Simple but powerful mindfulness exercises bring us a wide range of benefits. You don't have to sit in lotus position or become a Buddhist. Interest in mindfulness coming out of scientific research is making it mainstream.If I were to tell you that you can learn to release yourself from stress, improve your well being, increase your emotional intelligence, make better decisions and be happier and more successful just by sitting on your butt and watching your breath for a few minutes each day, would you be persuaded? Probably not. If you think about it, that's strange because you probably do sit on your butt for much of the day and you never stop breathing. So what's the problem?
First of all we have to have some kind of understanding why it works and second, if you try it, maybe you'll find why it's not such and easy thing to do. Just sit on a chair, upright, and count each breath. How many breaths can you count before you get distracted and forget to count? Do you forget how many breaths you've counted? Just try it. So, like learning to do a lot of things it's difficult at first. Our minds just want to get out there and do stuff. So how does training our attention to follow the breath do so much good?
Long before we could detect the smallest particles of matter in the atom the Greek philosopher Leucippus hypothesized of its existence around 450 B.C. Not long after, his follower, Democritus coined the term 'atom' from the Greek ἄτομος (atomos, "indivisible") from (a-, "not") and τέμνω (temnō, "I cut"), which means uncuttable, or indivisible, something that cannot be divided further. Some of the greatest discoveries have originated from the intuitions of man's heart, only later to be empirically 'detected' and rationally understood (if not perfectly), if not seen and touched. Mental health has been a soft science with classified categories of clusters of symptoms in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders yet without necessarily an empirical way to detect and diagnose. Many of the symptoms described in diagnoses are based on behavior and reports.
Dr. Amen here explains how science can empirically detect and measure activities in the mind-brain connection. This book has a lot of information regarding mental health problems drawn from Brain SPECT imaging, an empirical tool that Dr. Amen uses to detect 'brain disorders', or diagnosed mental health problems that meet DSM criteria. These are Nuclear medicine studies that measure blood flow and activity levels in the brain (Amen, 5). Dr. Amen also discusses use of PET (positron emission tomography), MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), CAT (computerized axial tomography), and EEG (electroencephalograms). Seeing that many mental health problems can be empirically detected in brain function using these tools can be helpful in dispelling stigma and false guilt when there is a medical problem and brain disorder. Without some evidence of the medical issue, people may think that it is 'all in their head' and they just need to get it together, or that they are just a 'bad person'.
What the information in this book adds to my practice is a holistic perspective that includes making referrals and recommending information on medication, nutrition, exercise, social interactions, behavior changes, along with the talk therapies and other treatments I offer as a mental health counselor. Dr. Amen states he is one of very few psychiatrists that offer these types of brain scans and consultation on mental health problems. They are also rather expensive. He states the purpose of the book is not for everyone to go out and get their brains scanned but to explain a wide variety of human behaviors in terms of the images that SPECT provides and show they can be treated on a medical model as well as the traditional psychological and social models (Amen, 15).
Read more non-fiction books.Expand your horizons and knowledge by learning about new things. What are you interested in? Traveling? Gardening? Computers? Childcare? Take the time to curl up with a good book (or Kindle reader) learn, explore and grow mentally, too.Read books about positive mindsets, too. Browse the Self-Improvement section of Bookstores.Sit down with a pen and paper and think of all the good things that have happened to you in your life. Write them down. Create your list of things to be thankful for. Remember those times when you were happy and cheerful. Consider how you can make those things happen more often in your life.
Dr. Amen has an entire chapter on enhancing positive thought patterns. Dr. Amen's prescription to heal these limbic problems includes, "... accurate thinking, the proper management of memories, the connection between pleasant smells and moods, and building positive bonds with oneself and others (p. 55)." It is common knowledge that research shows Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (a talk therapy) to be highly effective in dealing with depression, but it is effective in dealing with a wide range of psychological problems (Corey, 288, Beck, 2). Cognitive Behavioral Therapy deals with changing distorted thinking and core beliefs about the self and the world such as that one is unlovable or helpless. Bonding also happens in talk therapy between a client and therapist and can enhance relationships and bonding with others.
Understanding there may be a physical problem with the brain is therapeutic and can help us to find more ways to improve our mental health. This book is a great read and a good reference for any specific illness or mental health problem. I also would highly recommend This is Your Brain on Joy by Dr. Earl Henslin with a forward by Dr. Amen. As well as good information and explanation of the parts of the brain (he uses a cartoon) and how they are related to different patterns of thought and behavior, there are a lot of good tips for helping with specific problems including many different treatments, what foods to eat, vitamins, aromatherapy, and cinematherapy.
[How To Make Positive Changes In Your Life]
First of all we have to have some kind of understanding why it works and second, if you try it, maybe you'll find why it's not such and easy thing to do. Just sit on a chair, upright, and count each breath. How many breaths can you count before you get distracted and forget to count? Do you forget how many breaths you've counted? Just try it. So, like learning to do a lot of things it's difficult at first. Our minds just want to get out there and do stuff. So how does training our attention to follow the breath do so much good?
Long before we could detect the smallest particles of matter in the atom the Greek philosopher Leucippus hypothesized of its existence around 450 B.C. Not long after, his follower, Democritus coined the term 'atom' from the Greek ἄτομος (atomos, "indivisible") from (a-, "not") and τέμνω (temnō, "I cut"), which means uncuttable, or indivisible, something that cannot be divided further. Some of the greatest discoveries have originated from the intuitions of man's heart, only later to be empirically 'detected' and rationally understood (if not perfectly), if not seen and touched. Mental health has been a soft science with classified categories of clusters of symptoms in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders yet without necessarily an empirical way to detect and diagnose. Many of the symptoms described in diagnoses are based on behavior and reports.
Dr. Amen here explains how science can empirically detect and measure activities in the mind-brain connection. This book has a lot of information regarding mental health problems drawn from Brain SPECT imaging, an empirical tool that Dr. Amen uses to detect 'brain disorders', or diagnosed mental health problems that meet DSM criteria. These are Nuclear medicine studies that measure blood flow and activity levels in the brain (Amen, 5). Dr. Amen also discusses use of PET (positron emission tomography), MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), CAT (computerized axial tomography), and EEG (electroencephalograms). Seeing that many mental health problems can be empirically detected in brain function using these tools can be helpful in dispelling stigma and false guilt when there is a medical problem and brain disorder. Without some evidence of the medical issue, people may think that it is 'all in their head' and they just need to get it together, or that they are just a 'bad person'.
What the information in this book adds to my practice is a holistic perspective that includes making referrals and recommending information on medication, nutrition, exercise, social interactions, behavior changes, along with the talk therapies and other treatments I offer as a mental health counselor. Dr. Amen states he is one of very few psychiatrists that offer these types of brain scans and consultation on mental health problems. They are also rather expensive. He states the purpose of the book is not for everyone to go out and get their brains scanned but to explain a wide variety of human behaviors in terms of the images that SPECT provides and show they can be treated on a medical model as well as the traditional psychological and social models (Amen, 15).
Read more non-fiction books.Expand your horizons and knowledge by learning about new things. What are you interested in? Traveling? Gardening? Computers? Childcare? Take the time to curl up with a good book (or Kindle reader) learn, explore and grow mentally, too.Read books about positive mindsets, too. Browse the Self-Improvement section of Bookstores.Sit down with a pen and paper and think of all the good things that have happened to you in your life. Write them down. Create your list of things to be thankful for. Remember those times when you were happy and cheerful. Consider how you can make those things happen more often in your life.
Dr. Amen has an entire chapter on enhancing positive thought patterns. Dr. Amen's prescription to heal these limbic problems includes, "... accurate thinking, the proper management of memories, the connection between pleasant smells and moods, and building positive bonds with oneself and others (p. 55)." It is common knowledge that research shows Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (a talk therapy) to be highly effective in dealing with depression, but it is effective in dealing with a wide range of psychological problems (Corey, 288, Beck, 2). Cognitive Behavioral Therapy deals with changing distorted thinking and core beliefs about the self and the world such as that one is unlovable or helpless. Bonding also happens in talk therapy between a client and therapist and can enhance relationships and bonding with others.
Understanding there may be a physical problem with the brain is therapeutic and can help us to find more ways to improve our mental health. This book is a great read and a good reference for any specific illness or mental health problem. I also would highly recommend This is Your Brain on Joy by Dr. Earl Henslin with a forward by Dr. Amen. As well as good information and explanation of the parts of the brain (he uses a cartoon) and how they are related to different patterns of thought and behavior, there are a lot of good tips for helping with specific problems including many different treatments, what foods to eat, vitamins, aromatherapy, and cinematherapy.
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