If I Only Had a Brain
November 14, 2008
You've seen self-help gurus stand up and evangelize about how they succeeded in life, and how, if you follow their steps, you can too.
Well, it may not be that easy. In Dr Daniel Amen's latest book MAGNIFICENT MIND AT ANY AGE: NATURAL WAYS TO UNLEASH YOUR BRAIN'S MAXIMUM POTENTIAL, Amen says our brains are sometimes out of balance, and we can't simply get there by just visualizing.
Several years ago, I interviewed Dr Amen and was mesmerized by his brain scans -- some lovely and smooth, others shot through with holes. You can guess which brains belonged to the drug-addled. But sometimes other lifestyle issues contribute. And traumas -- psychological and physical -- make their mark as well.
Amen talks about EMDR -- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing -- a treatment to extricate traumas from your brain. I've been using EMDR for more than a year to resolve the emotional distress from being raped from age four-and-a-half, and growing up in a violent, alcoholic home. It is magical! Painful process, but magical. EMDR is being used for combat trauma, even car accidents. I know I still have the physical memory and trauma from the impact and sound of broken metal and glass from when a small pickup I was in was hit by a logging truck, and I went through the windshield. 66 stitches in my forehead, two black eyes, broken nose, but the most amazing Near Death Experience. I'm not messing with that experience. I am grateful for the NDE.
Gratitude is another blessing for your brain. Dr Amen tested psychologist Noelle Nelson while she was writing her book THE POWER OF APPRECIATION -- I interviewed her about her book, and since then, I pack my mental day full of "thank you thank you thank you!" Amen scanned Nelson's brain twice -- once when she deliberately crammed her brain with thank you's and an appreciation meditation, and second, when she experienced a string of frightening thoughts, meditating on fear. Amen says her frightened brain looked very different from her grateful brain. Amen found that negative thinking shut down the part of the brain dealing with coordination -- no wonder, he says, athletes mess up when they're thinking negatively. When Nelson was grateful, her brain looked very healthy, quite different from her frightened brain.
Here's a snapshot view of making yourself a magnificent mind -- Dr Amen says to exercise, eat nutritious food, skipping the caffeine and nicotine, sleep well, exercise and take fish oil...and you'll be that much closer to making your dreams come true!
Sweet dreams!
You've seen self-help gurus stand up and evangelize about how they succeeded in life, and how, if you follow their steps, you can too.
Well, it may not be that easy. In Dr Daniel Amen's latest book MAGNIFICENT MIND AT ANY AGE: NATURAL WAYS TO UNLEASH YOUR BRAIN'S MAXIMUM POTENTIAL, Amen says our brains are sometimes out of balance, and we can't simply get there by just visualizing.
Several years ago, I interviewed Dr Amen and was mesmerized by his brain scans -- some lovely and smooth, others shot through with holes. You can guess which brains belonged to the drug-addled. But sometimes other lifestyle issues contribute. And traumas -- psychological and physical -- make their mark as well.
Amen talks about EMDR -- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing -- a treatment to extricate traumas from your brain. I've been using EMDR for more than a year to resolve the emotional distress from being raped from age four-and-a-half, and growing up in a violent, alcoholic home. It is magical! Painful process, but magical. EMDR is being used for combat trauma, even car accidents. I know I still have the physical memory and trauma from the impact and sound of broken metal and glass from when a small pickup I was in was hit by a logging truck, and I went through the windshield. 66 stitches in my forehead, two black eyes, broken nose, but the most amazing Near Death Experience. I'm not messing with that experience. I am grateful for the NDE.
Gratitude is another blessing for your brain. Dr Amen tested psychologist Noelle Nelson while she was writing her book THE POWER OF APPRECIATION -- I interviewed her about her book, and since then, I pack my mental day full of "thank you thank you thank you!" Amen scanned Nelson's brain twice -- once when she deliberately crammed her brain with thank you's and an appreciation meditation, and second, when she experienced a string of frightening thoughts, meditating on fear. Amen says her frightened brain looked very different from her grateful brain. Amen found that negative thinking shut down the part of the brain dealing with coordination -- no wonder, he says, athletes mess up when they're thinking negatively. When Nelson was grateful, her brain looked very healthy, quite different from her frightened brain.
Here's a snapshot view of making yourself a magnificent mind -- Dr Amen says to exercise, eat nutritious food, skipping the caffeine and nicotine, sleep well, exercise and take fish oil...and you'll be that much closer to making your dreams come true!
Sweet dreams!
Labels: book review, Dr Daniel Amen, EMDR, MAGNIFICENT MIND AT ANY AGE, Noelle Nelson, THE POWER OF APPRECIATION, transcending the trauma
posted by Diana Page Jordan @ 11:45 PM
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