You want to get deeply into this health learning?
Yes, I do! Thank you.
Turn to your brain next.
Ok… Yes. I can do that. I’ve got lots of books on the brain and brain health. Where are you going with this?
It’s about soothing your brain.
Physiologically, psychologically, vibrationally, emotionally…?
Energetically.
Can you tell me more?
The brain is a super-charged organ, of immense power. There is the possibility to upgrade it from 2 stroke engine to 4.
Didn’t my grandfather somehow invent the 4 stroke engine..?
You better ask him… Or your father.
I better had! What do you mean by upgrade from 2 stroke to 4? I’ve found this, in Hindi, on youtube: https://youtu.be/kU5G20s4ILA
Essentially, we mean that your brain can become more efficient: higher productivity with less energy use.
I like the sound of THAT! Tell me more.
In the grand scheme of things, a person’s achievements in life are variable. Some are just the execution of day to day activities. But other achievements in life are what we would call ‘purposeful’. It can take extra energy to effect the purposeful activities, partly because they tend to be ‘novel’. Daily tasks are not novel, they are repeated – so the neural pathways are well worn = therefore it takes less energy to perform them. Novel activities require new neural pathways to be carved out – and that takes physical energy. Our presupposition is that if you focus on energising the brain, then it can more easily lean in to the heart’s desire, which is to do the purposeful tasks.
Yes! I dream dreams of good innovative things, but fall at the hurdle of execution – because of… lack of solid decision making and lack of executive oomph.
To make decisions and to execute them takes ENERGY in the brain.
Is this ‘psychic’ energy? I mean we’re talking about ‘psychology’ here…
You’ll be interested to know we simply mean battery-style energy – kilowatt power. Think of the new smart meter in your house. Let’s say you set the thermostat to ‘heat the house between 8am and 8pm‘. Fine. If you keep all the doors and windows shut across that time period, you will use 40kWh. However, if you leave the doors and windows open, your smart meter will be reporting a usage of 80kWh. The result in the home is the same: warmth. But taking the ‘open windows’ approach, the cost for you, and the environment, is double.
We want to teach you how to ‘heat your home’ with the doors and windows shut. We want to teach you greater ‘efficiency’ in use of brain power. Shifting to ‘4 stroke engine’ is about shutting the doors and windows of your brain, so that it can produce more with the same amount of energy consumption. Or even better: you will learn simply to reduce energy consumption in order to effect the purposeful activities with ease.
No grandstanding. No huffing and puffing.
That’s a little self-critical. Self-criticism is like leaving a window open on your brain. Wasted energy.
Ah! Where else do I throw windows open on my brain-home?
Worrying. Double-guessing. Regretting. Anticipating negative outcomes. Dreading. Hesitating. Doubting. Waiting. Doubting. Waiting. Doubting. Hesitating. Doubting. Waiting…
Eek. No holds barred then! But really, there’s something important for me here.
‘Hesitating. Doubting. Waiting.’ – this is how I burn up my precious brain power? Wow. So the energy-conserving opposite of this would be…
Committing. Trusting. Acting.?
Indeed! These are the corollaries of DECIDING.
We DECIDE and then we COMMIT. TRUST. ACT.
This is beautiful. Kinda out of my comfort zone, eh?
Not in the least. ‘Hesitating. Doubting. Waiting.’ is precisely your discomfort zone. You know it. It’s got an edgy, stop-start feel to it. That edgy feeling is the sensation of hot air rushing out of the front door of your brain.
DECIDE (commit/trust/act) – ORGANISE – EXECUTE – RESULTS/REFLECT/REPEAT: this is the feeling of the home of your brain warming up and using it’s internal engine to build nurturing, comforting WARMTH (energy-efficient home analogy) and progressive, allowing, building MOMENTUM (four-stroke engine analogy).
Wow. I see. So, is this shift an act of will? Or do I do something to pump-prime the engines?
We recommend you pump-prime the engine.
Anyone got any jump leads?
You are about right in super-charging the battery.
How do I do that? How do I flush out and recharge my brain’s energy systems?
- Sleep – at least 7h30m every night
- Qigong – good – that’s started.
- Nature walks. Like last Saturday. The daily ‘constitutional’.
Aw, man… I know. I need more ‘active minutes’ – my Fitbit shows how low they have been. It’s all time…
Yes. It is. It’s all time. How you choose to use your time dictates the results you get. If you never service your car, it will die sooner. Daily qigong and a walk are the minimal ‘service’ for your brain IF you want it to have the internal energy to be able to execute those novel ‘purposeful’ activities without being stalled by ‘hesitation, doubt and waiting’. Pump-priming your brain energetically means you will have the internal power to override those 3 great window-openers of the brain-home. Pump-priming your brain energetically means you will have the internal power to bring ‘commitment, trust and action’ to your decisions about purposeful activities.
Ok. I hear you. Thank you. There’s a lot to remember here.
Not really. The theory is there to return to if you want. But actually, the only thing you are asked to remember is this: your brain has a powerful battery that is recharged by sleep, qigong and nature walks. Let these activities be the foundation of your day, so that you can level up from ‘just achieving the daily basics’ to slicing through daily tasks and purposeful activities with commitment, trust and action.
Today, focus on activities that pump-prime the brain. Notice how you energise, how you lose energy. Notice how decision-making, commitment, trust, action all help to build comforting warmth and momentum. This will build up over time. It’s not just the daily battery cycle. It’s about the life-cycle of the brain and it’s ability to carry out the soul’s purpose.
Amen.
Today, I am pump-priming my brain
PS. This just popped up on my Facebook feed! (Thanks Hugo A-S)
The best thing you can do for your health: sleep well (The Guardian)
THIS! This is what I had begun to wonder… Ok.. I’m hearing it now. These are quotes from the article:
- Inadequate sleep – even moderate reductions of two to three hours for just one week – disrupts blood sugar levels so profoundly that you would be classified as pre-diabetic.
- Insufficient sleep is now one of the most significant lifestyle factors influencing whether or not you will develop Alzheimer’s disease. During sleep, a remarkable sewage system in the brain, called the glymphatic system, kicks into high gear. As you enter deep sleep, this sanitisation system cleanses the brain of a sticky, toxic protein linked to Alzheimer’s, known as beta amyloid. Without sufficient sleep, you fail to get that power cleanse. With each passing night of insufficient sleep, that Alzheimer’s disease risk escalates, like compounding interest on a loan.
- Sleep disruption has further been associated with all major psychiatric conditions, including depression, anxiety and suicidality.
- the shorter your sleep, the shorter your life.
- should you try to diet but don’t get enough sleep while doing so, it is futile, since up to 70% of the weight you lose will come from lean body mass, not fat.
And on the upside…
- Sleep is perhaps the greatest legal performance-enhancing ‘drug’ that few people are taking advantage of.
- plentiful sleep is powerful tool for controlling your appetite, your weight and keeping your body trim.
- Put simply: sleep – a consistent seven- to nine-hour opportunity each night – is the single most effective thing we can do to reset our brain and body health each day