How to boost your brain

If you are a regular reader of my blogs, you will know how I like to emphasize the importance of caring for your brain. Total Somatics teaches you how to care for your health and wellbeing from the inside out. Within The Total Somatics Online Program I teach you more than just Somatic Movement. There are many facets which complement Somatic movement and help you to reduce pain, improve posture, increase mobility and develop mindfulness. In today’s blog we are going to delve into a very important area of your health, how to boost your brain.

Modern demands

Modern demands are creating added pressure to us. I am sure from time to time you have thought about driving off into the sunset because life and events can become so overwhelming. The reality is, you can’t just drive off into the sunset and pressure. However painful and nauseating it may feel at the time, these challenges actually shape and mould the person you are today. Challenges and life events may help you to develop a more empathetic, kind and less judgemental manner.

Pressures and stress in life can have a deep impact on your brain health and that is where Total Somatics comes into play. Total Somatics will teach you how to boost and support your brain through daily activities, so much so, that when life throws you a curve ball, you have skills and knowledge to help with your resilience. One area I would like to discuss today is Neurogenesis.

Neurogenesis is the process whereby new brain cells are created.

I would like to explain environments whereby neurogenesis thrives and also where it suffers.

Your Soma

From previous blogs I have discussed that we are all somas. A soma is a giant sensory organism that absorbs all emotions, life experiences, injuries, habits, cultural/social norms and limiting beliefs from our childhood - up until today. You are moulded by these events and unique in every way, no one soma is the same. Your soma includes how your mind and body interact. Think about events in your life. Have you ever had an emotional time in your life and felt your body and physiological processes were deeply affected? Likewise did you have a problem with your body, maybe a injury of chronic pain and found that it started to mess with your head space? This is because your soma is absorbing everything we experience. You see and experience the world through sensations and feelings. You interpret the world through your senses - sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste.

Did you know the rate of neurogenesis is heavily dictated by your emotional state? So when you are anxious, over-worked, under pressure and suffering with dis-empowering thoughts, words and actions, the rate of new brain cell creation slows down or stops.

In 2008, it was the first year in human history that there was an equal spread of people living in rural and urban societies. Before then, the balance was tipped towards more people living in rural environments. The brain has been shown in countless research papers to thrive in nature. Your soma feels at home in nature. Research is highlighting that cities, pollution, artificial light and loud noise are putting huge pressure and burden on people’s central nervous system and actually reducing the rate of neurogenesis at an alarming rate. It has actually shown that natural environments stimulate neurogenesis. I am sure you have experienced this first hand. Have you ever been for a walk in nature and felt refreshed and recharged? Have you had some great ideas whilst walking in nature?

Researchers have also monitored monkeys in the wild and how they absorb their natural environment. They have compared them to monkeys in captivity, confined to a home with bars or sterile white walls. The rate of neurogenesis was very different, the monkeys in captivity had a slower rate of neurogenesis. Imagine the impact this also has on humans, as we all begin to live and work in more sterile environments.

Stop, look and listen.

Your amazing brain gets so much stimulation from sensations such as feeling the wind touch your face, the warmth of the skin beat down onto your skin and observing leaves moving in the wind and enjoying the sounds and antics of birds and other wildlife. Being in nature is a total sensory immersion to textures, sounds, sensations, complex rich experiences such as the sound, feeling, temperature and pressure of wind against our skin. The more you immerse ourselves in nature, the greater rate of neurogenesis you have.

As the weeks progress I will continue to develop this area of neuroscience for you. I will provide practical application with audio to help you grow your rate of neurogenesis. As you may be aware, for 2020, Total Somatics has a theme - focus and insight. Throughout the year I will be teaching you how you can truly sense and feel from the inside out with skills and knowledge to educate and empower you within the area of your health and wellbeing.

Start from within

I know how time can escape you and as much as you create time to step away from your work station to get into nature, something always crops up! So to help you out I have created an audio to bring a mindful practice to you. If you are unable to get out in to nature, allow this audio to help wind down your central nervous system. I would like to encourage you to develop a mindful practice everyday to slow down your stress response and increase neurogenesis. When you start observing the subtle yet life giving action of breathing, you can start sensing and reading how your nervous system is faring.

Some of you may say that you are not stressed. However a learned behaviour of suppressing emotion and internalising stress can create high levels of cortisol and inflammation within your body. This action actually stops neurogenesis completely because you are living in a survival stress response and it is all about being alert to either fight or flee. I have created a 10 minute mindful somatic breathing audio with binaural music to slow down your brain waves and help you deepen your awareness to the subtle movements and rhythms your amazing mind and body are producing 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Create time for this practice. Could you stop browsing You Tube or social media for 10 minutes less every evening to create time to recalibrate the amazing software in your skull? Creating time for you is so important.

Enjoy the following audio:

Also have you checked out The Podcast Series I am involved with? It is available on all major podcast platforms and is called Really Well Women. You can also visit our website www.ReallyWellWomen.com. Within this podcast you can learn more about your health and wellbeing. Men and women will find it beneficial. By allowing yourself to relax and listen to this podcast, you are also providing time to actually learn at a deep level how your mind and body work. Each episode develops on from the previous one and is presented in a relaxed yet informative manner. Check us out and don’t forget to give us 5 stars if you enjoyed it!

I love providing all this additional information and skills to you. It educates and empowers you so you can take control of your health and wellbeing.

If you are already a member within the Total Somatics’ Online Program, you know how much material and support I provide for you. The online program is there to serve you and address your health issues, so you will find new material being uploaded to meet your requests.

If you would like me to discuss anything in the next season of Really Well Women or within my blogs, don’t hesitate to ask.

Take care,

Heidi Hadley xx
www.TotalSomatics.com

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