Part 3: The Neurobiology of Trauma - Mindfulness
The nervous system is the intersection of psychology and chiropractic
(I’m taking a course called The Neurobiology of Trauma. It is based on the latest technology on how the brain works. It is taught by psychologists. I wish I had known this forty years ago. Thought I’d post some ideas that may help you or someone you know.)
I’m putting this article in the Personal Growth section. The first two articles on this topic are in the Health section. All of my articles could probably be in any section. However, I think of mindfulness as something we do for personal growth.
In the course, teachers are talking about telomeres. Telomeres are the ends of the chromosomes and help hold them together. Think of it as protection. Long telomeres protect better than shorter ones. Stress and age lead to shorter telomeres. As the telomeres shorten or are lost, chromosomes can become fragmented and lead to sickness and death.
The good news is that telomeres can be lengthened. You can improve your health. The teachers say that mindfulness can improve telomeres. They haven’t gotten into exactly what mindfulness is but talk about it as presence. My parents would have told me to pay attention. Know what is happening around you.
I am not qualified to get into specifics of mindfulness. It hasn’t been covered well so far in the course. I can tell you that one of the things I have found most helpful is learning to control my mind.
How often do we walk or drive and fail to observe what is happening all round us? Pretty often. I took a walk this morning and was thinking about writing an article. I finally caught myself and paid attention to my dogs, the trees, birds, wind, and traffic. I also paid attention to my posture and how wonderful I felt. All of that paying attention helped shift me to a state of gratitude. That changes my chemistry and my telomeres.
Sometimes I’m asked what I do to look so young. I usually just reply with “genetics.” That may be the answer. Or is it possible that what I have done has helped? I’ve spent hours in meditation. I’ve seen chiropractors regularly most of my life to keep my spine and nervous system functioning properly. I stay away from medical doctors. I exercise. I watch what I eat.
Many people talk about health. Not nearly as many walk the talk. Paying attention is one example of controlling your mind. How do you do that? What is the mechanism? Are you really the operator/programmer of your brain and nervous system?
The psychologists are not quite ready to go that far. They haven’t asked the questions I just asked. They say you can control your mind but fail to consider how that control is exerted. It goes back to the black hole. Nobody knows.
What we do know is that spending time in the black hole has health advantages. Although we don’t know the mechanism, we can learn to take control. We can pay attention to the real world around us. We can pay attention to how we feel. We can make sure that how we feel matches the real world around us. For most of us, that would cause a shift, just like it did for me this morning.
Shift to gratitude and pay attention to how you feel. You will be amazed.