Neurofeedback
Nature loves a balance, and you are a part of nature. Since stress is a natural part of life, it makes sense that you also have a relaxation reflex to help you rebalance. Our bodies respond to stress by increasing stress hormones. This gets our heart rate up, breathing going, and pumps the blood to …
Continue reading "release – the other side of stress and trauma"
The role of the breath in meditation and stress management programs is well established. As a meditation strategy, focusing on the breath is primarily a tool for concentration, a place to focus the mind. As a stress management technique, slowing the breath, “belly breathing,” and focusing on the exhalation are all common (and effective) approaches to shifting the nervous system out of a …
Continue reading "breathing to manage your stress – a new approach"
While we sleep, the brain is not switched off, but is busy with “saving” the important memories of the day. To achieve that, brain regions are synchronized to coordinate the transmission of information between them. Yet, the mechanisms that enable this synchronization across multiple remote brain regions are not well understood. Traditionally, these mechanisms were …
Continue reading "breathing: the master clock of the sleeping brain"
Handling our suffering is an art - if we know how to suffer, we suffer much less, and we’re no longer afraid of being overwhelmed by the suffering. Mindfulness helps us recognize, acknowledge, and embrace the presence of the suffering, which can already bring some calm and relief. When a painful feeling comes up, we …
Continue reading "The way of suffering -Thich Nhat Hanh (1926-2022)"
You are playing such an intense video game and are focused so intently on getting to the next level that you don’t know what is going on around you. You have no sense of time passing. You feel great. You are “in the zone.” You are experiencing flow. You are running a marathon and you …
Did you know that you can test your vagal nerve function, and not only can you test it, but you can begin to tap into the healing power of the vagus nerve? Your vagus nerve is responsible for the regulation of internal organs such as digestion, heart rate, respiratory rate and impacts certain reflex actions …
Continue reading "how to map your nervous system: polyvagal theory – part 2"
With anxiety, depression, and stress on the climb, have you ever wondered how you can understand your reactions to life’s challenges and stressors? Or maybe you wondered how you can become more resilient? Did you know that you can map your own nervous system? This is such a powerful tool that can help you shift …
Continue reading "how to map your nervous system: polyvagal theory – part 1"
Our 24/7 society seems to be slowly robbing us of our slumber, but at what cost? Sleep expert, professor of neuroscience and author of Why We Sleep, Dr Matthew Walker, explores all the ways sleep can benefit our brains and our health. There is no major health system within your body or operation within your brain, …
Breath is the gift of life - one we are used to and do not see it as such. It’s become an automatic experience on our part which, in many ways, it is. Have you ever thought about it? Do you breathe, or does the breathing happen without your conscious involvement? When you are focussed …
Continue reading "breath in deeply: bring your mind home to your body"
Our brains are famously flexible, or “plastic,” because neurons can do new things by forging new or stronger connections with other neurons. But if some connections strengthen, neuroscientists have reasoned, neurons must compensate lest they become overwhelmed with input. In a new study in Science, researchers at the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at MIT …
Continue reading "scientists discover basic principle of neuroplasticity"
Neurosoma 