Your Brain and you

While I was editing this weeks newsletter I was listening to a podcast about "Disconnect Syndrome".  It was an interview with a father and son team of M.D.'s who have done massive research about what makes us continue to make bad choices.  Regardless of what we know is best for us, and as motivated as we may be to do it, we continue to make choices that we know are not going to lead us to feeling our best.  (Did I mention I was also eating a triple chocolate brownie at the time? More about that later).

Listening to this coming off of a 2 month adventure through an amazing book on neuroscience was an added eye-opener.  I will include the link to the podcast, and name of the book at the bottom if you are interested. For now I will just give you a very short synopsis now. Basically what dad and son were talking about is the loop we get in to that doesn't allow us to access our pre-frontal cortex, or the decision making part of our brain. They said even one night of too little sleep, or a one-night indulgence with brownie bingeing (oops) and social media will knock us out of access to this part of our brain that encourages action based on what we know to be true- not just because we read it somewhere, but because we have the experience that it is right. We know what to do, and then we don't do it, and then we wonder who turned off the lights while we were walking down the path towards well-being. Who jumped out of the bushes and said "quick, over here, I have a triple chocolate brownie for you!!". (My defense about the brownie is that I know and love the person who made it, so to me it was like eating love shaped like a square.) 

Will the sugar I just ingested make me do something I later regret (like writing this post)?  Sugar causes inflammation, and inflammation changes your access to your pre-frontal, rational portion of your brain. So does lack of sleep, too much screen time and not enough out-door time and lack of social interactions.  These things weaken your decision making muscles and increases your disconnect to the home of good decisions. 

According to the Doctors, I am  doing a lot to counteract this one-time slide (were it actually just one time, lol) by:

• exercising (Check! Did that today already and more to come),
• spending time with love ones (Check! Breakfast with my adorable daughter at Nellie Rae's, where the brownie-love was purchased),
• meditation (not yet checked, but soon to happen). 

Spending time in the healing arms of nature was another suggestion, and of course getting enough sleep.  

We can not deny that the brain is a formidable force to reckon with. There is so much going on, so many things that can go awry, so many things we regular people don't understand about the circuitry. And so much rides on well balanced transmission. So what to do?  I guess we listen to the advice of people doing the research and follow their suggestions and stay present to our habits. Another thing they suggested is find some way to push us towards the things that, at a time of clarity, we knew was right action. Something like setting a timer if you plan on going on social media, using a friend to work-out or go to yoga with, having ingredients for good meals in the house. If we don't enact a plan, we are going to be battered about by the soup of neurotransmitters that are responding to doughnuts and brownies, and late night TV, not the ideas born during clarity and connection to the cortex. Yes, this is what a class block WITH expiration date is all about.  Pay for it in advance, when you have the clarity of yoga brain, and let that motivate you to keep going.  

If you are ready for such a motivator we have a class block on sale this week, 20 classes for $202.00.  You can scroll down for the link to this product.  And if you would like to listen to the referred to podcast you will find the link below.  As well, the Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons by Sam Kean. (I listened to it on Audible). Link to Amazon also provided.  

Happy reading and listening and see you all in the frontal cortex soon!

20 Classes for $202.00

Broken Brain Podcast

Book Reference