If you wonder why I continue to write about mindfulness, relaxation, breath and so on, take a look at the popular media and you will find weekly new studies and articles pointing to how helpful these can be.
It sounds pretty complicated when scientists talk about the brain and their findings how the brain works, changes and stays the same. It takes a while to get the concepts down- believe me, I have been reading and listening to interviews for a few years now, but there are some great teachers, like Rick Hanson, who can offer us easier explanations and what’s more important, practical applications. Things we can do in daily life.
Lisa Wimberger is another one of these teachers. I just listened to the interview on Sounds True on her work which she calls Neurosculpting. She has a good way of helping us understand HOW to get access to actually make the brain changes we want. She begins by teaching about stress and how it affects the body. Here is an except from her audiobook on stress.
Lisa uses a specific way of imagery, a good reminder that imagery not only can offer us pleasant and relaxing experiences but can and does actually change our memories and our brains, or how Lisa says it: “our stories”.
About stress
One of the things that really stood out to me was Lisa’s comment that we do not easily learn new things when we are in stress mode (speak fight and flight- the old limbic system is in charge). When our bodies are stressed/getting ready to fight a threat- and having someone over to dinner or being stuck in traffic are interpreted by the old brain as stressful- and a potential threat, then we do not use our modern brains- the frontal lobe effectively. WOW, think about what that means for so many of us in permanent stress situations. Chronic pain definitely increases anyone’s stress level. And then it is harder to try new things and make changes, perpetuating a cycle. Here is an article by Lisa that is a nice introduction and gives a number of ideas how to access the frontal lobe and calm the stress response.
Note: I am currently working through the audio course, look for a review in a month or so.