Brainwaves

Anxiety and stress are growing problems in today's society, where stimulation is non-stop, work hours are long, vacations are rare and there is very little physical activity to vent the adrenalin produced during stressful situations. This can result in an almost constant state of overarousal, where the brain is too active and will not allow relaxation and the normal release of tension that is required for a healthy lifestyle. http://www.transparentcorp.com/products/np/learnmore/stress.php)

Your brain is made up of billions of neurons, which use electricity to communicate with each other.  The combination of millions of neurons sending signals at once produces an enormous amount of electrical activity in the brain, which can be detected using medical equipment. . .The combination of electrical activity of the brain is commonly called a brainwave pattern, because of its cyclic, ‘wave-like’ nature.

These brainwaves are known as:
		Beta emitted when we are consciously alert, or we feel agitated, tense, afraid, with frequencies ranging from 13 to 60 pulses per second in the Hertz scale.
	2	Alpha when we are in a state of physical and mental relaxation, although aware of what is happening around us, its frequency are around 7 to 13 pulses per second.
	3	Theta more or less 4 to 7 pulses, it is a state of somnolence with reduced consciousness.
	4	Delta when there is unconsciousness, deep sleep or catalepsy, emitting between 0.1 and 4 cycles per second.

Generally we are accustomed to using the beta brain rhythm. When we diminish the brain rhythm to alpha, we put ourselves in the ideal condition to learn new information, keep fact, data, perform elaborate tasks, learn languages, analyze complex situations. Meditation, relaxation exercises, and activities that enable the sense of calm, also enable this alpha state. According to neuroscientists, analyzing electroencephalograms of people submitted to tests in order to research the effect  of decreasing the brain rhythm, the attentive relaxation or the deep relaxation, produce significant increases in the levels of beta-endorphin, norepinephrine and dopamine, linked to feelings of enlarged mental clarity and formation of remembrances, and that this effect lasts for hours and even days. of decreasing the brain rhythm, the attentive relaxation or the deep relaxation, produce significant increases in the levels of beta-endorphin

How to Quiet the Brain

“Be Still and Know that I am God.”

FAITH IN GOD, LIFE AND GOODNESS

Healing is learning to trust life.  (Jeanne Achterberg)

Perhaps life is a journey toward acceptance, toward the belief that everything that happens to us happens for a reason.  The hardships and upheavals, the losses and heartaches have a purpose in the small or grand scheme of things.  Either we conclude that there is order and purpose in the universe, or we concede that all is a meaningless accident.  (82)

To fully thrive, we must not only eliminate the stressors but also actively seek joyful, loving, more fulfilling lives that stimulate growth processes.  (Lipton117)

We live in a “Get set” world and an increasing body of research suggests that our hyper-vigilant lifestyle is severely impacting the health of our bodies. (Lipton, p. 121)

1.       Forgiveness  (Why we Forgive)

2.       Meditation  (Observation, Objectivity, Openness, Stillness)

3.       Good Music (words and rhythm)

4.       Writing  (Writing to Heal the Soul.  Susan Zimmermann, 2002.)

5.       Working with Mother Earth—(gardening, hiking, just being in Mother Nature and listening)

6.       Friendships (relationships over tasks)

7.       Humor and Laughter

Forgiveness

We can change our internal narrative!

We can’t escape our past.  We can grow from it.  We can grow beyond it.  (Zimmermann, 63)

I give thanks for my teachers.  I am stronger in the places where I’ve been wounded.  (Thoele)

To the extent that you believe that the past determines the future, you will tend to allow yourself to be a passive vessel that does not actively change its course. . .I think that the events of childhood are overrated; in fact, I think past history in general is overrated. . .the promissory note that Freud and his followers wrote about childhood events determining the course of adult lives is worthless.  I stress all this because I believe that many of my readers are unduly embittered about their past, and unduly passive about their future, because they believe that untoward events in their personal history have imprisoned them. (Seligman, 68)

Dwelling on trespass and the exp4ession of anger produces more cardiac disease and more anger.  (Seligman, 69)

Insufficient appreciation and savoring of the good events in your past and overemphasis of the bad ones are the two culprits that undermine serenity, contentment and satisfaction.  There are two ways of bringing these feelings about the past well into the region of contentment and satisfaction.  Gratitude amplifies the savoring and appreciation of the good events gone by and rewriting history by forgiveness loosens the power of the bad events to embitter (and actually can transform bad memories into goode one. 

A positive mood jolts us into an entirely different way of thinking from a negative  mood (Seligman, 38)

Woman’s Book of Soul  Sue Patton Thoele  246-247

                People who are the biggest detractors in our lives are often also our most valuable teachers.  Out of the wounds inflicted by these severe critics, harsh teachers, and wielders of heavy and harmful blows can come much of our compawssion and the majority of our strength.  Without question, given a preview of coming detractions, we probably wouldn’t have invited such folks, or the resultant pain, into our lives.  Nonetheless, we are indebted to them for the heart-growing, soul-tempering wisdom derived from our relationship with them.  Gracing these severe teachers with the blessing of gratitude frees us, and them, to move on to softer and sweeter experiences.  A wonderful way to say good-bye and sever the connection spiritually is to invite our detractors to dinner, in meditation.  Before the event takes place, make careful preparations.  First and foremost, decide how you will protect yourself while with these people..  Then compile your guest list, who will be seated where and by whom?  What will be served?  How will the table look?  When the preparations are finished, invite them to enter and take their seats.  Observe these persons who have caused you pain, and carefully make an inventory of the gifts that they (no doubt, inadvertently) have give you in terms of soul growth and personality polishing.  Thank each one of them for their contribution to your progression.  If you can’t actually feel gratitude, ask the Beloved [God] to open your heart so that gratitude toward them can seep into your soul.  Believe me, I am personally aware that this is not an easy dinner to hostess.  Although I do feel thankful for lessons learned from her, I’ve not yet been able to invite one of my family members to share my table.  But I intend to do so one day for she taught me much, and I don’t want to drag her energy with me throughout eternity. 

REACH (from Seligman 79-80)

R stand for recall the hurt, in as objective a way as you can.  Do not think of the other person as evil.  Do not wallow in self-pity.  Take deep, slow and calming breaths as you visualize the event. 

E stands for empathize.  Try to understand from the perpetrator’s point of view why this person hurt you.  This is not easy but make up a plausible story that the transgressor might tell if challenged to explain.  (Remember the situation a person finds himself in, and not his underlying personality, can lead to hurting.

A stands for giving the altruistic gift of forgiveness.  Recall when you did something wrong, felt guilty and were forgiven.  This is a gift to you.   As you feel grateful for this gift, extend the forgiveness.

C stands for commit yourself to forgive publicly—at least to one person

H  stand for Hold on to forgiveness

Terry Warner’s, “Why We Forgive”—the only way to peace.

Meditation

Fragrantheart.com  (free guided meditations from 2-10 minutes)

Whatever your personal situation right now, meditation can help you to feel greater calm and inner peace. Instead of using your outer will to transform your life, meditation helps you to access your "inner voice" or guide. I like to refer to this 'inner voice" as your Heart. Your Heart knows what's correct for you, but its voice is often drowned out by the confusion reigning in the mind. Meditation helps quiet the mind so you can listen to your Heart. By listening to our Heart we can experience greater peace and better health which in turn bring us more fulfilled and balanced lives.

Meditation is an unfolding process in becoming more conscious.  Conscious means that a person can remain aware and remain centered without becoming overwhelmed to the triggers from the past that have created discord within oneself.  Certainly in a meditation practice consciousness will grow in spirals.  There will be times of deep inner stillness, followed by times of old wounds an issues from childhood, family problems and unresolved relationships coming to the surface.  People may get discouraged at this point and feel that meditation is not working for them.  They want their sitting their sitting practice to be filled with bliss.  Memories and feelings in our bodies will surface during meditation and they need to be welcomed, not denied nor pushed away.. .Accept and allow whatever comes to the surface during meditation.

You might be wondering how an intervention that involved more reflection on the internal world could help someone who already was troubled by anxiety and obsessions.   Shouldn’t Sandy be helped to “get on with life” rather than focusing even more deeply on her mind?  In fact, this approach—helping Sandy reframe her symptoms as part of a normal but overactive brain circuit and teaching her mindful awareness strategies—works in two ways.  It calms the patient and helps to alleviate symptoms, and it also begins a process of bolstering the self-regulatory circuits in the brain. (Siegel, 246)

Writing:

 “Give sorrow words.”  Shakespeare

There is now extensive research that shows writing—the simple act of putting down your deepest thoughts and feelings on paper—is one of the most powerful and effective means to ease and ultimately heal sorrow.  The act of writing brings a structure and order to the chaos of grief.  It taps into the healing power of your own unconscious.  By giving voice to fears, anger, and despair, be letting go of old dreams and hopes, our self-healing powers come to play.  The soul knows what it needs to heal.  Through writing, it will lead you where you need to go. 

I was not a writer.  I had no idea where the writing would lead.  All I knew was that I had to do it.  An inner voice badgered me, insisting that I slow down and reflect.”  (13)

Writing allows you to access your wider mind, a wiser, more encompassing place deep within .  Your story will unfold and through the writing of it, you will honor and embrace your sorrows, grow from them and arrive at a place where life is more full and more joyful than you ever thought possible.

“Isak Dinesen once said, ‘Any sorrow can be borne, if you can turn it into a story.’ Through writing, we discover unexpected particles of truth that light our path; we move through our grief mindfully, in a way that allows us to comprehend and integrate the experience into our lives.  By going deep within to a place of honesty untainted by society’s ‘shoulds,” our vision is enlarged.  We gain perspective on our lives.” (26)

Writing is the most profound way of codifying your thoughts, the best way of learning from yourself who you are and what you believe.  (Warren Bennis, On Becoming a Leader)\

Poetry helps us relieve cancer, recast sadness, retrieve appreciation.  91

Writing exercises: 

(Always write as quickly as you  hand will allow.  Don’t be concerned about spelling or grammar.  Don’t worry if you’re not saying it exactly right.

Write about your deepest thoughts and feelings

Write in a private place.

Write frequently—daily if possible

Write for yourself, not an audience (18)

Topics you could write:  A turning point.  The hardest time of my life and what I learned from it.  One of my heroes is and why.  Poetry about any dark emotion—find something in the world to represent the darkness

Humor, smiles and laughter

POW close to starvation received an old deflated football.  At first everyone moaned, then everyone laughed. . “It was a high point.  All the men got into it.  It raised morale enormously.  In all my years in prison camp, that competition was one of the best moments.  We laughed so hard.  We forgot where we were.  We were just a bunch of guys horsing around

In Anatomy of an Illness, Norman Cousins talks about the healing power of laughter as he had developed a course of “humor treatment. He believed that laughter and good emotions would allow his body to heal itself.  It did.  “I have learned never to underestimate the capacity of the human mind and body to regenerate—even when the prospects seem most wretched.  (68)

Two groups of four-year-olds were asked to spend30 seconds remembering ‘something that happened that made you feel so happy you just wanted to jump up an d down,’ or ‘so happy that you just wanted to sit and smile.  Then all the children were given a learning task about different shapes, and both groups did better than the four year olds who got neutral instruction (Seligman)

Two groups

Gratitude

Thankfulness helps heal our scars from the inside out and unveil the gifts of wisdom and compassion gleaned from receiving them.

Service

Happiness comes from the exercise of kindness more readily that it does from  having fun. (Seligman, 9)

It appears that our first instinct [in our brain] is for idleness, but when given an excuse to be busy (even a meaningless one), we’re liable to act on it and consequently feel happier.

            Mother Earth

The second highest [brain wave] is the alpha wave which is what you’re experiencing when you have just completed a task and you sit down to rest. When you sit down to reflect or meditate you start experiencing alpha waves. Taking a leisurely stroll through a garden also induces this state.

Sleep