Neuroplasticity refers to the brain’s potential for change and growth, not only during the first years of life, but in our adult years too.
Our thoughts, feelings, beliefs and experiences, as well as exercise and what we eat, have the potential to activate genes in nerve cells that allows those cells to grow new connections with other nerves in the brain. This newly acknowledged potential for brain growth opens up vast possibilities for healing ourselves mentally, emotionally, and physically.
Until recently, the accepted medical wisdom was that the brain stopped growing after the first few years of life. Now we know this simply isn’t true. We can proactively learn to train our brains to support our healing. For example, new approaches in the treatment of stroke have evolved from this new evidence of brain plasticity. The essence of the treatment is that a patient’s good limb, for example, the right arm that was unaffected by the stroke, is immobilized, while making the impaired left arm do more and more work. This concentrated focus on the impaired arm stimulates the brain to grow new connections and to heal.
The function of memory is another area that’s under investigation. Taking on novel experience, like learning a new language, tends to change the brain while preserving and potentially improving memory. Aerobic exercise, the equivalent of walking one hour daily, four days per week, has also been shown to prevent memory loss while stimulating new growth in brain cells.
One of the greatest benefits of neuroplasticity lies in the terrain of our emotional health. Dr. Richard Davidson has conducted research on the brains of Buddhist monks with the use of the functional MRI. He chose the monks as test subjects because they were perfect examples of individuals with highly trained brains. These monks had been meditating daily for decades on ‘compassion’. The brain imaging confirmed that these Tibetan monks had highly developed brain regions that correspond to positive emotion.
One again, we see the powerful influence that conscious attention has on our health and well being. We see that the brain changes itself based on how we use it. We can also be encouraged to learn that the old limitations that science has imposed on us, or that we have imposed on ourselves, are outdated and obsolete. Supported with this new information we can be encouraged to regularly engage in meditative practices, along with energy medicine, energy psychology, and other techniques that support our conscious intention to change for the better.
Steven Templin, D.O.M.
Dr. Templin offers online courses and consultations, and sees patients personally in his office in Lakeland, Florida. You can learn more about his course Bio-Energetic Focusing: A Revolutionary Medical Model for Self-Healing! here.
Steven Templin, D.O.M., Dipl. Ac., is a Doctor of Oriental Medicine, specializing in MindBody Medicine. He is a certified META-Medicine Health Coach and nationally certified acupuncturist. He shares the underlying science and more importantly, the practical tools for resolving the unconscious energetic and emotional roots of illness. In his online course Bio-Energetic Focusing: A Revolutionary Medical Model for Self-Healing! he provides training in Self-Regulation skills, that include Bio-Energetic Focusing, HeartMath and Energy Psychology techniques, Energy Medicine modalities, and Gastrointestinal repair for enhanced immunity, mood, and mental clarity. Dr. Templin is in private practice in Lakeland, Florida, at the Natural Medicine Center of Lakeland.
