No Energy: Blog….Fog, Smog, Clog

Lots of words rhyme with blog. I woke up in the morning thinking, “Oh, it’s been 6 days since my last blog….”

Ok, all you Catholics reading this will get my gist when I say, “Sound familiar?” As in, “It’s been 6 days since my last confession. Bless me father for I have sinned.” I hope you have a sense of humor, because I am poking fun at myself as I notice my thought process….and there’s no need to “flog” myself about it.

So, blog led to the words: fog, then smog, and clog. I also thought of hog, dog and log. The 2nd group of words isn’t related to what I’m talking about here so I’ll put them aside for now. I bet you can’t wait for when I write about them….there must be some connection there.

As I ”free associated” with myself in the morning…..does that sound as funny to you as it does to me?……I noticed that I had a pattern going on in my mind. I was the observer of my thoughts and how the mind operates.

What’s your state of mind like in the morning?

1. Are you clear headed or are things  “foggy” until maybe you have that first cup of coffee or tea or you do some exercise?
2. Do you wake up with lots of things on your mind feeling overwhelmed by your “to do” list? The “smog” in your brain is so dense that you flit from one thing to another trying to find the next thing to do while forgetting what you just did.
3. How about when you get up and it seems to take all your energy just to put one foot in front of another on the way to the bathroom? Every part of you feels “clogged.”

Amongst all that activity in my morning mind, I had an inspirational moment. I asked myself, “What use is this?” That’s when it came to me. I hadn’t suddenly gone “rap.” “Fog, smog and clog” are related to brain chemistry and the states of mind I used to experience in the morning. Ok, and still do experience from time to time.

I say “used to experience” because now I mostly wake up with more consciousness; paying attention to “what is.” For example, noticing how my body feels and the thoughts that are immediately present. If I want something different than what I’m waking up with, then I’ve learned to do something about it. By the way, this doesn’t apply to my husband, Michael. I like waking up with him.

Sometimes I need an organic fix; meaning I need to change my brain chemistry or how I’m feeling with a supplement, food or maybe bioidentical hormones. Sometimes it’s a “mind over matter” issue, which is what I usually do first because it’s faster and easier for me.

The brain naturally searches, sorts and looks for patterns to create meaning based on stimulus gathered through sensory input and thoughts. That’s what I did in the morning with my very first thought about the “blog” and then the rhyming which led to the “aha!” moment in my mind. Thoughts, emotions and other cognitive functions are all lumped together and referred to as the mind. Any neuroscientist would agree that physical brain activity brings forth the mental activity we call the mind. This is common knowledge.

What isn’t widely known is that the brain in your skull is not the only province of the mind nor is the mind the only province of the brain. Do you know that?

You may be surprised if you think that the neural brain, which is the brain in your skull, is the only brain you have. I’m sure you know that the brain and the spinal cord make up the central nervous system (CNS). You probably are familiar with neurons and know they are cells that send and receive electro-chemical signals to and from the brain and the nervous system, but have you heard of glial cells? 

 ”Glia” is a Greek word for “glue.” Glial cells far outnumber neurons and scientists are looking at their role in a different way. There’s lots of research online about glial cells. I have been seeing it for years and was reminded of it in an article by Mary Hardy, Ph. D. in her November/December 2007 newsletter.   

Glial cells make up most of your brain and provide support functions for the neurons in the brain. Since glial cells are intricately connected to the operation of neurons throughout the body, by definition, the “glia brain,” is the largest organ in the body. Glial cells are found in the spine, heart and gut. For that reason, some have called the “glia brain” the second brain.

Speaking of the “gut,” Dr. Michael Gershon, who wrote The Second Brain, refers to the entire gastrointestinal system as the body’s second nervous system. A colon hydrotherapist told me that several years ago. She described for me how during early fetal development, both our brain and our gut originate from the same tissue; the first part becomes the central nervous system and the second part develops into the enteric nervous system (ENS). Ultimately the vagus nerve, which is the longest of the cranial nerves, develops; extending from the brain stem through the neck and into the abdomen making the “brain-gut” connection. 

The connection is much more extensive than just the vagus nerve. The “gut’s brain,” also known as the ENS, is comprised of sheaths of tissue that line the esophagus, stomach, small intestine and colon. The glial cells work together in the gut with neurons, neurotransmitters and hormones in the same way that they all function in the brain; the equivalent of a second brain.

To say that the mind stems solely from brain activity is “narrow minded” in light of the research of Candace Pert, Ph. D. who wrote, Molecules of Emotion. Dr. Pert is famous for her discovery of a biochemical link between the mind and the body; in the form of “neural” receptors on the body’s cells which communicate information, including emotion.

Dr. Pert’s experiments show that the mind is not focused solely in the head; only rising forth out of brain activity. The mind is actually present throughout the body in each cell by way of signal molecules. The mind in this expanded capacity uses the brain to generate “molecules of emotion” that affect the health of the body. Obviously, the creation of positive states of mind, whether done consciously or unconsciously, can enhance health.

Bruce Lipton, Ph.D., author of Biology of Belief, is a cell biologist renowned for his scientific discoveries about the mechanisms of how cells receive and process information. Until I read his book, I mistakenly believed that genes and DNA control our biology. That’s what I had learned in school and it’s been found to be false.

It turns out that DNA is controlled by signals outside the cell, along with the energetic messages stemming from our positive and negative thoughts; thereby controlling our biology. Dr. Lipton’s stunning research points out that all the cells of your body are affected by your thoughts. He describes the specific molecular pathways of how this happens through the physical and chemical structure of the cell’s membrane. 

What is it like for you to learn that you have more brain power than you ever thought you had and that you also have these built-in mechanisms at a cellular level supporting a mind-body connection?

To me, that knowledge is very empowering. It means I have choices and more than one way to look at things if I need to. I can take a holistic approach utilizing this information. My total health can be enhanced by:

• supporting balanced brain chemistry, for example, as recommended by Eric Braverman, M.D. in his book, The Edge Effect;
• improving the functioning of the “glia brain” by using therapeutic grade essential oils;
• taking care of the gut’s brain with proper nutrition and supplementation along with periodic cleansing programs or colonics; and
• utilizing various “mind over matter” techniques as a conscious choice.  

For more empowerment resources that can help you take charge of yourself with more consciousness when you wake up in the morning, go to our website www.serenitymatters.com.

Joyfully,

Deborah