Thought Medicine

How Your Mind Can Heal Your Brain

Linda Gabriel — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 18:26:06 +0000

Something terrible happened to Susan a few years before we met.

A random intruder shot her and left her for dead.

A bullet lodged deep within her chest. Emergency responders rushed her to the operating room and soon surgeons were struggling to control the bleeding in her collapsed lung.

At first no one saw the other wound.

Then an O.R. nurse noticed a small pool of blood near Susan’s head. A portable x-ray revealed a second bullet had pierced her skull and destroyed a significant amount of Susan’s brain.

Emergency surgery saved her life, but Susan was now blind. Her brain’s speech center had been devastated, and her motor function was severely impaired. A large piece of her skull was gone.

Susan couldn’t see. She couldn’t talk. She couldn’t walk.

However, after surgery, Susan soon regained consciousness. She couldn’t see or talk, but she could hear. So she was able to understand her neurosurgeon’s words when he stood at her hospital bedside and told her about the extent of her brain injury.

The news was devastating

The doctor explained that her brain was permanently damaged. Susan was told she would never see again; told she would have difficulty speaking for the rest of her life, told she would need to make arrangements for long-term nursing care and because she had been recently widowed, she would need to find full-time childcare for her 2-year-old son.

That was the bad news. The good news?

Susan would be severley disabled, but she would survive.

Perhaps – with years of physical therapy – her doctors said she might be able to learn to walk again. But, no promises.

She couldn’t speak, but one thought echoed through Susan’s mind: NO.

Why am I telling you this sad story?

Because by the time we met, Susan could walk.

She could talk.

And she could see.

In fact if you met Susan today, you would never guess that once upon a time, she had suffered permanent brain damage.

In case you’re doubting the seriousness of her brain injury, let me assure you Susan wasn’t exaggerating. The crime and subsequent trial had been big news in her part of the country. Before we met, I happened to read an in-depth article about the incident. Her recovery is nothing less than a medical miracle.

Yet Susan doesn’t consider herself special.

She’s not a motivational speaker. She hasn’t written a book or appeared on Oprah. She’s not famous; she’s a very private person, in fact ‘Susan’ isn’t her real name.

She’s a normal woman – a wife and mother who runs a thriving small business with her new husband. She’s not particularly religious – though she admits she’s a bit more spiritual now than before her injury.

The Power of the Positive No

One day I asked Susan what she thought might be the key to her miraculous recovery:

“That moment in the hospital when the doctor told me about my prognosis, I suddenly got very stubborn. I had no reason to believe my own opinion more than his, but for some reason I simply refused to believe him.”

She smiled as she told me how she just mentally said, “No” to everything he said. “I wasn’t in denial, she explained, “I knew my situation was very serious, and I couldn’t speak, so he had no idea. But I just found myself mentally saying ‘no’ to everything he said with simple, calm conviction.”

“You’ll never see again.”

No.

“You’ll always have problems speaking.”

No.

“You may never walk again.”

No.

Susan refused to accept her doctor’s description of her future. She cancelled the order.

Make it part of the dance.

Did I mention that before the injury, Susan had been a talented professional dancer?

She once told me that dancers have a rule:

“If you happen to stumble or make a mistake during a performance, a good dancer knows how to ‘make it part of the dance’ – and just keep on going.”

Susan made a decision to make her brain injury “part of the dance” of her life.

She’d stumbled but she chose to keep moving forward no matter what.

Susan took her physical therapy seriously. If she had a bad day, she remembered to ‘make it part of the dance.’ She worked hard to restore her ability to walk. She reclaimed her ability to talk. And somehow Susan found her own unique way to reconstruct her vision piece by piece. Today she sees well enough to read, drive, and look into the eyes of her son – without glasses.

Her doctors still can’t explain how she can do that.

I hope Susan’s story inspires you. If you’re dealing with a challenge such as a life-threatening illness or injury it’s helpful to remember that not everyone has the worst-case scenario your caregivers may be describing. Side effects of treatment don’t always occur. Your prognosis isn’t written in stone.

Perhaps you’ll follow Susan’s example and draw upon the power of your own mind to help yourself – and maybe even heal yourself.

You are more than your body. Your mind is stronger than your brain.

When someone tells you something will be difficult or painful, they’re programming your subconscious. It’s like a hypnotic trance. This is especially true if it’s a doctor or other authority figure.

People who’ve been told to expect serious side effects often will suffer them, even when the “medicine” is a harmless sugar pill. Studies have proven this.

It’s called the nocebo effect – the opposite of the placebo effect.

For better or worse, the mind has the power to create real physical results, even when it involves the brain.

Think about that for a minute.

So the next time experts tell you how bad things are going to be, I invite you to let your subconscious know YOU have other plans.

I’m not telling you to avoid medical treatment. If you are having a health challenge, of course see a doctor and follow her advice. You’re not saying no to the actual treatment.

But when experts tell you about bad things that may happen such as scars, pain, or negative side effects, I invite you to indulge in a harmless experiment and simply say a strong internal, NO!

This isn’t an argumentative “No.”

It isn’t a fearful “No.”

It’s the same thing you might say to a waiter offering you a platter of some food you don’t like to eat – a polite, yet firm,

“No thank you.”

I invite you to welcome the healing effects of your treatment, but firmly reject the rest of the side effects.

The power of the mind is amazing. Take advantage of it.

Your Brain Is Plastic – Is That a Good Thing?

The Healing Power of Thoughts

The post How Your Mind Can Heal Your Brain appeared first on Thought Medicine.

Brain Wave Basics – What You Need to Know about States of Consciousness

Linda Gabriel — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 04:50:08 +0000

The fact that our brains are electrical is a relatively new discovery.

The first article about electrical phenomena in the brains of monkeys and rabbits was published in the British Medical Journal of 1875.

Nearly a half century would pass before the first human EEG (electroencephalogram) was recorded. That distinction would go to German psychiatrist and physiologist Hans Berger who invented the device that would begin the field of electroencephalography.

The 4 Building Blocks of Consciousness

There are 4 basic brain wave frequencies and each correlates with a specific state of consciousness. Like sound frequencies, brain waves are measured in Hz, or cycles per second. In general, the slower the frequency of your brain waves, the more relaxed you feel.

Meditation, neurofeedback, hypnosis, and guided imagery have all been shown to help people control their brain waves more efficiently for better health, higher performance, and a more positive experience of life.

Beta Waves: 13-30 Hz

Your brain is producing beta waves as you are reading this. A predominance of beta waves is associated with being alert, active, and whenever you concentrate on learning something or doing an activity that requires focus.

Beta waves are also associated with over-thinking and worry. While the beta state has gotten a bad rap in some meditation circles, you need your brain to generate beta waves in order to think and function consciously.

But when you want to relax, it’s time to shift into alpha.

Alpha Waves: 8-13 Hz

Alpha is the brain wave associated with relaxed, daydreaming states of mind; it’s a state of relaxed, detached awareness. Many people are “in alpha” while watching TV. Alpha is often called a “hypnogogic” state because you may experience spontaneous mental imagery.

If you’re like most people, when you close your eyes and take a few slow, deep breaths you’ll experience a light, relaxed alpha state. Alpha is considered the gateway to meditation. Some people consider alpha waves to be the link between the conscious mind and the subconscious.

You produce alpha waves when you relax to guided imagery. Your brain also produces alpha waves just before you drift off to sleep and just before you wake up. At the beginning of “stage 1 sleep” alpha waves disappear and theta waves appear.

Theta: 4-8 Hz

Theta waves are often associated with deep states of meditation, peak spiritual experiences, and higher states of consciousness. Theta waves are associated with drowsiness or arousal in adults and older children. Young children are in theta most of the time.

Some people consider the theta state to be synonymous with the subconscious mind wherein reside suppressed emotions, as well as a storehouse of creativity. Theta is associated with REM (rapid eye movement) sleep where dreams occur.

Delta: up to 4 Hz

Delta waves occur in adults during deep, or “slow wave” sleep. It seems this state is needed by the brain because after a period of sleep deprivation, there’s usually a rebound of slow wave sleep. Alcohol interferes with delta wave sleep. A low carbohydrate diet has been shown to increase the amount of delta activity and deep sleep in healthy individuals.

Delta states sometimes occur during continuous attention tasks.

Delta is considered by some to be the bridge to what Carl Jung described as the “collective unconscious.” Babies are in delta much of the time. For some reason adult females have been shown to have more delta wave activity. This is true not just in humans but in most mammals.

Beyond the Basic Brain Waves

Gamma: 25-100 Hz

Neurologists have also described a Gamma brainwave that’s thought to be involved with our sense of conscious awareness. Gamma waves range in frequency from 25 to 100 Hz though usually they are around 40 Hz. Studies of Tibetan Buddhist monks have shown a correlation between gamma waves and transcendental states of consciousness, but not all neuroscientists are convinced.

Mu 8-13 Hz

The Mu wave is a brain frequency which has been observed and studied since the 1930’s. Mu waves are in the range of 8-13 Hz and arise from large groups of neurons in the brain.

Recently Mu brain waves have been associated with the “mirror neuron” system that activates when we watch another person’s activity. Because mu brain waves may play a role in our ability to understand and imitate others’ behavior, enhancing mu wave activity via neurofeedback is being studied as a therapy for autism. Early results are promising.

Photo Credit

Google+

Brain Scans – 5 Things You Should Know

Your Brain is Plastic – Is That a Good Thing?

The post Brain Wave Basics – What You Need to Know about States of Consciousness appeared first on Thought Medicine.

The Healing Power of Thoughts

Linda Gabriel — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 16:52:29 +0000

A Death Sentence

I want to tell you Sally’s Story from Marci Shimoff’s book Love for No Reason.

Shortly before her 50th birthday, Sally became ill to the point she had to be rushed to the hospital. When she got there doctors discovered she was in liver failure.

Sally was shocked. She didn’t drink and had no history of liver disease and after a day of extensive tests, the doctors ruled out hepatitis and cancer. The final verdict was “liver failure for no medical reason.” Even though they couldn’t find the cause, they were sure about the effect: Without a liver transplant Sally would soon die.

She was immediately placed near the top of the national waiting list for donor livers.

With each passing hour Sally’s chances for survival dwindled. Transfusions kept her barely alive until the third day when a donor liver became available. After the transplant Sally’s surgeon said her liver was the worst he’d ever seen. The cause was still a mystery.

Gratitude and Intention

After her transplant Sally was overcome with feelings of deep gratitude. Rejection had been a theme of her life, but now she felt a sense of wonder. She thought,

“God, if you can get me a liver at the last minute, I’m going to trust you. I don’t know who or what I am. I certainly don’t know how to love myself, or anyone really. So please send me whatever and whomever to teach me what love is. I want to live it, be it, model it.”

When Sally left the hospital, she began to take loving care of herself. She scheduled massages, bought herself flowers. She explored alternative healing modalities like acupuncture and homeopathy.

A Setback

Then, about a year after the transplant, Sally got sick again. Without another liver transplant Sally would die. She was sent home with a pager that would alert her the instant a donor liver became available.

Three weeks passed but no call came. During a visit to the hospital Sally encountered a woman who had just received her third liver transplant. This woman did nothing but complain – about her husband, her health, about everything. Sally remembered something she had learned from acupuncture. According to Chinese medicine the liver is related to the emotion of anger, both expressed and repressed.

Sally wondered if she might need to do some “inner surgery.” She went home, sat down, and for the first time in her life quieted her mind. Sally asked herself, “What do I believe?” As she wrote down each answer without censorship there were many that shocked her. But one in particular stood out.

“I believe there’s a punishing God and I’m being punished because I’m a terrible person.”

If this was her core belief, it became clear to Sally why her attempts at self-love had been unsuccessful. She didn’t have to look far to find the root of the belief that she deserved to be punished. The answer was simple: as a child simply being Sally meant being punished. She had grown up in a household with zero tolerance for children expressing anger or tears.

Thoughts as Medicine

Sally began to feel deep compassion for the little girl inside who still felt so unloved and so unworthy. In her imagination Sally hugged the child and told her,

“You didn’t do anything wrong. I forgive you and I love you.”

That inner embrace was a turning point. When Sally’s inner voice scolded her with thoughts of, “You shouldn’t feel that way. Stop crying. Don’t be a baby!” Sally would change her thought and speak to her inner child.

“It’s okay honey. You can have those feelings.”

Sally begin to heal emotionally but surprisingly, her physical health began to improve too. The day Sally had sat down to discover what she really believed, her bilirubin levels had been sky high. Too much billirubin meant her liver wasn’t functioning well. As Sally practiced loving thoughts over the next nine months her billirubin levels fell steadily – all the way back to normal. Her doctors couldn’t explain it.

They Called It a Miracle

That was eighteen years ago. Sally never had to have the second transplant.

Over the years she has continued to be a loving parent to the little girl inside. Ten years ago Sally met and married a wonderful man who has given her the opportunity to experience unconditional love. She wouldn’t wish her brushes with death on anyone but she’s grateful for them because they taught her something she might never have learned otherwise.

What Are Your Core Beliefs?

Do those beliefs help you or hurt you? Is it possible they are affecting your physical health? You don’t have to go through something so dramatic to begin experiencing the healing power of changing your thoughts. You can begin right this moment.

Photo Credit

The Little Voice in Your Head: Friend or Foe?

Where Does Your Past Exist?

The post The Healing Power of Thoughts appeared first on Thought Medicine.

How to Use the Law of Inertia to Change Your Life

Linda Gabriel — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 19:13:45 +0000

A True Story about the Healing Power of Inertia

I’m 18 years old and it’s the day after I’ve had major surgery. If you’ve never had surgery it might surprise you to know that in most cases, they get patients up within 24 hours after an operation. People who get moving have fewer complications and get better faster. The only problem is, because I had to undergo several pre-op tests, I’ve had nothing to eat for at least 5 days. I’m in a lot of pain and I’m extremely weak.

Get up and walk? Are they serious? All I want to do is lie still and rest.

The nurse walks into my room, cranks up the back of my hospital bed and insists that I sit up. I want to cooperate but my muscles don’t. Even though I struggle with everything I’ve got, it seems like my back is super-glued to the sheet which is now soaked with the sweat of my exertion.

The nurse and I are both frustrated. But she is kind and finally gives me an assist, pulling me forward and helping me swing my legs over the side of the bed. She lifts me up onto my feet and…

I faint.

I’m not that big but 130 pounds of dead weight is more than she can handle. I’m vaguely aware as she collects my gangly arms and legs and dumps me back into bed.

Every 3-4 hours we try again. Every time I stand up, I faint. It doesn’t help that they give me a pain shot beforehand so I’ll be able to cope with the excruciating pain of my still-fresh incision. Each time we try I feel even weaker. Every fiber of my being just wants to stay horizontal.

By the next afternoon I still haven’t been able to pry my own back away from the hospital bed – let alone take a walk down the hall, which is our ultimate goal. The nurse is afraid if she drops me I could get injured but she’s not a quitter. As she tucks my exhausted body back into bed she mutters, “I have an idea.”

Later that evening she waltzes into my room accompanied by her “idea” – a strapping young resident from another floor named Dr. Valentine. He’s about 6’5″ and looks more like an NFL linebacker than your stereotypical doctor. He’s kind but stern. There is no way I’m not getting out of that bed and taking a walk down the hall with him. He’s all business. His strength is comforting and a little bit scary.

Before I know it he lifts me up into a standing position. As usual the black snow fills my vision and I begin to faint. But Dr. Valentine doesn’t let go. He calmly holds me against his chest until I stabilize. It takes a few minutes but finally my head clears. The next thing I know Dr. Valentine is puppet-walking me out the door and into the hall. I feel like Raggedy Ann but with his help I go through the motions. Then it’s back to bed. I’m exhausted – more weary than I’ve ever felt in my life.

Here’s the surprise: the next morning I’m able to get up on my own!

This time I can actually sit up and get out of bed. I don’t faint and and I’m able to walk down the hall on the arm of my very proud nurse. It still hurts, but each time it gets easier. By the next day, I’m able to get up and walk whenever I want… on my own. And I just kept walking back to a normal healthy life. (Thank you Dr. Valentine wherever you are!)

The Law of Inertia

Most people know that inertia is the force that keeps things stuck. As the law of physics states, “Inertia is the tendency for a body at rest to stay at rest.”

But that’s only half of the story.

The Law of Inertia actually says that things tend to keep doing what they are doing – unless some outside force intervenes. While it’s true that something that isn’t moving will tend to stay that way, that’s only half of the law. The other half says, “A body in motion will tend to stay in motion.”

The Tipping Point

The moment an outside force changes non-movement to movement – or vice versa – is a “tipping point.” That day in the hospital, Dr. Valentine was my tipping point. He was the “outside force” that got me moving again. From that point on it was easier because inertia now was working in my favor to help me keep moving.

How to Create a Tipping Point to Leverage the Power of Inertia

A few years ago I decided to start taking early morning hikes several days a week. I had a lot of trouble getting out the door. I was out of shape and as much as I focused on how good for my health daily walking and hiking would be, my attempts to get started were sporadic at best.

As a coach I know that it takes 21 days to “install” a habit. Finally I made a deal with myself to take a walk every day for a few weeks. Not Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Every day. To keep track I put a big “W” on my wall calendar each day I’ve kept that promise to myself.

I know it sounds silly but after a few days I didn’t want to break the zig-zag chain of W’s on my calendar. Even if I got busy and hadn’t yet walked, I’d sneak in a quick 5-minute stroll in the evening so I could earn my W and not break the chain. I liked watching the pattern grow.

My tipping point was a seemingly silly compulsion to keep the WWWWW chain unbroken!

After about 3 weeks I didn’t have to use the calendar trick any more. Soon I wasn’t just walking, I was hiking nearly every day. The Power of Inertia had taken over and movement was now my new pattern. The calendar trick helped tip the Law of Inertia to my side. Those 5 minute evening walks helped too. Why? Because if something is moving, it will tend to keep moving.

Behold the Power of Inertia!

If you want to change something in your life, and it feels overwhelming, it helps to remember that a tipping point can be a very small change. You can leverage the Power of Inertia if you are willing to go through a small bit of discomfort. Then it will get easier.

How can you leverage the Power of Inertia in your own life? What small force of change can you bring into play as your tipping point between being stuck and movement forward?
Please comment below.

Photo Credit

How One Word Let to $1200 in 10 Minutes. Believe It or Not.

The post How to Use the Law of Inertia to Change Your Life appeared first on Thought Medicine.

How to Deal with Disturbing News – A Message for Our Times from Deepak Chopra

Linda Gabriel — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 01:46:10 +0000

“When we turn a tragedy into an opportunity to contribute something positive to the world, we begin to offset the pain and start the healing process.”

Almost every day we are exposed to disturbing headlines. Many of the stories are gratuitous in nature – more gossip than “news.”

But in our post 9-11 world there are truly disturbing current events that can deeply impact our sense of inner peace and well-being.

I happened to see Dr. Deepak Chopra today on MSNBC addressing the terrible shooting in Tucson that resulted in a catastrophic injury to Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and the deaths of several people including an innocent child.

I’d like to give you a link to the video of Dr. Chopra’s remarks but there doesn’t seem to be one available. Instead I’ll summarize what I remember and add my own thoughts:

1. Become a neutral observer of your feelings…

Dr. Chopra says the highest level of human consciousness is the ability to witness oneself. Observe your fear, anger, or sadness. Simply notice what you are feeling without trying to change it. This ability to take a step back in one’s own consciousness and observing your own feelings is the key to experiencing what Eckhart Tolle calls “the pain body” as separate from your core identity. Yes, you have painful feelings, but your feelings are not who you are. You are the field within which the feelings are arising. It also helps to “breathe through” the feelings.

2. Remember a time you felt better…

Once you have allowed your negative feelings to just be there, gently turn your mind to a time when you felt a strong feeling of peace and well-being. It doesn’t have to be an important memory. It could be as simple as thinking about how much you like the beach, or that certain Beatles song, or ice cream. Focus on feeling that good feeling as you connect to the memory.

Chopra says this human ability to remember and choose to connect to a different feeling is the second highest level of human consciousness. In my experience this is the most difficult part of the equation, but it is possible. The point isn’t to repress your bad feelings. It’s about allowing them to flow so that a better feeling can arise in the present moment. Small children are great at this – able to giggle after scraping a knee, even while their cheeks are damp with tears shed a moment before. If you can manage to lift your own spirits, even for a moment, you will create a cascade of brain chemicals that will not only make you feel better, it will create a state in which you will be able to think in much more constructive ways.

3. Try to find something positive in the negative situation…

Once you have calmed your mind and body by re-experiencing a more positive state, try to find something positive you can learn from the negative situation, no matter how small. Can you reframe the bad news as an example of “what-not-to-do?” Perhaps you can identify an opportunity for deeper understanding or forgiveness. Sometimes finding something positive within a tragedy is challenging, but do your best. At the very least, tragic news can help us remember to appreciate what’s really important in life.

4. Take positive action…

If the bad news is personal, positive action may involve making changes in your daily life or relationships. In the case of a community or national tragedy, you may feel called to serve in some way. When we turn a tragedy into an opportunity to contribute something positive to the world, we begin to offset the pain and start the healing process.

What are your thoughts?

After going through these four points Dr. Chopra pointed out that they are fundamentally about Being, Feeling, Thinking and Acting – and in that order. Dr. Chopra also suggested filling cyberspace with peace by tweeting and posting messages of peace on Facebook as one kind of positive action. I’m a bit embarrassed to admit this, but hearing him say that in his Indian accent made me want to roll my eyes. It seemed like frivolous New Age babble, especially in the shadow of people dying needlessly. Then I remembered my mission.

Even though I’m a strong advocate for the power of thought, like many people I’m easily seduced by the idea that negativity is more “realistic” than a positive thought about peace. But what if that’s the biggest lie of all?

What if Deepak Chopra’s invitation isn’t silly? What if you focusing your mind on peace – especially during stressful times – might be a powerful antidote to all the negative media messages you are exposed to everyday?

Behind every action, every feeling, and every word, there is a thought. What if millions of people focused their thoughts and words on peace, if only for a few minutes? How powerful might that be?

For Our World – A Poem Written on 9-11 by Mattie Stepanek
Memorial Day 2010 – Some Random Notes on Memory
How Can I Feel Good When So Much Around Me Is Bad?

The post How to Deal with Disturbing News – A Message for Our Times from Deepak Chopra appeared first on Thought Medicine.

How to Discover and Live Your Passion – Interview with Barrie Davenport

Linda Gabriel — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 00:28:32 +0000

Barrie Davenport is a writer, mom, and career and life transition coach. She’s the author of The Bold Living Guide: 7 Key Ingredients for a Meaningful Life available through her blog, Live Bold and Bloom, and co-author of the Amazon bestseller Declutter Your Mind, How to Stop Worrying, Relieve Anxiety, and Eliminate Negative Thinking

Thought Medicine: Passion is a word that means different things to different people. What’s your personal working definition of “passion”?

Barrie: Passion is the place where one’s values, interests, skills, and joys intersect. Passion isn’t something that you discover “out there” somewhere. Discovering your passion involves thorough self-discovery of who you are and what motivates you, as well profound mind shifts. This work must be followed by specific actions to ignite and flame your passions. You might be passionate about writing for example, but if you aren’t regularly doing the work of writing, you aren’t living a passionate life.

Thought Medicine: How has passion made a difference in your life personally?

Barrie: It has changed me entirely. Doing what I love has profoundly impacted how I feel about myself and how I view the world. When you feel like your life is missing something and that you aren’t doing anything meaningful or fulfilling, everything is shaded with dull grey. Life feels like an endless series of tasks rather than a daring adventure. When you have energy, passion, and enthusiasm behind any aspect of your life, everything feels more vibrant and exciting. You wake up ready to seize the day rather than slog through it.

Thought Medicine: What are some of the methods you use to help your clients discover their own passion?

Barrie: I ask the client to do a lot of self-discovery and clean-up work before they begin taking real steps toward their passion. Before we can discover and act upon what we are passionate about, we must really know ourselves. We need to know what motivates and inspires us, as well as what is limiting us and preventing growth.

I take the client through a process of learning about their personality type, their skills, values, joys and interests. They also begin to focus on a life purpose with some specific exercises for clarifying that, and they will create a vision and mission for their lives. A challenging part of the process is digging into limiting beliefs, blocks, and unresolved issues so that one can have a clean slate before launching on this exciting new life. I help the client synthesize all of this information so they can begin the action steps both for the “clean up” process and the passion discovery. This helps them create weekly actions for a full year. If they do the work, next year should look pretty bright!

“I ask the client to do a lot of self-discovery and clean-up work before they begin taking real steps toward their passion.”

Thought Medicine: Even when we are following our passion, we can hit a plateau. How do you keep motivated over time and deal with “burn out” if it should occur?

Barrie: Passions can evolve and change over time. Sometimes we have more than one passion, or we might feel really passionate about something for a time and then move on to something else. That’s why it’s useful to reevaluate where you are in life and how you can focus in on new or shifting areas of growth and interest. Any time you begin to feel that restless, dissatisfied, or empty feeling about some aspect of your life, that is a signal to begin this work again.

Thought Medicine: How does changing the way they think support people in the process of finding and living their passion?

Barrie: As we both know, and I’m sure your readers know from the articles on your blog, the brain can be “trained” to support positive feeling. The more you practice positive thinking, gratitude, and affirmations, the more you are reinforcing a sense of well-being and happiness. (Read The Brain That Changes Itself by Norman Doidge, MD for more info on the science behind this.) When you are actively focused first on seeking what you love and feel passionate about, and then taking real actions toward your passion, you are soaking your brain in “feel good” thoughts and actions. That’s why it is so important to resist limiting beliefs and negative thinking when you are doing this work. You are fighting against yourself when you do that.

Visit Barrie Davenport’s blog Live Bold and Bloom.

The post How to Discover and Live Your Passion – Interview with Barrie Davenport appeared first on Thought Medicine.

Brain Scans – 5 Things You Should Know

Linda Gabriel — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 15:39:49 +0000

You’ve probably seen a TV show or read articles that feature impressive brain imagery depicting a “normal” brains vs. depressed, anxious, or addicted brains.

Brain scans have made huge improvements in diagnosis and treatment.

However critics complain that when these images are interpreted to reveal information about your thoughts, feelings, and cognition, the claims are often exaggerated.

A recently published study by M.I.T.’s Edward Vul (and associates) concluded that,

“a disturbingly large, and quite prominent, segment of fMRI research on emotion, personality, and social cognition is using seriously defective research methods and producing a profusion of numbers that should not be believed.”

Brain scans were developed in order to visualize brain structures. Now they are being used to interpret brain function. This is where we need to proceed with caution. Personally I’ve had misgivings about who is deciding what constitutes a “normal” brain.

Would Beethoven’s or Einstein’s brain have lived up to the test?

And what about the invasive nature of such technology? Body scanners at airport security have been in the headlines. If you don’t like the idea of your body being displayed for all to see, how would you feel about your brain being scanned and interpreted without your permission?

NPR reports the US military is developing portable brain scanners that work from a distance and can supposedly determine whether a person is lying or telling the truth. While this might be useful at security checkpoints, the ramifications of such technology are disturbing, especially if the software (or human being) that is interpreting such a brain scan is less than 100% accurate.

Clearly we need some ethical guidelines is place as this technology emerges.

Brain scans aren’t going away. Nor should they. They are powerful, life-saving tools. But perhaps we need to proceed with caution about how they are being interpreted, and “sold” to the public outside of medical purposes. Especially when brain scans are being used to interpret intentions, emotions, and feelings.

In an article for Scientific American Mind, Michael Shermer (publisher of Skeptic Magazine) described the limits of fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging). Here’s a summary:

1. Studies Are Skewed by Selection and Environment

The population sample can’t be truly random because about 20% of experiment subjects back out because of the claustrophobic experience of being in a narrow tube with the head locked firmly in place while being subjected to the loud banging of the machine. All this, while attempting to watch images, make choices, and report on emotions. It’s obvious that the brains monitored under such conditions are unlikely to reflect “real world” conditions.

2. Scans Don’t Measure Direct Brain Activity

It’s an oversimplification to describe parts of the brain “lighting up” when a person is thinking about something specific. It’s important to remember that an fMRI isn’t showing actual mental activity. It’s indirectly interpreting such activity by measuring the flow of blood to an area of the brain. Blood flow is known to take longer to register than the time it takes to think the thoughts that supposedly create the increased blood flow.

3. The Pretty Colors Are Fake

Such computer-generated images give the false impression that a certain well-defined area of the brain is responsible for specific activities. It’s much more likely that neural activity is distributed in a more loosely defined network. Another point to keep in mind according to Shermer: Scientists know that most brain activity is not stimulus driven. It’s occurring spontaneously all the time. Therefore the task to separate out which part of the brain is performing a specific task at any given moment is a challenge.

4. You’re Not Looking at a Portrait of One Brain

The images you’ve seen are probably not one person’s brain. Most likely the image was created from a statistical compilation of all the brain scans in a study. Even the brain scan image of one brain is actually a result of computer-adjusted data, using software-generated corrections for head movement as well as other possible variables. It’s not as simple as a camera taking a picture.

5. Interpreting Brain Scans Is an Art, Not a Science

Here’s an example: Typically, a structure in the brain called the amygdala is associated with a fear response. But the amygdala is also activated in response to arousal and even positive emotions. So if your amygdala “lights up” in a brain scan, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re experiencing fear. Similarly, the right pre-frontal cortex lights up when focusing on certain specific tasks, but it’s also involved when you do almost any difficult task.

A Glossary of Brain Scans:

X-ray: Discovered in 1895 by Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen who received the first Nobel Prize for his work. Electromagnetic radiation passes through an object projecting an image onto light-sensitive film. Modern digital x-ray uses less radiation.

EEG (electroencephalograph. Multiple electrodes attached to the scalp provide a direct reading of the electrical activity in your brain. In use since the 1920’s. It’s non-invasive but produces a chart and not an image. It also can’t record activity in the deeper areas of the brain.

CAT Scan (computed axial tomography) Also called a CT scan (computed tomography) Used since the 1970’s, uses special x-ray equipment and computers in order to visualize areas in sections that would not be visible in a normal x-ray.

PET (positron emission tomagraphy) Measures blood flow in different parts of the brain by tracking a small amount of radioactive substance which is given to the patient and detected by special cameras.

MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) Magnetic fields are used to generate computer images of internal structures.

fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) Similar to MRI but able to measure and monitor brain activity and blood flow in real time.

MEG (magnetoencephalograpy) Detects real time brain activity by measuring magnetic fields that are created by electric current flowing within neurons.

SPECT (single photon emission computed tomography) Similar to a PET, uses a radioactive tracer to monitor blood flow in the brain. Produces a three dimensional image.

DTI (diffusion tensor imaging) Measures the flow of water molecules along myelin which makes up 50% of the brain. This technology is not yet easily interpreted.

The source material for this article is from the excellent and thoughtful book The Scientific American Brave New Brain, How Neuroscience, Brain-Machine Interfaces, Neuroimaging, Psychopharmacology, Epigentics, the Internet, and Our Own Minds Are Stimulating and Enhancing the Future of Mental Power

Photo Credit

The post Brain Scans – 5 Things You Should Know appeared first on Thought Medicine.

Where Does Your Past Exist?

Linda Gabriel — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 09:48:07 +0000

“When you begin to realize your past only exists in your imagination, you hold the key to transformation.”

The Conscious Mind

When we talk about “thoughts,” we are normally referring to thoughts that seem to come from the so-called conscious mind. I say “so-called” because we rarely conscious of our thoughts. Our conscious thoughts are whatever our mind happens to be thinking at any given moment. For example, your conscious mind is reading and understanding these words. Perhaps you have noticed that your conscious mind can only deal with a few things at the same time.

Since your conscious mind can’t see below the surface, it doesn’t realize it’s only a small part of a whole. The conscious mind is the tip of the iceberg while your subconscious mind which contains the largest part of your consciousness, lies beneath the surface of conscious awareness. You could also think of the conscious mind being similar to the screen of a computer displaying whatever you are focusing on, while the subconsious mind is more like the hard drive where all the files (memories) and applications (habits) are stored.

Because we don’t realize that the subconscious is the source of most of our thoughts, the conscious mind often rebels against the idea that change can happen without its understanding how or why. This can make it difficult to change the way we think and especially the way we behave. The conscious mind wants to change but it doesn’t know how, and it’s reluctant to relinquish control, or more accurately, the illusion of control.

The Subconscious Mind

The subconscious mind encompasses almost everything that’s not conscious. Many desires, beliefs and emotions are subconscious, although often they may be noticed and expressed consciously. Memories, dreams, daydreams, and images, both real and fantastic, live in your subconscious mind. The subconscious is also where your creative resources lie. Normally, most of the information your conscious mind uses to formulate conscious thought is filed away in the subconscious. Think of your phone number right now. Go ahead say it out loud. Where was that phone number before I asked you to recall it? It was stored in the data base of your subconscious..

What’s Real?

The important thing to remember about your subconscious mind is that it’s not very skilled at telling the difference between an imagined experience and a real one. For example, think of a lemon right now. In your creative imagination, see, sense, and feel a ripe, yellow, juicy lemon. Now imagine taking a knife and cutting into that lemon. Imagine the citrus aroma. Now imagine taking a piece of that lemon and biting right into it. Feel the sourness of the juice puckering your mouth and smell the lemony aroma as it floods your nostrils. Close your eyes and really do this. If you are like most people, you will notice that your mouth began to salivate as you imagined biting into that lemon! But where is the lemon? It exists solely in your imagination.

Your Imaginary Past

Your subconscious mind learns things in two primary ways: intensity and repetition. It learns best through a combination of both. One of the reasons you were able to salivate as you bit into an imaginary lemon is because the first time you bit into an actual lemon it was an intense experience. And if you repeated that experience, it was intense each time.

Remember some other intense experiences from your life and notice the way your physiology responds. Think of your first kiss, maybe. Or remember a recent argument and notice that you may be feeling just a little more upset than you did before I reminded you. Yet just like the lemon, that argument now only exists in your imagination. When looked at from this perspective, your entire past is imaginary!

When you begin to realize your past only exists in your imagination, you hold the key to transformation. This is why the present moment is so powerful. Much like that lemon, the thoughts that are “running” you in any given moment are just an imaginary “rerun.”

If for just one moment you stop rerunning your past your awareness will be free to experience what’s actually happening in the present moment. There you may discover that the real you is much more vast than the rag-tag collection of reruns that up until now you’ve thought was who you are. The real you is so much more powerful than your personal history.

Photo Credit

How to Hack Your Personal Story Book
Memorial Day 2010 – Some Random Notes on Memory
What Can We Learn From the Movie Inception?

The post Where Does Your Past Exist? appeared first on Thought Medicine.

How One Word Led to $1200 in 10 Minutes. Believe It or Not.

Linda Gabriel — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 22:06:23 +0000

As a hypnotherapist Dr. Wanita Holmes is my colleague. She also happens to be my mother so I can vouch that the following story is true. Believe it or not.

A few years ago one of Wanita’s clients – we will call him Fred – walked into her office, flopped down in the chair and began bemoaning his life. He had no money for the rent, his car was about to be repossessed and his girlfriend had dumped him. His complaining went on for at least twenty minutes.

When he finished his tale of woe, my mother agreed it sounded bad but encouraged Fred to shift the focus of his thoughts toward what was possible, rather than what had happened in the past. Like most of us, Fred resisted. He saw no point in “pretending.” Exasperated, Wanita asked, “Isn’t there anything good happening in your life?” Fred hung his head and quietly replied, “No.”

Wanita gently argued by reciting a list of things Fred had going for him: his reasonably good looks, his health, and his expertise with computers. He agreed, though reluctantly. He admitted it was true he was skilled with computers, but he hadn’t had much business recently.

Undaunted, my mother described to Fred how the power of a single word could transform his life.

“It says in the Bible, ‘As a man thinketh, so he is,’” she said.
“It also says ‘In the beginning was the Word’ and ‘The word became flesh.’”

“Fred, what you say becomes reality.”

She asked him to try an experiment. “Fred, I want you to repeat the word ‘abundance’ aloud several times.” At first he barely muttered, “abundance.” “You can do better than that,” Wanita insisted. “Say it louder!”

“Abundance,” he said, still reluctant.

“I mean really loud, and with some enthusiasm!”

Fred squirmed in his chair, “Oh, all right… Abundance!”

Clearly uncomfortable with the exercise, Fred tried to change the subject. “Hey, where does it say that stuff in the Bible?” he asked.

“I’m not sure,” answered my mom. “I haven’t looked it up in quite a while.”

Fred started fumbling in his backpack, “Because I have the Bible on this CD.”

My mother was amazed. “You mean to tell me they have put the whole Bible on that little disc?”

“Yes,” said Fred, “and we could search it to find those quotes in an instant, if you had a computer.”

“Well, Mary has one and she’s in the office right next door. Let’s go see if we can try it.”

Relieved to get out of the spotlight, Fred gladly followed my mother to Mary’s office. But when they got there, Mary was hunched over her keyboard looking confused. When she heard the request she said, “I’d love to help, but I’m doing a system upgrade, and I’m having some problems.” My mother explained that Fred was a computer expert. Mary asked Fred how much he would charge to help her out. He agreed to do it for $300. Thrilled at the prospect of having his help Mary immediately agreed.

While Fred began working on the computer problem, Mary phoned her husband who owned a business where he wanted to do the same upgrade. Her husband asked her to put Fred on the phone and after a brief conversation decided to hire Fred too. By that time, Wanita’s next client had wandered into Mary’s office looking for my mother. When the client noticed Fred working on Mary’s computer she mentioned that she was having problems with her computer at home. “Do you make house calls?” she asked. When Fred nodded yes she hired him on the spot.

The results were no less than amazing. Even though he hadn’t been in the mood to try, after briefly concentrating on the single word abundance, Fred created more than $1200 worth of business within the next 10 minutes. I suppose one could say it was just a coincidence but I like to think otherwise. Besides, it couldn’t hurt. Try it and see for yourself. I’d love to hear about the results.

One Word That Changed the Course of History
The Power of Trim Tabs
The Magic of Seeing Something in a New Way

Photo Credit

situs togel

bakautoto

bandar togel
togel resmi
bakautoto
bakautoto
bakautoto
bakautoto
situs toto slot/a>

totoslot

scatter hitam

The post How One Word Led to $1200 in 10 Minutes. Believe It or Not. appeared first on Thought Medicine.

The Little Voice in Your Head – Friend or Foe?

Linda Gabriel — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 20:20:54 +0000

“The thoughts that are expressed by The Little Voice are habitual, often irrational and certainly unexamined.”

Have you ever noticed “The Little Voice” inside your mind?

To be clear, I don’t mean the whisper of intuition, although sometimes The Little Voice would like you to believe that’s what it is. No, I mean The Little Voice that sounds something like a TV voice-over providing a running commentary of opinions, beliefs, and judgments about your experiences, other people, and especially about yourself. It judges what’s good, bad, acceptable, unacceptable, believable, or ridiculous. The Little Voice often determines what you are willing to accept and especially about what you decide to reject.

How useful is The Little Voice?

While it’s certainly useful to know what you like and don’t like – Chocolate? Yes! Licorice? No! – too often The Little Voice is a powerful inner critic that obstructs your ability to experience love, joy and success. The Little Voice keeps a significant portion of your attention focused in the past or future thus distracting your mind from the ability to actually enjoy the present moment.

The thoughts that are expressed by The Little Voice are habitual, often irrational and certainly unexamined. The Little Voice is really just a collection of automatic patterns of thought which eventually become filters through which you perceive reality – filters which tend to limit rather than empower. However, you don’t experience your filters as filters, you experience them as reality! Even more insidious, you tend to experience your filters as the real you.

You are not your filters

Let me assure you, you are not your filters. Buddhists call this inner voice “the monkey mind” because it’s always chattering and busy. Meditation is an ancient practice that helps quiet The Little Voice. In that silence, you have the opportunity to experience your identity separately from The Little Voice. Some call this moment of realization “enlightenment.”

The purpose of The Little Voice.

The Little Voice tries to provide you with a sense of security by trying to keep you safe and comfortable within the status quo. If reality changes too drastically, The Little Voice is there to sound the danger signal. It will just say no and want you to step on the brakes. The Little Voice would rather not change its opinions, thank you very much. The thing The Little Voice loves most of all? Being right. Right is safe. Right is secure. This is why some people would rather be right than happy, successful, forgiving, or free. Or even alive. Being “right” is an illusion.

The Little Voice + Fear = BFF’s

When threatened, The Little Voice is not above recruiting a few anxiety attacks. It wants things to stay the same and knows that fear freezes flow. It will call on subconscious fears so you won’t even know why you are afraid to move forward in your life even when you have a strong conscious desire to do so. I encourage you stop letting The Little Voice discourage you from trying new ideas. The Little Voice is very skilled at pretending it’s the voice of knowledge or wisdom when it’s really just another opinion.

Suggestions for dealing with The Little Voice

1. Notice – The first step is to simply become consciously aware of The Little Voice and notice what it’s saying.

2. Identify – Reclaim your power. Remember that The Little Voice is not who you really are.

3. Evaluate – Most of The Little Voice’s beliefs were acquired in childhood and may not have been updated in a long, long time. Determine whether The Little Voice is helpful in any given situation. If it is, great! But if it isn’t say, “Thank you for sharing,” and do what the real you knows is best.

4. Meditate – One of the best ways to quiet The Little Voice, and discover who you really are, is to take some time every day to quiet your mind. Basic meditation is not difficult or complicated. Sit in a comfortable position on the floor, or in a chair, and simply focus your awareness on your breath, or repeat a silent mantra such as “Peace” for 5 to 10 minutes. When your mind wanders, which it will, gently bring it back to your breath or mantra.

5. Retrain – Teach The Little Voice some new ways to be “right.” Train it to have positive automatic thoughts by using affirmations, guided visualization and hypnosis. For example, if The Little Voice reminds you, “Money doesn’t grow on trees,” automatically replace that thought with an affirmation such as, “Money is created by human energy and imagination, which is infinite.”

Photo Credit

The Magic of Seeing Something in a New Way
How to Hack Your Personal Storybook
What Can We Learn from the Movie “Inception”?

situs togel

bakautoto

bandar togel
togel resmi
bakautoto
bakautoto
bakautoto
bakautoto
situs toto slot/a>

totoslot

scatter hitam

The post The Little Voice in Your Head – Friend or Foe? appeared first on Thought Medicine.