This blog is about the value of befriending and taming your limbic brain in the pursuit of health and happiness.
Ever since Swami Rama, the noted yogi, was studied at the Menninger Institute in the 1960’s it’s been known that we can indeed influence unconscious bodily processes, like heart rate, blood pressure, or hormone levels and more with our minds.
Mainstream medicine has for the most part ignored these findings in favor of focusing on pharmaceutical and surgical interventions. Biofeedback training was in fact created as a result of the yogi studies, but can hardly be considered mainstream.
You Don’t Have to be a Yogi
You don’t have to be a yogi in order to influence unconscious bodily processes in pursuit of restoring your health.
With knowledge and practice you can learn to balance your brain and nervous system to positively influence your health. Understanding the basics puts you more in charge of your own and your family’s health.
When your brain and nervous system are balanced so is your biology … and your health. On the other hand when your brain and nervous system are not balanced a wide variety of symptoms and disease states can be produced.
Would you rather treat or chase a myriad of symptoms with this or that technique or potion … or treat the root cause … a brain and nervous system imbalance?
You’re Limbic Brain is the Culprit
The limbic brain reacts to the pace, pressures, and complexities of life by shifting your system into a protective mode where normal maintenance, detoxification, and repair functions are inhibited in favor of survival only.
This limbic brain survival mode is fine if it’s responding to temporary threat, but when the limbic brain becomes chronically stuck in the protection mode our health eventually deteriorates and treatments that do not address the brain prove to be inadequate.
Whether your particular issue is insomnia, psoriasis, anxiety, hormone issues or chronic low back pain, the overall remedial approach would be similar. Since these are all conditions that are downstream manifestations of limbic brain and autonomic nervous system imbalances the priority treatment is to balance the brain first.
When the limbic brain is balanced you’ll be activating the genes and chemistry that support healing, and you’ll be enhancing the detoxification pathways and tissue repair processes that support you in reclaiming your health.
And because you’re in a neurological mode that supports healing your dietary and nutritional changes will become much more effective.
Limbic Brain Repatterning
Quieting the limbic brain and restoring order to the autonomic nervous system … the system that for the most part controls your organs and glands …. is the key to healing many chronic health complaints. Once we train the brain to shift into the healing mode any other healing efforts like diet, nutrition, and exercise will become significantly more effective.
The Self-Regulation processes that I teach are relatively easy to learn but take time and commitment to master. These processes activate the pre-frontal areas of the brain and inhibit or quiet limbic brain activity. One added value of the self-regulation techniques is that once mastered they can be taught to friends or family.
One of the reasons why acupuncture can influence so many bodily functions in a positive manner is because it has a modulating or balancing effect on the limbic brain. This is why I routinely use acupuncture and teach acupressure holding or tapping techniques to support repatterning the limbic system and balancing the autonomic nervous system.
Don’t Forget the Brain in Your Heart
And lastly, don’t forget that your heart is more than a pump. The emerging science of neurocardiology is showing us what many have intuited. Yes your heart is an intelligent organ of perception. Your heart is a source of kindness and compassion.
Learning to activate your heart’s intelligence is proving to be one of the most direct routes to activating the pre-frontal areas and quieting limbic brain activity in the process of restoring health.
Who would have thought that cultivating the bodily experience of the heart-felt qualities of kindness and compassion and love would turn out to be one of the most powerful brain and body healing strategies. And without side effects.
Steven Templin, D.O.M., Dipl. Ac. specializes in Acupuncture and Limbic Brain Repatterning to address the roots of most chronic pain and illness. He offers a comprehensive mind-body program for addressing the underlying inflammation, toxicities, and stress-induced causes of most pain and illness.
He places special emphasis on resolving the stress response and repairing adrenal gland and digestive system function to address the root causes of many common and often difficult to treat illnesses.
He translates emerging research in the fields of Epigenetics, Energy Psychology, and Functional Nutrition into effective practices that you can perform at home.
You can work with Dr. Templin online, or in his Lakeland, Florida office at the Natural Medicine Center. You can visit his website at www.stevetemplin.com and contact him via email at drtemplin@gmail.com.
You can schedule an office visit with Dr. Templin by calling 863-838-2779.
Steve is a retired Doctor of Oriental Medicine, Acupuncture Physician, and HeartMath Trauma-Sensitive Certified Practitioner with over 35 years of clinical experience in the fields of Energy Medicine, Energy Psychology, and Biofeedback. 