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Tuesday, January 18, 2011
BodyTalk, How To Balance Your Brain
BodyTalk, Balancing the Cortices
CORTICES is the plural of cortex which is the outer layer of the brain called the cerebrum (the cerebral cortex), composed of folded gray matter and playing an important role in consciousness.
"One of the very important things about balancing the cortices is that it helps to shift the body and mind out of ‘fight or flight’ (sympathetic) and into ‘growth and healing‘ (parasympathetic).
We often get stuck in flight or flight which causes great stress to the body, and breaks down those communication pathways in the body. It’s like too many plugs are plugged in and our circuits ‘blow’. This causes us to get stuck in a stressful state, and from this place, everything is more difficult - including healing.
Balancing the cortices also balanced the right/left brain which is fundamental for a healthy body and mind.
The right brain is the more intuitive side, imagination and it can work holistically - looking at the big picture. It is responsible for our creativity and and artistic abilities.
The left brain is responsible for our reasoning, logic and thought. It looks at the details and works in a linear way therefor it is slower. It is our knowledge and our learned behaviors.
What we would like is to have both sides of the brain working together to provide us with the ability to connect to the big pictures whilst knowing the details, have logic AND intuition, be able to be aware of where we’re going at the same time as knowing the steps to take.
Balancing the cortices daily starts to bring the body and brain back to a state of health where we can naturally move between different events without getting stuck in fight or flight and start to live using our whole brain.
I highly recommend balancing your cortices in the morning when you wake up, before you go to sleep, and if you have any kind of shock or trauma. If you have an accident, a headache, cut yourself, are stressed out, or receive some bad news.
Tap out your cortices and watch how you relax and return to a place where the body can start healing."
Why is our thinking focused on the past when we're depressed?
From Dr. Suzanne LaCombe's article
"How to Define Depression?"
"It has to do with state-dependent memory. Memories are encoded together with the state of the mind-body at the time they're first laid down. When we feel depressed, this state is tapping into the memory of previous times we experienced this depressed state.
To fully appreciate this idea it's helpful to understand how the brain organizes itself.
The success of our species has depended on our ability to 'put two and two together'. In other words, we notice associations between ideas and we profit from it--we can connect the dots. The brain is designed and organized to make these associations, and the more connections there are between neuropathways, the more associations there will be for us to make.
A consequence of this interconnectivity within the brain is that specific memories get associated with the mind-body state at the time the memory was acquired. So if I feel angry right now, it will be easier to remember the last time I felt angry. If I feel agitated it's easier to recall the last time I felt that way.
Some experts suggest that some depressive states might well be associated with memories formed during infancy. This might explain why there is no identified memory, because the hippocampal memory for facts, names, etc. doesn't come online until about age two."
"How to Define Depression?"
"It has to do with state-dependent memory. Memories are encoded together with the state of the mind-body at the time they're first laid down. When we feel depressed, this state is tapping into the memory of previous times we experienced this depressed state.
To fully appreciate this idea it's helpful to understand how the brain organizes itself.
The success of our species has depended on our ability to 'put two and two together'. In other words, we notice associations between ideas and we profit from it--we can connect the dots. The brain is designed and organized to make these associations, and the more connections there are between neuropathways, the more associations there will be for us to make.
A consequence of this interconnectivity within the brain is that specific memories get associated with the mind-body state at the time the memory was acquired. So if I feel angry right now, it will be easier to remember the last time I felt angry. If I feel agitated it's easier to recall the last time I felt that way.
Some experts suggest that some depressive states might well be associated with memories formed during infancy. This might explain why there is no identified memory, because the hippocampal memory for facts, names, etc. doesn't come online until about age two."
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Conscious Femininity by Marion Woodman
The work of Jungian analyst and writer, Marion Woodman. One of my favorite authors. She has taught me well.
Quotes from Conscious Femininity:
I am learning how to move into the conflict and hold the opposites and create a new path.
I am learning how to communicate my own experience of myself without blaming, attacking, or betraying you or me.
Learn to separate what is real from what is unreal, what stays and what goes.
I am learning to identify my preferences and communicate in a neutral way so you can receive them and not be threatened, hurt or betrayed.
Quotes from Conscious Femininity:
I am learning how to move into the conflict and hold the opposites and create a new path.
I am learning how to communicate my own experience of myself without blaming, attacking, or betraying you or me.
Learn to separate what is real from what is unreal, what stays and what goes.
I am learning to identify my preferences and communicate in a neutral way so you can receive them and not be threatened, hurt or betrayed.
Friday, December 24, 2010
What is your ATTACHMENT style?
Scientific American Mind
January/February 2011
Get Attached
Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment and How It Can Help You Find—and Keep—Love by Levine & Heller
Attachment theory designates three main styles in which individuals perceive and respond to intimacy in romantic relationships, which parallel those found in children.
Attachment is an integral part of human behavior throughout their entire life span.
Adults can be divided into attachment categories according ot the way they recall their relationship with their caregivers, which in turn influences their parental behavior.
Patterns of Attachment
Anxious
Avoident
Secure
Basically, secure people find it easy to get close to others, feel comfortable with intimacy and are usually warm and loving.
Anxious people crave intimacy, are often preoccupied with their relationships and tend to worry about their partner's ability to love them back or to stay with them.
Avoidant people equate intimacy with a loss of independence and constantly try to minimize closeness.
Attachment principles teach us that most people are only as needy as their unmet needs.
When their emotional needs are met, they usually turn their attention outward.
This result is sometimes referred to as the "dependency paradox", the more effectively dependent people are on one another, the more independent and creative they become.
Unfortunaltely the significance of adult attachment goes unappreciated. Among adults, the prevailing notion is still that too much dependence in a relationship is a bad thing.
The opposite is true. Our ability to step into the world on our own often stems from the knowledge that there is someone beside us on whom we can rely.
If you want to take the road to independence and happiness, first find the right person to depend on and then travel down it together.
How can you tell what attachment style a person has?
Does the other person show a sincere wish to understand your needs and put your well-being first?
Do they brush aside your concerns or make you feel inadequate, foolish or self-indulgent?
Do you spell out your needs so it is easy for your partner to meet them?
Do you make your partner guess whether something is wrong and then make them guess what that something is?
Begin by determining your own and your partners attachment style to find more security in your relationship.
Take the ATTACHMENT STYLE QUIZ
January/February 2011
Get Attached
Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment and How It Can Help You Find—and Keep—Love by Levine & Heller
Attachment theory designates three main styles in which individuals perceive and respond to intimacy in romantic relationships, which parallel those found in children.
Attachment is an integral part of human behavior throughout their entire life span.
Adults can be divided into attachment categories according ot the way they recall their relationship with their caregivers, which in turn influences their parental behavior.
Patterns of Attachment
Anxious
Avoident
Secure
Basically, secure people find it easy to get close to others, feel comfortable with intimacy and are usually warm and loving.
Anxious people crave intimacy, are often preoccupied with their relationships and tend to worry about their partner's ability to love them back or to stay with them.
Avoidant people equate intimacy with a loss of independence and constantly try to minimize closeness.
Attachment principles teach us that most people are only as needy as their unmet needs.
When their emotional needs are met, they usually turn their attention outward.
This result is sometimes referred to as the "dependency paradox", the more effectively dependent people are on one another, the more independent and creative they become.
Unfortunaltely the significance of adult attachment goes unappreciated. Among adults, the prevailing notion is still that too much dependence in a relationship is a bad thing.
The opposite is true. Our ability to step into the world on our own often stems from the knowledge that there is someone beside us on whom we can rely.
If you want to take the road to independence and happiness, first find the right person to depend on and then travel down it together.
How can you tell what attachment style a person has?
Does the other person show a sincere wish to understand your needs and put your well-being first?
Do they brush aside your concerns or make you feel inadequate, foolish or self-indulgent?
Do you spell out your needs so it is easy for your partner to meet them?
Do you make your partner guess whether something is wrong and then make them guess what that something is?
Begin by determining your own and your partners attachment style to find more security in your relationship.
Take the ATTACHMENT STYLE QUIZ
Friday, December 10, 2010
The Top 10 Health Benefits of Kissing
From BEST KISSES
The health benefits of kissing have been documented in medical studies offering amazing advantages for a long and healthy life.
1.Those who kiss their partner goodbye each morning live five years longer than those who don’t.
2.Kissing is great for self-esteem. It makes you feel appreciated and helps your state of mind.
3.Kissing burns calories, 2-3 calories a minute and can double your metabolic rate. Research claims that three passionate kisses a day (at least lasting 20 seconds each) will cause you to loose an entire extra pound! It's time to start that kissing diet!
4.Kissing is a known stress-reliever. Passionate kissing relieves tension, reduces negative energy and produces a sense of well being, lowering your cortisol ‘stress’ hormone.
5.Kissing uses 30 facial muscles and it helps keep the facial muscles tight, preventing baggy cheeks! The tension in the muscles caused by a passionate kiss helps smooth the skin and increases the circulation.
6.Kissing is good for the heart, as it creates an adrenaline which causes your heart to pump more blood around your body. Frequent kissing has scientifically been proven to stabilize cardiovascular activity, decrease blood pressure and cholesterol.
7.Those who kiss quite frequently are less likely to suffer from stomach, bladder and blood infections.
8.During a kiss, natural antibiotics are secreted in the saliva. Also, the saliva contains a type of anesthetic that helps relieve pain.
9.Kissing reduces anxiety and stops the 'noise' in your mind. It increases the levels of oxytocin, an extremely calming hormone that produces a feeling of peace.
10.The endorphins produced by kissing are 200 times more powerful than morphine.
The health benefits of kissing have been documented in medical studies offering amazing advantages for a long and healthy life.
1.Those who kiss their partner goodbye each morning live five years longer than those who don’t.
2.Kissing is great for self-esteem. It makes you feel appreciated and helps your state of mind.
3.Kissing burns calories, 2-3 calories a minute and can double your metabolic rate. Research claims that three passionate kisses a day (at least lasting 20 seconds each) will cause you to loose an entire extra pound! It's time to start that kissing diet!
4.Kissing is a known stress-reliever. Passionate kissing relieves tension, reduces negative energy and produces a sense of well being, lowering your cortisol ‘stress’ hormone.
5.Kissing uses 30 facial muscles and it helps keep the facial muscles tight, preventing baggy cheeks! The tension in the muscles caused by a passionate kiss helps smooth the skin and increases the circulation.
6.Kissing is good for the heart, as it creates an adrenaline which causes your heart to pump more blood around your body. Frequent kissing has scientifically been proven to stabilize cardiovascular activity, decrease blood pressure and cholesterol.
7.Those who kiss quite frequently are less likely to suffer from stomach, bladder and blood infections.
8.During a kiss, natural antibiotics are secreted in the saliva. Also, the saliva contains a type of anesthetic that helps relieve pain.
9.Kissing reduces anxiety and stops the 'noise' in your mind. It increases the levels of oxytocin, an extremely calming hormone that produces a feeling of peace.
10.The endorphins produced by kissing are 200 times more powerful than morphine.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Enjoy some kisses to reduce stress.
Reducing stress in your life will support your weight loss goals.
Use hypnosis relaxation techniques including deep breathing, guided imagery visualization, and regularly accessing the positive feelings you will have when you achieve the results you want.
Get a massage. Massage is an excellent way to reduce muscle tension, lower stress hormone and boost immunity.
Regular acupuncture treatments lower cortisol as well as raise endorphins, our body¹s natural pain-reducing hormone.
Practice yoga and meditation.
Exercise programs such as cardiovascular activities, as well as weight training, reduce stress hormones if performed properly. Avoid over doing it, which will only create more stress!
Enjoy some kisses. Studies have shown that kissing actually lowers stress hormones.
Use hypnosis relaxation techniques including deep breathing, guided imagery visualization, and regularly accessing the positive feelings you will have when you achieve the results you want.
Get a massage. Massage is an excellent way to reduce muscle tension, lower stress hormone and boost immunity.
Regular acupuncture treatments lower cortisol as well as raise endorphins, our body¹s natural pain-reducing hormone.
Practice yoga and meditation.
Exercise programs such as cardiovascular activities, as well as weight training, reduce stress hormones if performed properly. Avoid over doing it, which will only create more stress!
Enjoy some kisses. Studies have shown that kissing actually lowers stress hormones.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Winners win in advance.
Have you heard the term Mental Toughness?
Mental toughness refers to training your mind to focus on positive thoughts about your performance and success.
Any negative reactions, thoughts, memories, feelings, ideas, beliefs, behaviors, habits, or limitations of any kind, are immediately identified and interrupted and replaced with a new focus on creating the most beneficial outcome possible in each situation that may arise.
Easily overcome and avoid stress by releasing any and all negative thoughts in the first place and replacing them with positive feeling thoughts that bring relief and satisfaction.
Hypnosis connects you to your unconscious mind on your own, so you begin getting the best results possible.
"Mental toughness comes from repeatedly and consistently recovering from stress and adversity by being determined, focused, confident, resilient, and in control under pressure.
When the going gets tough and you want to quit, have a set, prepared, thought process ready to go.
Thoughts lead to emotions.
Emotions lead to behaviors and performance.
Performance = Potential - Interference.
You can have all the head knowledge in the world but it isn't worth much if it doesn't get into your body ... your cellular structure.
Ways to do that: Experience, Imagination, Emotion."
(The above comments about Mental Toughness come from my colleague, Craig Sigl.)
Mental toughness is about not being affected by anything but what’s going on in the game or competition or any area of your life, no matter what is happening or what other people are doing. It’s being able to block out what’s not important.
Quickly get over making any mistakes. Be able to move past mistakes or failures and reach your goal.
Relax and focus in the midst of hectic surroundings.
Begin to "program" your mind to achieve the results you want.
Find and access the strength and resources you already have, while releasing anything that does not support you in getting the results you want.
Easily reaching your goals.
Keep going even if things get tough.
Bounce back, refocus, and make your goals a reality.
Quickly noticing if you do lose focus.
Easily be able to refocus quickly and get back to your best performance.
Stay positive, let go of distractions or tension, becoming more and more resilient.
What if you no longer allow the stresses involved to become larger than the joy and pleasures of playing the game or accomplishing the task.
Use the power of imagination. If the human mind is capable of imagining something, it's capable of making it happen.
Calmly repeating your success, in your mind's eye, over and over...
Release any worry of comparing yourself to others or matching up in a particular way.
Learning and improving with every effort.
Any mistakes are now easily released. Be easy on yourself during any setbacks and pick yourself up.
The only true failure is to give up, so congratulate yourself on your effort, regroup, and begin again.
Feeling calm and centered, no matter what is about to happen.
No longer allow life’s uncertainties, or any situation that may lead to uneasiness or inner tension, to can stand in the way of our best efforts.
Easily overcome and avoid stress by releasing any and all negative thoughts in the first place and replacing them with positive feeling thoughts that bring relief and satisfaction.
Mental toughness refers to training your mind to focus on positive thoughts about your performance and success.
Any negative reactions, thoughts, memories, feelings, ideas, beliefs, behaviors, habits, or limitations of any kind, are immediately identified and interrupted and replaced with a new focus on creating the most beneficial outcome possible in each situation that may arise.
Easily overcome and avoid stress by releasing any and all negative thoughts in the first place and replacing them with positive feeling thoughts that bring relief and satisfaction.
Hypnosis connects you to your unconscious mind on your own, so you begin getting the best results possible.
"Mental toughness comes from repeatedly and consistently recovering from stress and adversity by being determined, focused, confident, resilient, and in control under pressure.
When the going gets tough and you want to quit, have a set, prepared, thought process ready to go.
Thoughts lead to emotions.
Emotions lead to behaviors and performance.
Performance = Potential - Interference.
You can have all the head knowledge in the world but it isn't worth much if it doesn't get into your body ... your cellular structure.
Ways to do that: Experience, Imagination, Emotion."
(The above comments about Mental Toughness come from my colleague, Craig Sigl.)
Mental toughness is about not being affected by anything but what’s going on in the game or competition or any area of your life, no matter what is happening or what other people are doing. It’s being able to block out what’s not important.
Quickly get over making any mistakes. Be able to move past mistakes or failures and reach your goal.
Relax and focus in the midst of hectic surroundings.
Begin to "program" your mind to achieve the results you want.
Find and access the strength and resources you already have, while releasing anything that does not support you in getting the results you want.
Easily reaching your goals.
Keep going even if things get tough.
Bounce back, refocus, and make your goals a reality.
Quickly noticing if you do lose focus.
Easily be able to refocus quickly and get back to your best performance.
Stay positive, let go of distractions or tension, becoming more and more resilient.
What if you no longer allow the stresses involved to become larger than the joy and pleasures of playing the game or accomplishing the task.
Use the power of imagination. If the human mind is capable of imagining something, it's capable of making it happen.
Calmly repeating your success, in your mind's eye, over and over...
Release any worry of comparing yourself to others or matching up in a particular way.
Learning and improving with every effort.
Any mistakes are now easily released. Be easy on yourself during any setbacks and pick yourself up.
The only true failure is to give up, so congratulate yourself on your effort, regroup, and begin again.
Feeling calm and centered, no matter what is about to happen.
No longer allow life’s uncertainties, or any situation that may lead to uneasiness or inner tension, to can stand in the way of our best efforts.
Easily overcome and avoid stress by releasing any and all negative thoughts in the first place and replacing them with positive feeling thoughts that bring relief and satisfaction.
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