Brain Thoughts.

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Nov 26

“Being human is not hard because you're doing it wrong; it's hard because you're doing it right. You will never change the fact that being human is hard, so change your idea that it was ever supposed to be easy.”
― Glennon Doyle

Habit Hack Episode 19. Weekend Edition.

A trauma expert estimated it will take 9 generations to repair and heal the trauma of our current situation.

What we are all facing as humans is hard. I tend to find grounding in both the power of love and the intrigue of science. So here are a few words.

I have spent my career working with the brain, but still, can't always wrap my head around the complexities of the mind...We think of our brain as our tool for thinking, but really, thinking is a secondary function.

Our brain actually strives to make things subconscious, to make its life easier, by shifting into patterned responses and habitual tendencies whenever possible. When there is uncertainty, it fills in some story from our past, predicting and then course correcting. And really, thoughts and feelings we hold as truth are defined merely as patterns of electrical activity in the brain. Not very sexy.

So, if not thinking, what is the brain's primary job description? To regulate your body- every single cell and system.

I think of the brain's job title as CEO. Your brain is receiving constant messaging from your body, from external and internal stimuli; and responds in attempt to maintain balance and homeostasis.Your brain is basically running a budget for your body. Every movement you make, every new thing you learn, every stress- that is an expense on the budget...every nutritious meal, every good sleep, every hug- a deposit. Our brains and bodies are pretty resilient, pretty good at balancing and maintaining alignment, and we are able to adequately replenish and stay above the red in our budget. That's good news.
Read on....

We rarely think of the toll of our mental and emotional state on our body budget. The low level hum of stress is an incremental tax on our budget, but the massive unpredictability of our world right now is very hard on our nervous systems.

If we feel out of alignment, or unsure, or uneasy, or discontent, that is because our CEO is getting messages from every source, internal and external, that there is a huge deficit in our budget, and it is grasping to right it. This expense is not about willpower or weakness; our brains have become fatigued and may actually stop paying attention to some reality of the world. By nature, as protection, the brain latches onto its own internal model, which is actually largely flawed and operating from past stories, likely not updated from Windows 95 version. We are hijacked by our separated, primitive brain, and spiraled into unconscious programming as it starts running the show.

"Our perceptions condition our feelings; and most of our perceptions are wildly inaccurate."

-Joseph Goldstein

Turns out, we can't think our way out of something, especially if we didn't think our way into it.

So, as we wake up from our restless sleep, in which our dreaming brains were running incessant variations on algorithms to make some sense of the day's events, can we know integrity, or an integration within our self, as a deep listening?

Can we reckon with the quote at the top; accepting that life is supposed to be hard; with joy and sorrow, praise and blame, conflict and peace, gain and loss?

Can we know that this hard is not the end of the story and it is not a question of whether it will be hard, but how we respond to it...

As we recognize our collective hurting world, together in this deficit budget, and the bio-psycho-social implications.... Can we sense what is going on inside, make our thought patterns more conscious, and shift ourselves to connection?

Even in the face of waves of doubt and fear, can we synchronize our heart rates and our breathing, allow ourselves to re-align, and have the courage to be in a space of curiosity, love, and trust?
Can we?

Love, from my brain to yours,
Jess