most ligands have chemical equivalents found outside the body, such as Valium, marijuana, cocaine, alcohol, and caffeine, to name a few.

"You've now leaned about the two components that make up this bodymind communication system - the receptor and the ligand. These are what I have called the 'molecules of emotion'. But how do the two find each other across the vast reaches of intercellular space, hook up - or bind - and them transfer vital information to affect cellular, bodywide activity?

We used to explain the attraction by a quality called receptor specificity, which is that each receptor is specifically shaped to fit one and only one ligand. A lock-and-key model helped with visualizing this method of connecting, or binding. The 'key' (a peptide) floats by until it finds its perfect 'keyhole' (the receptor). The key inserts into the keyhole opening the 'lock' of the cell, and cellular activities begin.

While this is partially accurate, we now understand a more dynamic relation ship between ligand and receptor, involving something called 'vibratory attraction.' Sitting on the surface of the cell, the receptor wiggles and shimmies, changing from one configuration to another in a constant state of flux. This dance creates a vibration that resonates with a ligand vibrating at the same frequency, and they begin to resonate together.

Cellular resonance - its like when you pluck one string on two different guitars in the same room - one will resonate with the other, both striking the same note. This creates a force of attraction the way that peptides resonated with their receptors and come together to strike that emotional chord as they bind. And that's when the music begins!

I've said the emotions are the link between the physical body and nonphysical states of consciousness, and the receptors on every cell are where this happens! The attracting vibration is the emotion, and the actual connection - peptide to receptor - is the manifestation of the feeling in the physical world. That's why I call peptides and their receptors the molecules of emotions."

Candace Pert, Ph.D, New-Paradigm Physiology, Everything you need to know to feel Go(o)d