Massaging and Exercising the Human Brain Positively

Massaging and Exercising the Human Brain Positively

By

Dr. David J. Koehn

Just like exercising the human body to be physically fit, it is important to exercise the human brain to be positively fit. According to Dr. Amen, there are seven areas that need to be attended to for being brain fit: brain health, sleep, memory, executive function, inner peace, mood, and flexible thinking. If one works hard at improving these seven areas, then brain fitness is optimized. Dr. Amen contends that when brain fitness is addressed, MH issues subside – see his latest books “The End to Mental Illness” or “Change your Brain and Change Your Life.” 

In my practice, I often have patients take his Brain Fitness screening assessment as a beginning course to a way forward in addressing their concerns. A report is generated that explores practical recommendations to improve brain wellness as well as adding quality nutrition and natural supplement program. Six common sense areas are dealt with to enhance the brain fitness score in the aforementioned seven tenets. Suggestions offered are: reduce stress, do physical workouts, set goals and track progress, complete mental workouts, strengthen your mind, and build a community of support.  The web and YouTube provide an enormous set of resources to put in motion in each of these six focused areas.  

Another way to start your day and be positively directed is to reinforce and engage the seven tenets by Dewitt Jones in his video, “The For Love of It.” When the cover is pulled back from “For Love of It”, the tenets unveiled are: operate with a full cup, find guides, act as if, express gratitude, make a contribution, pass it on and chase the light. These tenets are often reviewed and applied in my private practice.  

Operating with a full cup is interesting in that you find your passion by doing what you love to do and/or focusing on the positivity of what you are doing. It means not seeing your life experiences as a cup half empty (Eeyore) or half full (Pollyanna). The mindset focus is on having a full cup. The other six tenets are helpful in filling and keeping the cup full. There is no tangible monetary cost, only positive effort, and a positive attitude.   

“Finding guides” is not about seeking a mentor or coach but surrounding yourself with people who emanate positive energy and enthusiasm about what they are doing or observing. Their aura spells over to you and makes you feel good. “Acting as if” is more about imaging and visioning what you want to get accomplished or desire. It’s like the golfer who chips haphazardly without thinking where he/she wants the ball to land on the green and how far he/she wants it to roll. Those that image this are far more successful than those that do not.

“Expressing gratitude” is being thankful for what you have. It is saying thanks for the small things people do in life. Making these overtures builds a warm feeling inside oneself – again a third way to fill your cup. “Making a contribution” is not about making a significant difference in life. It is about making a positive movement. Many people often get stuck and cannot make a move. Their perception is like pushing against a rock and nothing moves. In physics, we note this as no work has been accomplished. All we get is a lot of wasted energy with no movement. An easy way to produce positive movement is to break up the task into small bites or steps and make the first step. Makes one feel hopeful and not helpless. Sooner or later by breaking up steps that seem too difficult to do, we reach the goal line and the whole task is done – hooray!   

“Pass it on” is similar to “Finding guides”. Rather than looking for others to pass on their positive energy to you, you pass onto them some meaningful and purposeful action that may make their day. The action is done without the expectation of receiving anything in return. It is totally an unselfish act of kindness and goodness. An example would be, helping someone across the street who has balance or physical issues or paying for a toll fee for the person behind you who you do not even know.  

Our tool kit is now growing and has five additional ways of filling our cups. The sixth tenet, “Chase the light “is about not closing down and keeping an open mind while seeing what is good in a situation that appears to be abysmal or just okay. Continuing to explore and be inquisitive may uncover not just what is good but possibly great and even extraordinary. Viewing the current pandemic from this orientation opens up a whole new lens. Again, in my practice, I provide a “For the Love of IT” workbook that helps the patient peel back the onion or pull back the covers and dig deeper into the seven key concepts and develop an executable plan so that each individual can make it a part of their everyday DNA.

Many apps are available to download that address just about everything we have explored so far. Some of the more powerful apps are Calm, Peace, and Aura. Other good ones are Insight Timer, Headspace, and Ten Per Cent.  Personal affirmation apps are available that push out messages frequently throughout the day that spark your mind are I Am and Motivation.  All apps have a free trial period and are reasonable in annual cost ranging from $20 to $70. 

In summary, the brain has neuroplasticity- the ability of neural networks in the brain to change through growth and reorganization. These changes range from individual neurons making new connections, to systematic adjustments like cortical remapping. This ability means that the brain is open for new learning, both emotionally and mentally, no matter how old we are.  Good news.  The idea “that you cannot train an old dog new tricks” does not apply to human beings, just the opposite. The ideas expressed in this treatise offer you a powerful mechanism to massage and exercise your brain in a very healthy way.  I hope your journey to brain fitness is an extraordinary one.