In the spirit of being the director of your own study-of-one, here’s an experiment for you. This activity takes about 3 minutes and engages parts of your body that improve energy flow and oxygen to the brain. According to Dr. David Jockers, it has dramatically improved the health of many people with ADHD, dyslexia, anxiety, depression, brain fog and dementia.
It’s a fast, simple, and drug-free method of improving brain function, according to the doctor interviewed in the following news report.
The next video is Dr. David Jockers demonstrating how to do SuperBrain Yoga. He mentions that a person with limited mobility can make adaptations. They aren’t demonstrated, so here’s his description from near the end of his article. This uses visualization in the same way that high-performance athletes do.
Science shows that visualizing a technique can actually result in positive benefits as if your body physically performed an exercise or experience. …adults with limited abilities to squat should sit in a chair with feet grounded and hands [holding earlobes the same as if standing]. While performing the same breathing patterns, visualize the exercise…
I did this every day for about 3 weeks and didn’t notice cognitive difference, but my knees sure improved, even though they emphasize this is not about exercising muscles. However, in my world, that’s a substantial benefit because I haven’t been able to squat down very far for years. At the 3-week mark, I got a cold, didn’t feel up to doing it,and hadn’t picked it up again. Prompted by writing this post, I did it again and was shocked how much of my knee mobility I’d lost. That’s good enough incentive to keep me going.
So…I’m curious. If you try it, what happened for you?
I found Barbara’s story particularly poignant because so many people experience variations of what she described. And it happens all the way along the age continuum…from children with learning disabilities of varying degrees to adults with dementia of various types and severity.
Barbara Arrowsmith Young’s vision is a lofty one—that cognitive exercises become a normal part of curriculum, and that school becomes a place that we go to strengthen our brains. The good news is, she has done something about it. The Arrowsmith Program is offered at schools throughout North America, Australia, New Zealand and Asia.
Last week I wrote about using your whole brain when making decisions. That post included a TED talk by a practitioner of Psych-K (psychological kinesiology). As the name suggests, Psych-K uses body movement (kinesiology) to assist the brain in working as it’s meant to.
Psych-K was my introduction to energy psychology many years ago. Psychologist Rob Williams had blended principles of psychology with body movement from Edu-K (educational kinesiology), also known as Brain Gym.
Brain Gym is a set of 26 movements aimed at integrating the two halves of your brain. It was developed by Paul Dennison to help himself with learning challenges when he was a post-secondary student. Seeing the potential to help others, he and his wife, Gail Dennison, developed the Brain Gym program. They found that people doing these movements experienced improvement in a number of areas, including concentration and focus, memory, physical coordination, and organization skills. The photo is my copy of the original book. It is still available on the Brain Gym Bookstore. Continue reading →
Last week I introduced Michael Pollan’s concept of establishing personal policies about what we eat. Today I want to explore the idea of a personal policy that eliminates processed foods.
Why pick on processed foods?
As one nutritionist aptly put it, start with the “big rocks.” Removing them first leads to visible progress in short order. Processed food, junk food, and fast food are big rocks. It has become clear that the Standard American Diet (SAD) creates poor health in people eating it. If you have any doubt, remember Morgan Spurlock’s experiment in his documentary Super Size Me.
Removing processed food cannot help but make a difference. Without doubt, you will be eating better if you eliminate packaged and processed items from your food choices. And there are many other benefits to you and your community when you choose fresh, real food instead.
None of us wants to feel like this woman, but many would admit that we do, at least to some degree. That’s what makes an effective parody—we recognize elements of truth in an exaggerated scenario.
I don’t think I’m the only one who’s ended up in a situation thinking: Right. Now I remember why I decided never to do this again! Of course, by then I’m in the midst of it… and the cycle perpetuates.
The holidays intensify things that aren’t working in our lives, and it’s distressing at the time. But it also provides teachable moments if we are paying attention.
Breaking the cycle…
It’s so easy to be propelled along by expectations and circumstances—especially at holiday time. By now, one week into December, the momentum has likely reached a point where things will play out as usual. Enjoy every moment of this month, if you can. If not… Continue reading →
Once again, the world feels as if things are turning upside down. Worse yet, it seems impossible to know what to do when the distressing event involves other countries, on another continent.
The way I see it, we’ve reached a point in human evolution where we cannot find our way without help,
How can we both expand ourselves and connect with beings that exist in the subtle realms? And why would we?
Both good questions, because in the Western world, we’ve grown up in a culture that ignores and even denies the existence of anything beyond what we can see. So culturally, we have neither the mindset nor the tools to discover the greater scope of both our inner and outer worlds.
Yet that is where our superpowers lie. That is where we access the wisdom that comes from greater knowing. And it is that knowing which helps us make sense of what’s going on in the world.
How do we access greater knowing?
The short answer is—we gain access as we remove energetic clutter from our personal energy fields.
I’ve been at this for quite a while, trying many modalities of energy work—all aimed at clearing energy blockages, one way or another. What I know is that the clearer my field, the more expansive I’ve become and the easier it is to access my team of invisible helpers.
Removing our energetic clutter makes us much more prepared and resourceful for navigating difficult times. You could compare it to tidying up an extremely messy room.
Imagine you were living in a space where you regularly dropped things in the spot where you’d been using them. And all those dirty socks, unwashed dishes, and half-read books accumulated from one month to the next. Can you feel how difficult it would be to cross the room after a few months?
Then suppose you got fed up with the situation and cleared away everything that wasn’t meant to be there. Can you imagine the relief you’d feel once you were able to live your daily life unhampered by clutter?
It’s the same in your energy field. You can navigate your life more freely, and with confidence, once you’ve removed your energetic clutter. (P.S. We all have it, whether we recognize it or not.)
My tried-and-true tools…
There is a whole field of Energy Psychology that can teach us how to clear our inner clutter. The following are my top three favourite methods because they’re easy to learn, there’s plenty of free information available, and you can do the work yourself without having to pay a practitioner.
And most of all, they are surprisingly effective considering how simple each of them is.
1. Energy activations…
Start here, especially if you’re feeling frayed or frazzled by what’s going on in the world these days.
Below are links to several energy activations which you can listen to as often as you like. Although they may seem like guided meditations, activations are actually different. Here’s how they are described by their creator, Sarah McCrum.
An Energy Activation is a deeply relaxing audio experience that guides your energy into a new formation. It’s best to listen in a comfortable chair [or lying down if you won’t fall asleep] with your eyes closed.
You’ll find that I speak quite slowly, with gaps of silence between the sentences. These help you to calm down, relax deeply and experience the deeper resonance of the message I’m sharing.
To find more free activations, go to Sarah’s Youtube channel, Playlists tab. Most of the above are found under the Wellbeing tab, but there are plenty more videos to explore on that page. Programs and items for purchase are on Sarah’s website.
2. EFT Tapping…
Tapping, also known as EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique), is a powerful stress-relief technique.
Tapping is based on the combined principles of ancient Chinese acupressure and modern psychology.
While maintaining your mental focus on an issue, you use your fingertips to tap 5-7 times on 9 specific meridian points of the body.
Tapping has been clinically proven to reduce cortisol (the stress hormone) in your body. Stress impacts every aspect of your life, from your financial choices to your health. Learn how to calm your nervous system, reduce your stress, and bring your body and mind back into balance.
The above is quoted from the website of The Tapping Solution, which has lots of information and demonstrations to explain further.
Their 14th annual free World Tapping Summit started on February 28, 2022. If you’ve never participated in an online summit, here’s how it works: Each day for ten days, you receive links to interviews featuring practitioners who use tapping for themselves and their clients.
Signing up for the Summit is an excellent introduction to tapping because you can see it in action, and tap along to experience the process. EFT tapping is amazingly simple, considering how quick and effective it is. Even though you’ll miss the first couple days, it is worth signing up here.
Other resources include:
Brad Yates on YouTube where you can tap along to short videos on many different topics.
The Emotion Code book teaches you what you need to know to start using this on yourself. But if you prefer to work with someone who is experienced in using the Emotion Code, find a practitioner here. You can select a practitioner from anywhere in the world because subtle energy work can be done from a distance.
Try it. You might like it.
Try it. You might like it. Does anyone else remember your mother saying that? Usually when she was trying to get you to eat or do something unfamiliar?
Do you also remember that it was usually better than you expected?
If you think this energy work sounds weird, I’m guessing that’s because these methods are unfamiliar to you. If you can get past that and give them a try, you may be pleasantly surprised at how wonderful it feels to start clearing the clutter that’s lodged in your energy field.
Perhaps it’s my age… I don’t know… But I find myself longing for the kinder, gentler times—when people understood the meaning of statesmanship, discretion, civility, honour, respect.
Can we recover them? I don’t know. I can only hope that we humans, collectively as well as individually, will find the bestof ourselves soon enough.
Relief…
My mother raised four children in a small house in the pre-screens era. We made our own entertainment, which meant there was a lot of noise and activity going on practically under her feet. In moments of exasperation, she was known to say, “Would you kids pleeeease be quiet so I can hear myself think?!“
I thought it was an odd thing for her to say. Now I get it.
We all need space, away from outer demands, so we can remember who we are, what we stand for, and how we can contribute to the kind of world we want to live in.
In that vein, today’s post offers a delight and a tool for finding the best in ourselves. First the delight…
When I see something as creative as these sculptures, I’m always intrigued about the kind of mind it takes to conceive of such a thing. And I’m reminded that there’s a world of possibilities far beyond my seeing.
And now the tool for finding the best in ourselves. I mentioned this last week—energy activations. It’s hard to describe them, so I’m going to make it easy for you to try them. Starting today, I’ll attach one of Sarah McCrum’s activations at the end of each post. I’ve found them immensely helpful and I’d like you to have a chance for the experience as well. I’m starting with relaxation because that was an eye-opener for me.
Listen once or twice a day. Sit or lie down comfortably,, close your eyes, and…
