One of the benefits seen resulting from mindfulness practice is being better attuned to what your body is “telling” you.

(See my other blog post, Nine Ways That a Meditating Brain Creates Better Relationships.)

Here’s a great article from Scientific American about the gut, emotions, and accessing more of what you already know.

The emerging and surprising view of how the enteric nervous system in our bellies goes far beyond just processing the food we eat
By Adam Hadhazy

As Olympians go for the gold in Vancouver, even the steeliest are likely to experience that familiar feeling of “butterflies” in the stomach. Underlying this sensation is an often-overlooked network of neurons lining our guts that is so extensive some scientists have nicknamed it our “second brain”.

A deeper understanding of this mass of neural tissue, filled with important neurotransmitters, is revealing that it does much more than merely handle digestion or inflict the occasional nervous pang. The little brain in our innards, in connection with the big one in our skulls, partly determines our mental state and plays key roles in certain diseases throughout the body. [click to continue…]

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Take a Tour of the Brain in 3-D

by admin on February 14, 2010

Here’s how the website describes this gift to anyone interested in the brain: “The G2C Brain is an interactive 3-D model of the brain. It consists of 29 structures that can be rotated in three-dimensional space. Each structure contains key information on brain disorders, brain damage, case studies, and links to modern neuroscience research.”

Be sure to check out some of the spots I talk about here on ReWire Your Brain, like the amygdala, the brainstem, and the medial prefrontal cortex (to see that one, click on “Frontal Cortex” from the drop-down menu that says “Whole Brain.” Make sure you’ve hit “center” to see the brain straight on.

See those two little blue points? That’s the area that is so vital to linking five major parts of your brain — and the better integrated those parts are, the better your brain — and your relationships — will work.

Think it’s too small to make a difference? Remember that 5,000 neural synapses fit in the width of a human hair.

Now that’s dense!

Click on the screenshot below to visit http://www.g2conline.org/2022 and play with the 3-D Brain model.


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Found Article – Mindfulness: A Favored Approach in Psychology and Medicine

February 11, 2010

A short but sweet blog post by my friend, Elisha Goldstein, PhD.
There is no question about it, the interest in Mindfulness-Based Interventions to work with people experiencing a variety of “disorders” and also in healthy individuals is growing at a rapid pace. There has been research with psychological issues such as stress, anxiety, depression, bipolar, [...]

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Brains For Valentine’s Day, Anyone?

February 9, 2010

Since I’m all about how important the brain is in how healthy relationships happen (or don’t), I thought it might be a good to pass along a (tongue-in-cheek) resource for Valentine’s Day gifts.
The folks at Red Reef Publications have many fine products, including high-quality teaching models of the brain — but they also don’t take [...]

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Like a Reflex, But So Much More: Frans De Waal Video on Empathy

February 5, 2010

Frans de Waal’s work with primates fascinates me. In this clip, he talks with Carl Zimmer of Discover Magazine about how empathy is not something we “decide” to be — that we are able to empathize with the feelings of others because of an involuntary physiologic response. (I have always had a tinge of regret [...]

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Neuroimaging of the effects on the brain of maternal deprivation.

February 5, 2010

From Mas Ichise, MD and Bob Innis, MD, PhD at National Institutes of Mental Health comes some primate research on attachment, the brain, and later emotional and behavioral problems: Neuroimaging of the effects on the brain of maternal deprivation.
Monkeys who suffered maternal deprivation (raise by their peers, instead) were shown to have a deficit in [...]

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Dr. John Cleese reveals himself as leading authority in Neuroanatomy

February 2, 2010

The Brain as explained by John Cleese

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Three reasons why mindfulness meditation helps relationships

January 29, 2010

In my work as a psychologist, I see a lot of very bright, insightful people who still struggle with relationships, and when I suggest that they start practicing mindfulness meditation, they want to know why and how sitting and meditating can help their love lives. They may know that they “should” meditate because it’s good for [...]

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Meditation and the False Lure of Zoning Out

January 22, 2010

Why meditation does NOT make you a self-involved, zoned-out bliss-ninny.
Here’s the polite version of a question I received recently about my support of mindfulness meditation as a practice for well-being in relationships:
Why are you encouraging people to zone out? Sitting around pretending they’re above it all, and avoiding real feelings? Who wants to be in a [...]

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Science of the Mindful Brain

January 20, 2010

A short, very readable piece by my favorite integrator, Dan Siegel, MD, on “The Science of the Mindful Brain.” Dan’s newest book, Mindsight, is now out, and at the very top of my reading list. His thinking about mindfulness, the brain, and living more fully are superb!
By Dan Siegel, MD.
All too often, the inner side [...]

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