This podcast includes: My definition of body, mind and spirit. Our evolution after we split from Apes. Overview of the brain. How homo sapiens brain makes us unique, and yet so similar. How self-awareness has us use our whole brain.
Please join me as I discuss why I think we do as we do and how we can ALL do differently.
Change is difficult, at times it is very difficult and it can seem impossible, but WE change. Our brain drives us BUT plasticity rules! If we can dip into our courage, find our willingness, then pay attention to your body, learn to ignore your mind; we can tap into the infinite love, wisdom and power of our spirit guided by our Pineal gland, the window of our intuition.
Please visit my sites for more information which includes: Articles where the podcast comes from, services, fees, booking and much more:
Website: www.gwensanimalandhumantherapy.com
Blog: www.ouroriginalbraininmodernlife.blog
Please join me as I discuss why I think we do as we do and how we can ALL do differently.
Change is difficult, at times it is very difficult and it can seem impossible, but WE change. Our brain drives us BUT plasticity rules! If we can dip into our courage, find our willingness, then pay attention to your body, learn to ignore your mind; we can tap into the infinite love, wisdom and power of our spirit guided by our Pineal gland, the window of our intuition.
Please visit my sites for more information which includes: Articles where the podcast comes from, services, fees, booking and much more:
Website: www.gwensanimalandhumantherapy.com
Blog: www.ouroriginalbraininmodernlife.blog
This podcast includes: My definition of body, mind and spirit. Our evolution after we split from Apes. Overview of the brain. How homo sapiens brain makes us unique, and yet so similar. How self-awareness has us use our whole brain.
Please join me as I discuss why I think we do as we do and how we can ALL do differently.
Change is difficult, at times it is very difficult and it can seem impossible, but WE change. Our brain drives us BUT plasticity rules! If we can dip into our courage, find our willingness, then pay attention to your body, learn to ignore your mind; we can tap into the infinite love, wisdom and power of our spirit guided by our Pineal gland, the window of our intuition.
Please visit my sites for more information which includes: Articles where the podcast comes from, services, fees, booking and much more:
Website: www.gwensanimalandhumantherapy.com
Blog: www.ouroriginalbraininmodernlife.blog
Please join me as I discuss why I think we do as we do and how we can ALL do differently.
Change is difficult, at times it is very difficult and it can seem impossible, but WE change. Our brain drives us BUT plasticity rules! If we can dip into our courage, find our willingness, then pay attention to your body, learn to ignore your mind; we can tap into the infinite love, wisdom and power of our spirit guided by our Pineal gland, the window of our intuition.
Please visit my sites for more information which includes: Articles where the podcast comes from, services, fees, booking and much more:
Website: www.gwensanimalandhumantherapy.com
Blog: www.ouroriginalbraininmodernlife.blog
I am
I am nature
I am energy
I am love
I am a spiritual being
I am an emotional being
I am a physical being
Most of all I am a human being, becoming a humane being.
Yes indeed we are nature…….Hello and Welcome to my podcasts. Our Original Brain In Modern Life
My name is Gwen and what I'd like to talk to you today about my favorite subject. I call it why do we do as we do? I believe we do as we do because as our brain drives our behavior not the other way around. So what can we do about our brain driving US and US not driving us. Please join me as I describe some of the processes of how this occurs, what can we do to change. How we can learn to drive US not the other way around.
Each of these podcasts are in written form under articles at my blog ouroriginalbraininmodernlife.blog Here you will find all of my podcasts and the articles associated with them that I have written. Please read them if you like. You may find the pictures helpful for your understanding. You are welcome to print and share them. There is also a forum where you can share your thoughts, feelings and contemplations about what you have just listened too. Let me not forget for all you animal lovers…..ever want to talk with your animal companion? Please visit my site gwenshumanandanimaltherapy.com Namaste’
Please let me give you an overview of this podcast.
This podcast includes:
My definitions of body, mind, and spirit.
Our evolution after we split from Apes.
Overview of the brain
How homo sapiens brain makes us unique, and yet so similar.
How self-awareness has us use our whole brain.
Our body: Our bodies are made of various systems that work in concert with each other.
Our mind: Our mind is where the land of attachment resides, and all negative judgments and sense of insecurity originate. It is the land where self-doubt, self-hate, inauthenticity, reactiveness, humanness, and fear reside and consume us.
Our spirit: Our spirit encodes the lessons of our lives, which can lead us to the road of humanity. Our spirit is where love flourishes, freedom, authenticity, and responsiveness are, and we can find a life guided by our humanity. I believe our spirit is waiting for us to show up and dance, live, learn, and act, not react.
Body, mind, and spirit are popular phrases. I will describe my interpretation of what they are and how we can control our actions.
The human body is a container for our spirit. Our bodies are driven by our nervous system; the brain is the CEO. Most of our everyday actions are automatic. Breathing, eating, walking, and getting dressed are all the things we do day in and day out. They are simply automatic. They occur without our conscious thought. The automation of our actions is a result of being built to prioritize physical survival. For much of the time, homo sapiens have been walking upright. Survival has been harsh; resources such as food, protection from predators, and the weather were limited. All of this resulted in us being designed to survive these conditions. The most adaptive manner to survive is to function automatically without thought. Our heart beats without us thinking; we breathe without thought, and we do most of our everyday activities without thought.
We are designed to react more than act. The patellar reflex is where your doctor taps you below your knee, and your leg pops up. A working patellar reflex tells your doctor that part of your brain is working. We can be a patellar reflex reacting to all stimuli using just one part of our brain. That part is our original brain, which is run by our sympathetic nervous system. Or we can pay attention, feel what is occurring at the moment, reflect, and consider. Ask oneself how this electrical signal, which we call a feeling, is. What does it mean in the context of what is occurring? When we reflect and understand how the past and present are merging. We can then use our whole brain, top, middle, and bottom. Through self-awareness, we can change, feel more controlled, and find inner peace.
Our body
Our body consists of 12 different systems. Nervous, Skeletal, Muscular, Cardiovascular, Respiratory, Digestive, Urinary, Endocrine, Lymphatic, Reproductive, Integumentary, and Immune. Our bodies are driven by our nervous system.
Our nervous system: We have a central nervous system, the brain and the spinal cord, and a peripheral nervous system. Our peripheral nerves are run by the autonomic nervous system and innervate our involuntary and voluntary movements. It conveys sensory and motor information between the skin, sensory organs, and skeletal muscles to the CNS and back. This establishes communication between the body and the environment.
The somatic nervous system
The spinal cord is a circular bundle of nerves, which are really extensions of the brain. The spinal cord runs through a stack of bones called vertebrae. The vertebrae have a hole toward the back called the central canal this is where the spinal cord runs through. The somatic nerves branch off our spinal cord. They are called somatic as they innervate our muscles, glands, organs, skin our soma, our body. These nerves carry messages back and forth from our body to our brain. Our muscles are attached to our skeletal system. Our skeletal system is similar to the frames of the buildings we live in, work in, and recreate in. This musculoskeletal system produces movement, allowing us to get from A —> B.
The autonomic nervous system has three parts: the sympathetic, parasympathetic, and enteric.
The sympathetic is the “fight or flight” nervous system. This part of our nervous system is activated when we must defend ourselves. This is the first nervous system homo sapiens had, and it is a part of our original brain. This is the oldest portion of our brain; it is 6.4 million years old and is the easiest to access. The sympathetic nervous system is the limbic and reptilian portions of our brain. Our original brain runs on fear. Our amygdala is located deep in the brain, at the level of the earlobe, and toward the center. It is shaped like an almond. Our limbic system is our alarm center. This part of our nervous system signals danger, and immediate action is necessary to ensure our survival. It is stimulated by our perceptions coming from any one of our senses. When this stimulation occurs, the brain sends chemical messages to “target organs” that stimulate various organs to secrete chemicals like cortisol that elevate blood sugar, giving us energy to run or fight!
The parasympathetic nervous system is the rest and digest nervous system. This system is the opposing force of the sympathetic. This is where we are in a generally calm, in “resting and digesting” activity. This is where we de-stress.
The enteric nervous system regulates our digestion. The parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems directly impact it. It is often referred to as our second brain as it functions through the vagus nerve. It produces and distributes 95% of our serotonin through the vagus nerve and cranial nerve X. Serotonin has a big impact on our appetite, sleep, mood, memory, and learning. It can play a huge role in living a happy life.
Skeletal system: Our skeletal system is a frame. It's like the frame in any building. Think of an apartment office building or even a home. Your skeletal system is held together, connecting one bone to the other with a specialized connective tissue called ligaments. Your skeletal system is where we store minerals like calcium and phosphorus, which are used in many biochemical reactions.
Muscular system: Our muscles attach to your frame using a connective tissue called tendons. Tendons connect muscle to bone and muscle to muscle. Our muscles work in groups; one group relaxes while the other group contracts. For example, the muscles of your upper arm have two locations: one in the front of your arm and the other in the back. One controls the biceps; the other controls the triceps. When the biceps contract, the triceps have to relax. You can observe this on your own body by taking your arm and bending your hand toward your head. You will see the muscles closest to your eyes bulge. The opposite side will relax. You have skeletal muscle, muscles within all your organs, and the heart, a specialized type of muscle cell. It is a pump delivering oxygenated blood to the body and sending deoxygenated blood to the lungs.
Respiratory system: Our respiratory system includes your nose, throat, vocal cords, lungs, and diaphragm. It permits the exchange of air where oxygen is taken in and carbon dioxide is released. It permits speaking and the making of sound. Our noses give character to our faces.
Digestive system: Our digestive system includes your mouth, tongue, teeth, throat, stomach, liver, gall bladder, small intestine, and large intestine. This is why your teeth and tongue are important; you can neither eat nor effectively speak. Chewing your food thoroughly takes stress off the stomach as it will need to churn less to digest. Your stomach is a bag connected to a tube, which is your throat. When food enters the stomach, it contracts and expands, pushing the food around and trying to break it down. Food leaves the stomach and enters the small intestine. The first region is called the duodenum. Here, pancreatic enzymes are secreted, digesting the food and breaking it down to extract nutrients to maintain our body. The liver extracts, processes, and detoxifies our food and drink. Our small intestine is highly compacted in your thoracic region, the area below your ribs but above your hips. It is where we begin to absorb the nutrients from our food. We do this through microvilli, which are finger-like projections attached to the small intestine, and they absorb the nutrients. This is why, over the past few years, probiotics have been advertised as the key to gut health. Probiotics increase the surface area of these microvilli, which are finger-like projections that absorb and break down what we eat. The large intestine reabsorbs the water from the food that we eat. This is where waste is stored until we eliminate it.
Urinary system: Our urinary system consists of the kidneys and bladder. Your kidneys both eliminate and reabsorb specific minerals. A mineral most everyone is familiar with is salt, which is reabsorbed in the kidneys. This is why if you have high blood pressure, you may be told to use less salt. If you absorb salt, you absorb more water, which increases blood volume and increases your blood pressure.
Endocrine system Our endocrine system is a number of glands that make specific chemicals for your body. Your endocrine system includes your pineal gland, pituitary gland, thyroid gland, pancreas, adrenals, and gonads. Your pineal gland, at a physical level, secretes melatonin. I believe our pineal is the gateway to our spirituality. The Egyptians called it the third eye. I call it the God portal.
The pituitary gland is the master control gland as it stimulates all the other bodily glands. It is intimately connected to the brain and influenced directly through the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus sends chemical messengers to the pituitary, which then sends chemical messengers throughout the body.
The thyroid gland is intimately tied to our metabolism, breaking things down and making new things from the products of things broken down. That is commonly anabolism and catabolism, which together is your metabolism. The pancreas, it's secretes insulin; digestive enzymes, such as proteases, which break protein down; lipases, which breakdown down fats; and carbohydrases that break down carbohydrates.
Our adrenal glands sit on top of our kidneys. Our adrenal gland produces cortisol, which is involved in the metabolism of sugar, and adrenaline, which gives us on-demand energy. Adrenaline is used by our sympathetic nervous system. Our adrenal gland also produces hormones used in the kidney.
Lymphatic system Our lymphatic system is a network of vessels and little organs called nodules and the thymus. Our lymphatic system is a secondary circulatory system. It runs parallel with our arteries, veins, capillaries, and all the vessels of our body. It is intimately involved in transporting nutrients and the removal of waste.
Reproductive system: Our reproductive system is your gonads. Women have ovaries, fallopian tubes and a uterus. Men have testicles. Both of these organs permit reproduction and secretion of other hormones that are used throughout the body.
Integumentary system: Our integumentary system is your skin, which is the largest organ of the body. It has three layers: epidermis, dermis, and hypodermis. The epidermis is thick and made of multiple layers. Underneath the epidermis is the dermis, a layer of connective tissue that contains blood vessels and nerves that supply the skin. Below that is the hypodermis, consists of fat, connective tissue, and skin appendages (hair, nails, sebaceous and sweat glands). The integumentary system forms a continuous layer that protects the body. It also excretes sweat to regulate body temperature, contains sensory receptors to detect pain, sensation, pressure, and temperature, and provides for vitamin D synthesis.
Immune system: Our immune system is our spleen and bone marrow. The spleen filters old or unwanted cells from the blood and stores red blood cells and platelets. Metabolizes and recycles iron, prevents infection by detecting pathogens, such as bacteria, and produces white blood cells and antibodies in response to threats. The spleen stores 25–30% of the body’s red blood cells and about 25% of its platelets.
I have singularly described the bodily systems, but they all work together.
Our mind
Our mind is the chief decision-maker until we terminate its control. Our original brain largely drives it. Our original brain is the stuff between our ears, our spinal cord, and a little bit of the cauliflower part. This is the oldest part of our brain and is driven by fear; it is run by the sympathetic nervous system. The SNS, the sympathetic nervous system, is tasked with making quick decisions and reacting to every stressor in front of us. Everything in life is stressful because it takes energy to feel, think, and behave. Merely opening your eyes in the morning and acknowledging your awake and desire to get out of bed is a stressor. We often don't think of it this way because our mind says oh, stress is bad. Stress is neither good nor bad. It's all a matter of how we manage it.
Our mind is the voice in your head that attaches meaning to what you just sensed. It is the voice of the sympathetic nervous system. Our sympathetic nervous system only reacts using fight or flight. Sensory information comes from our external or internal environment. It is received through one of our senses as an electrical signal. Our bodies are driven to survive, and in milliseconds, our brain tries to process a large amount of sensory input. Due to having this biological imperative to survive, we react. Most humans live in a state of defense.
Our sympathetic nervous system runs our mind, literally hardwired to react; functionally, it operates from an insecure stance. I use the word insecure as our sympathetic nervous system is there to protect us. As a protector, it is driven by fear. Reacting had a significant advantage when physical survival was filled with more peril. It could protect us. The mind is where we take all incoming information and judge whether a threat exists. Because humans are born insecure and need to find self-security. We can receive statements from others as a negative judgment and place our own negative judgments onto another’s behavior. We can make assumptions about why another did something. This is where communication, both internally and with others, can correct the assumptions we make at times. For example: Your friend tells you a story about Mary, someone you both know. You have a history with Mary and have formed the opinion that she is incompetent in many ways. Your friend explains how Mary attempted to buy plane tickets online, though she has little experience with computers and doesn’t understand the process. Your friend explains in detail what Mary has done. Your mind’s voice starts, “Oh yeah, Mary cannot carry out a simple task like buying airline tickets. She is x, y, or z.” In this situation, you are not considering Mary’s context. All of the factors affect Mary's ability to purchase these tickets. She doesn’t consider that she is unfamiliar with the task. Your friend is looking at this only from her perspective, not Mary’s.
When we don’t consider the surrounding factors affecting someone’s ability to do something, we are not considering the context in which this occurs. We are not able to be empathic.
This type of thinking can be used toward oneself. For example, you become aware of behaving in a defensive way when asked why you did something. You have the experience throughout the day where you react defensively to others. You realize this and then get angry with yourself for reacting defensively and not doing what you thought you should have done, which was not to react defensively. You start judging yourself for reacting defensively. I wonder, you just became aware of your actions; how could you stop immediately? It takes time to learn new behaviors, which is really a way of saying “growing your brain.”
Buddhism believes that we suffer due to the attachment we place upon our experiences. The word “suffer” is quite dramatic, and I expect that most people would say, “I don’t suffer.” Suffering in Buddhism is not knowing of our interdependence and how everything in life is transient, constantly changing, and loss is inevitable. Life is filled with suffering as a result.
Things I consider when thinking about attachment:
Sometimes, we humans look at our lives as saying that life is a recipe when I achieve specific goals on a timeline and then I will be happy. Now I have a “normal” life, which is another way of saying you live your life as others expect you to. Living your life based on the expectations of others
Everything in life happens within a context. There is you, your history, and all the other people around you, which includes anything and everything. Understanding the context in which things occur can decrease suffering and increase understanding.
When I understand something in context, I understand what is going on unconditionally, accepting my actions and those of others. This is the meaning of the word “empathy.” Empathy is understanding of another’s behavior without conditions. Perceiving self and others with an open mind. Not judging, evaluating what another is saying, simply being open, listening, and seeing another as another human trying to get through their day. When we see others in this manner, a more emotional transient connection can occur. We can then support each other. For me, behaving this way allows my spirit to guide me through life.
In closing, I once attended a mediation group guided by a Buddhist priest. He did a guided meditation by starting with the statement: “The mind is everywhere.” We can live life, notice everything, and make negative judgments about them. I believe this adds to our own misery and unhappiness. A dissatisfaction in life as the world doesn’t think and behave like you. Living your life getting attached to anything and everything, whether it has value for you or not, creates great suffering. Paying attention takes energy but brings great fulfillment.
The Spirit
The first law of thermodynamics in physics is the law of conservation of energy. It is a law that states the energy of any closed system can’t be destroyed; it is converted. For example, a spark can light a fire. The fire didn’t exist moments ago, and now it does. The fire did exist; it was bound in the piece of paper.
I believe that our spirit, what some may call the soul, and others may simply call our personality is energy. Our spirit moves from one life to the next, experiencing life to learn how to be more than our animal nature, more than our reactive brain driven toward survival at all costs. Our spirit encodes experiences in our auric field. Our auric field is the energetic outline that exists for all sentient beings. We bring experiences from one life to the next to complete the incomplete experience. Completion is when we can accept something that has happened and let go, no longer being attached to that experience. Being attached is another way of saying you are having an emotional reaction to what you are experiencing. Life is filled with lessons that emerge as patterns in one’s life. Different types of experiences create unhappiness and suffering. Other experiences create elation and bliss. You meet different characters along the way, but the storyline remains the same. Freud called this repetition compulsion. We repeat experiences that are related to unresolved past trauma. Paying attention and coming to know oneself, I believe, is our job. To learn how to be secure despite being born insecure. We can all be more than our brains. Through paying attention and developing our self-awareness, we can find freedom.
I believe, if we can feel, we can live through our intuition, our God portal, find resonance with our environment, and be guided through life as to what the next best course of action will enhance us. More of what we want, less of what we don’t
How did we get to where we are at? Our evolution from ape to human and how we differ from our ancestors is the answer to that question.
How humans are different
Humans, and other sentients beings, even earthworms, have nervous systems; although not as complicated as humans, they still have a nervous system. Humans and apes separated perhaps as far back as 13 million years ago. Humans and chimpanzees are thought to have separated anywhere from 6-8 million years ago but co-mingled and shared DNA as recently as 4 million years ago. We share 97.3 of our DNA with chimpanzees. That 2.7% difference makes us different as we developed a cohesive language. Language gave us the ability to refer to objects, and we named them. We began characterizing our experiences in tenses: past, present, and future. We use our memories to evaluate past and present actions and plan for the future. We developed the ability to see the world in the context in which it is taking place. We have gotten high up on the food chain due to these abilities, yet we are still like every other species on the planet whose primary need is to survive.
Humans developed tools 2.6 million years ago. We found fire 800,000 years ago. We began speaking and understanding words 40,000 to 70,000 years ago. This newfound skill, speaking and understanding words and developing language changed the speed at which human culture could change. We could do more than point, grunt, and draw figures on walls. We were able to tell stories, characterize our experiences using tenses, and discuss past events how we behaved in a given hunt or forage. What could we do differently in the future? This ability to reflect on the past and present and then plan for the future changed us.
12,000-10,000 years ago, we discovered farming. Farming required humans to settle, grow roots, and no longer be nomadic. We found that if a seed was in the dirt, it could grow the plants we foraged. Being settled permitted the domestication of animals. With greater control over our food supply, we could feed our hungry brains. Our hungry brains grew. Our brain can consume up to 20% of our caloric intake. As we fed our hungry brains, our hungry brains grew in ability. We began to develop more elaborate neural networks. We developed skills to build permanent structures. We developed tools to use to ease our daily living.
The culture we have created and experienced for the past 12,000-10,000 years radically differed from the 6.4 million years that preceded it. As our cortexes grew, our abilities grew, and we assumed greater dominance on the planet. Even with these greater abilities that permit greater dominance, we still have the brain that ran us for 6.4 million years, this is the part of the brain I call our original brain. The original brain is the stuff between our ears, a little bit of cortex, and our spinal cord. The part of our nervous system is run by the sympathetic nervous system. That part of our brain dominates our day-to-day living, behaving, acting interfering at times with being. It drives us until we learn otherwise.
One brain, two parts, and two ways of processing information
The human brain has two parts. One part is the spinal cord, the stuff between our ears, and a little of the cauliflower part. This is our original brain. The other, the cauliflower part, that is the cortex. That is our modern brain. The uniqueness of the human species stems from having this modern brain, which has allowed us to create the cultures that we currently have. We are the only species that has done as we have. We have built cities, suburbs, industrial complexes. Create a culture no other species has accomplished. Does that make us superior? From my view, no. As unique and intelligent as we are, we are still rooted in our animal nature.
Our two ways of processing.
The oldest part of our brain. I call it our original brain. The brain that drove us for 6.4 million years. Our original brain is the spinal cord, the stuff between our ears and the cerebellum (controls movement) and a little of their cortex. Our original brain was very limited and could not reflect, considering the past in the present and planning for the future. Our original brain had one repertoire of defense: react. The sympathetic nervous system runs our original brain. Fight or flight.
Then, our cortex experienced a cognitive revolution 40,000-70,000 years ago. Our cortex call grew in size and ability. The areas of our brain that grew were our frontal cortex and a portion of the temporal lobe. The frontal cortex contains areas of our brain that control executive functions. Executive functions are the areas where we complete complex thinking and rationalizing of problems. An area of significance in the frontal cortex is the prefrontal cortex, this is the area between your eyes. The area the Egyptians called the third eye. The other areas of significance control our ability to speak and understand language. They are the Broca and Wernicke areas. Humans developed language and became capable of planning, considering, and acting. I believe the challenge of all humans is how to behave by not being driven by our original brain. The original brain is hardwired to react. This part of our brain drove us for over 6.4 million years and we have the greatest amount and strongest neural connections to that part of our brain. It's the most easily accessed and can drive us to react. I believe this is such an automatic process that many people don't even realize they're reacting.
Our modern brain: The frontal cortex is the largest lobe of the brain. It starts around your eyes, creating your forehead, and extends down to your ears and back two-thirds of your head. The frontal cortex permits humans to have executive functions, such as thinking, planning, and organizing information. Thinking and reflecting changed us, creating the potential to become more than our reactive original brain. Using our cortex, particularly the frontal cortex, we can engage in rational problem-solving thinking. We were given the gift of free will. Our cortex is the vehicle to exercise that free will. Our cortex is what makes us different than animals. Animals don't consider the past, present, or future as they don't have a cortex that permits reflection of past experiences and thinking about the future. Animals live in the present. This modern brain, with its increase in size and function, permits us to think, plan, and act, but that same brain is still hardwired to react.
The dominant operating system of us is our original brain, the one that drove us humans for more than 6.4 million years and is run by the sympathetic nervous system. All the sympathetic nervous system can do is react. The sympathetic nervous system is ran by fear. We are born insecure and need to find security. Feeling insecure can lead us to not feeling control over our environment and our relationships with others. This can lead to a life where one is defensive and reactive. But we can learn to feel a sense of control. Live our lives driving our body, not our brain.
When we use our whole brain by paying attention and become observant about what you are feeling, what is occurring at that moment. Who is there, what are they saying? What kind of impact is that having upon you. Just ask yourself. Feeling allows reflection of the sensory coming in, considering what is happening in the moment. How does the sensory you are receiving fit into your life and your history? What is it that you're trying to learn through this experience? The more we can approach our day-to-day experiences, reflecting and asking ourselves how this fits into the context of my life, what is there for we to learn here? The more we promote our self-awareness. Self-awareness is the key to all the doors of all the possibilities. Through our self-awareness, we can all complete the most extraordinary acts of kindness and pure love. The highest level of heroism. My choice of words doesn't mean these behaviors will go down in the history books. It merely means just taking a moment and recognizing a person at the other end of the exchange you're having, and they, too, are trying to get through their day. Take a moment, smile, and acknowledge the other, letting them know you see them. I believe taking that moment and acknowledging connection is different for us because we no longer live that way. We are no longer tribal, living close to the Earth and in harmony with it, connected to it and our tribal members as a part of our nomadic lifestyle. We have forgotten our origins, yet we are still run predominantly by our original brain.
Another way of processing.
Whole Brain processing~We have connections from the bottom to the top
We can use both our original and modern brain, in tandem. This is what self-awareness potentiates. When using our whole brain, we have to pay attention to what is occurring in the moment and how that fits into the story of you. Self-awareness is an esoteric word and can easily be joked about, but what those two words mean is having a willingness to pay attention. To be present within your body, paying attention to what you are feeling, thinking, and then acting in the moment. Ask yourself, body, what is the signal you are sending me in the form of this feeling? How is this feeling related to what is occurring outside of me? How do this experience, the feeling you are having, and the event outside of you fit into your history? Your past experiences. What is this experience trying to tell you? What is the lesson to be learned? Please know that every experience in life tries to teach us something. If you have experiences happening over and over, it is there to teach you. Help you become more whole by feeling the feeling, reflecting upon it, and understanding how it fits into your life. Many times in life, people, places, and our experiences remind us of past experiences. These past experiences, we need to feel and grieve. Grieving is challenging. It often involves anger and sadness. But if we can come to understand these experiences at the moment and how they are reminding us have past unresolved experiences, and that is why we are reacting. You can learn not to react but to act. Consciously make decisions about what you want to be in the moment. When using our whole brain, we can move through life, paying attention to what is happening and determining the most effective manner to handle the situation. Getting more of what you want and less of what you don’t. The more we can feel, think, and reflect upon our actions, our natural tendencies to grow and learn arise, and we can live life more fully and authentically. This is what Carl Rogers described as releasing the actualizing tendency.
There is much more to the story. Next, I will discuss basic human needs, “the invisible obligations we sometimes feel in life,” and the sympathetic vs parasympathetic nervous system. Please enjoy the poem I have written for you.
You are nature
You are energy
Your are love
You are a spiritual being
You are an emotional being
You are a physical being
Most of all you are a human being becoming a humane being
Namaste` Be well Until next time Bye now.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNHRSXe5do8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9S_EkxbZSA
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https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/development-agriculture
https://www.shortform.com/blog/cognitive-revolution/
https://positivepsychology.com/self-awareness-matters-how-you-can-be-more-self-aware/
https://www.healthpages.org/anatomy-function/brain-anatomy/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hTxpBByR28
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_functions