Come to the calm of a well functioning brain.
A BRAVE AND STARTLING TRUTH
We, this people, on a small and lonely planet Traveling through casual space Past aloof stars, across the way of indifferent suns To a destination where all signs tell us It is possible and imperative that we learn A brave and startling truth And when we come to it To the day of peacemaking When we release our fingers From fists of hostility And allow the pure air to cool our palms When we come to it When the curtain falls on the minstrel show of hate And faces sooted with scorn are scrubbed clean When battlefields and coliseum No longer rake our unique and particular sons and daughters Up with the bruised and bloody grass To lie in identical plots in foreign soil When the rapacious storming of the churches The screaming racket in the temples have ceased When the pennants are waving gaily When the banners of the world tremble Stoutly in the good, clean breeze When we come to it When we let the rifles fall from our shoulders And children dress their dolls in flags of truce When land mines of death have been removed And the aged can walk into evenings of peace When religious ritual is not perfumed By the incense of burning flesh And childhood dreams are not kicked awake By nightmares of abuse When we come to it Then we will confess that not the Pyramids With their stones set in mysterious perfection Nor the Gardens of Babylon Hanging as eternal beauty In our collective memory Not the Grand Canyon Kindled into delicious color By Western sunsets Nor the Danube, flowing its blue soul into Europe Not the sacred peak of Mount Fuji Stretching to the Rising Sun Neither Father Amazon nor Mother Mississippi who, without favor, Nurture all creatures in the depths and on the shores These are not the only wonders of the world When we come to it We, this people, on this minuscule and kithless globe Who reach daily for the bomb, the blade and the dagger Yet who petition in the dark for tokens of peace We, this people on this mote of matter In whose mouths abide cankerous words Which challenge our very existence Yet out of those same mouths Come songs of such exquisite sweetness That the heart falters in its labor And the body is quieted into awe We, this people, on this small and drifting planet Whose hands can strike with such abandon That in a twinkling, life is sapped from the living Yet those same hands can touch with such healing, irresistible tenderness That the haughty neck is happy to bow And the proud back is glad to bend Out of such chaos, of such contradiction We learn that we are neither devils nor divines When we come to it We, this people, on this wayward, floating body Created on this earth, of this earth Have the power to fashion for this earth A climate where every man and every woman Can live freely without sanctimonious piety Without crippling fear When we come to it We must confess that we are the possible We are the miraculous, the true wonder of this world That is when, and only when We come to it. “A Brave and Startling Truth” was published in a commemorative booklet in 1995 and was later included in Maya Angelou: The Complete Poetry (public library).
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I watch as so many people are walking around with a mask and eyes as wide as they can be. I would like to talk to them but the fear keeps me away. If you are looking at a bunch of information about COVID 19 please know that this can create a fear response that has no place to go, except inside and up goes the cortisol. Change things up a little and take a walk, not with your phone.
Some things to watch out for with our loved ones and ourselves, to keep our mental health at it's best, can be grouped into 5 categories. A big number one is a personality change. How is that person coping? Are they heading into a hole to big to crawl out of? Number two is withdrawal. Is that person not able to engage with others? Number three is poor self care. There are many excuses for lack of hygiene, but let us get past that. Number Five is a feeling of hopelessness. Some people have been knocked down so many times that these times are really, really really hard to deal with. One in five Americans suffer from a mental health disorder. I don't like those numbers, these times can only make it worse. Please get help if you are finding that you are spinning out of control in a bad way. LENS can help to calm down the brain to work better. Have you heard of the Stoics? They were some philosophers that looked into how our thinking works and how we can improve our lives. The main goal was to cultivate a excellent mental state with virtue and being rational. Their definition of the ideal life was to live in harmony with Nature, and to cultivate an attitude of calm and in difference towards external events.
Epictetus liked to teach about controlling your thoughts. We can understand that some things are in our control and some are not. Unhappiness comes from thinking that we can control what happens to us and what others are saying and doing. We can control how we think about the things and judgements that we make. So the things that happen to us are neutral, it is how we think about these things. Seneca liked to take stock at the end of the day, to train his mind. He would look back at the day to see what mistakes he made and learn how to do better the next day. Marcus Aurelius would remind himself each morning that people where not always going to be their best. Everyone is not intentionally wanting to hurt other people, we are all victims of our misjudgements. Epictetus teaches us that we must learn to accept what happens. We are relatively unimportant in the big, big picture. If we expect things from the universe, then we will probably be disappointed. If we accept what the dance is sending us, then life will be smoother. LENS will help to smooth and soothe the anxious brain. Give it a try. Here is some information from Joseph Grenny. He travels the world teaching people how to work better.
We have all been staying at home or at a distance. We will soon be in contact with others, other than the ones we live with. This is something that you can practice, even with your family. We need to learn to own our emotions, this is about me, not them or that...or.... What is going on is not externally caused, we are not victims. We can learn to name the story. Is this a victim story? I have no responsibility with this problem, I am virtuous and it is really the other persons fault. Or is it the villain story? This increases the faults of others and their evil motives. Or is it the helpless story? There is nothing that I can do, any action on my part is pointless. So what about listening, humbly and speaking up honestly? Without reactivity! It is important to challenge the story. Ask questions of your self. These questions can include: "Why would a person say this?", What do I really want?", What is the right thing to do?" What is your primal story? How are you predictable in certain situations? What the brain likes to do is perceive certain situations as a threat and this causes reactivity. So saying things to yourself like: This can't hurt me, Humility is strength, not weakness. This helps the frontal part of the brain to become activated. LENS neurofeedback helps to heal the brain of that old reactivity. It helps the brain to work in a flowing, less stressed way. When we are stressed,,, as many of us are these days.... our brain has a way of interpreting this input. When we are stressed the chemical cortisol, can strengthen the connection between the amygdala and hypothalmus, keeping the mind in a constant state of fight or flight. We can be in a state of fear and aggression, which can make you chronically anxious and depressed.
We have been at home or at work. The ones that can work at home are safer from our fear of viruses. The ones that are out working are being exposed and are having a harder time with keeping healthy. They are our front line people that are keeping the food on the shelves. They really can't afford to get sick. Many don't have health insurance. In the long run I hope that this will provide a better awareness of the workers of this world. I hope that we can all find a kinder. accepting attitude towards the ones that work hard to keep us feed. LENS can help to keep the brain from feeling stressed out and over taxed. It seems like the whole world has been stressed out..... All of these bugs running around, getting ready to bite us and our loved ones in the lungs. This can lead to the urge to self-indulge. Do we spend the time on the computer, phone or T.V. streaming movies or do we pop a few beers or get some wine? I know that the majority of us are tired of staying at home and want to get out and do???
Here is a little information about how willpower comes into play. Actually, it doesn't. What did you say? When we try to manage our cravings with pure brute force we will most likely fail. What psychology has found to work is braking the impulses down into manageable pieces. One of these pieces is to shift your attention, which can mean distracting yourself. I really want some of that, but can I find a healthier choice. Deep Breathing is one of the best ways of getting your attention back to your body and away from those donuts.. We can train ourselves to be able to tolerate and wait out our emotions and negative feelings.. We can also reframe some of our beliefs. This means that I do not always have to do the same thing when I am triggered by some outside influence. I can wait for my reward at a different time. Things will work themselves out if I just sit back and wait to see what will happen. This also trains our brains to work on a higher level. I hope that you are all well and safe. Try LENS it works to smooth out the brain and calm us down. Did we all just get too busy? Is it time to slow down? We have been at home for awhile and I wonder how all of you are doing during this time? I have been working on my home to give it a face lift. I tried to work with the drywall, and I learned that I am not very good at making it look smooth. Professionals have their place and I am thankful for them.
I am concerned about the economy. I think that the majority of us are. I am concerned about the health of our world. I read a great deal about our human condition. I am reading a book, "The Hidden Messages in Water". This is the research of a Japanese man by the name of Masaru Emoto. He took water and learned how to freeze different samples. Some of the samples of water are from different places in the world, including religious sites. The crystals are either beautiful or deformed. The ones that are beautiful were given beautiful meanings. Love and Gratitude or prayers are beautiful. The ones that are deformed were given the opposite. Heavy metal music does not make a very good picture. He experimented with words taped to the water, music or words that were spoken. This kind of work represents a picture of what vibration does to water. We are composed of 70% water. We can change our human condition by the words and thoughts that we speak. Give it a try. LENS changes the vibration of the brain and body to create a much better environment. I love doing research. This is a good time to read about all of the incredible information that is on the web about everything. I have been so busy trying to fix up my house that I haven't been looking for all of this information.
Here is some information about the hormones that we have in our system. This relates to the stay at home and be safe ideas that are running around. When we feel that there is a danger then our stress hormones take over. The sympathetic system is the part of the system that keeps our fight, flight or freeze processes running. The hormones connected with this system causes our heart rate and breathing to increase. We also start sweating so that the body can be cooled down in case we have to run. The digestive system is lowered and the blood is sent to the muscles. There is an increase in tension and alarm. We have another system that calms us down. This system is called the parasympathetic system. Para means against, so it does the opposite of the sympathetic system. This system stimulates the vagus nerve. This is a wonderful nerve that runs all through our system. It slows the heart rate, and breathing. It stops perspiration and restores the digestive system. It relieves tension and the feeling of alarm. Because we can't attack the virus or outrun it, we can learn to calm our system down. We can remember a person that has one of those wonderful faces that make us feel at home. We and see their smile and gentle hand, soothing us. We can find some blooming grass or a flower. In other words, find pleasure in the small things and give your mind and body a break. This will help your immune system and the rest of you to relax. LENS neurofeedback works to get the calm back on. Navy seals have to be ready for any kind of a situation. They have to remain calm to endure the tasks that have been put in front of them.. And these are big tasks. We are all in a big task right now of how to move on. We have not been in this kind of position before. We can use this time to regroup and find the place of calm. We have been very busy, so this is the time to reconnect with ourselves and our loved ones. This is a time to learn kindness. So back to the Seals.
They do something called box breathing. This is a breath of 4 seconds in and hold for 4 seconds. Then breathe out for 4 seconds and hold for 4 seconds. Pretty easy. These are some of our top performers. We can learn to do this type of breathing even if we are in a stressful situation. This helps us to pause for a moment and regroup. What a valuable thing to do instead of popping your top. I hope that all of you are well and able to enjoy your time. LENS helps to calm our busy minds. |
AuthorHello, my name is Dana Lee Collins M.A.,L.P.C. I am a psychotherapist that has been trained in the art of neurofeedback. This science helps to heal the brain of trauma. I am dedicated to helping people heal. Archives
January 2021
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