Episode 18: Back to the Brain
What is your body’s FULL intelligence? And how can you tap into it?
This episode and the next two will focus on the brain-body connection, and very much on the power of breath and body awareness to affect our mental, emotional, and cognitive states.
One “body brain” expert I learned about as I researched this episode speaks of the cerebellum, and even the brainstem, as “the Rodney Dangerfields of neuroscience.” In other words, they get no respect.
I can’t help but wonder if the high value of “thought” and mental constructs, very much at the expense of connection to the body, that’s shaped Western medicine, science, and quite frankly reality is part of the reason these fascinating regions are under-celebrated.
If so, or even if not: good news: the body is increasingly showing up as actively involved with a range of functions and experiences traditionally associated with pure neuroscience – and its voice is being heard. Or re-heard. After all, mind-body integration is the foundation of Chinese medicine, of India’s 5,000 year old Ayurveda system, of shamanic and medicine traditions across the Americas (and beyond), of Australian Aboriginal healing, and of the countless lost wisdom systems that spanned Europe and other corners of the world for untold millennia before the scientific discipline known as Western medicine began to rise.
Don’t get me wrong: I’m a great fan of Western medicine. Yet it’s history is marked by what I’d classify as “left hemispheric pursuit of evidence,” a pursuit that has undervalued and largely misunderstood the brain body connection and how the state of the mind mirrors the conditions of the body – and vice versa.
I highly encourage you to visualize your brainstem and the “stalk” that reaches down into your spinal column as part of your brain’s awareness and intelligence. Many people say that simply “seeing” that reawakens a connection to their body – and that is a very good thing. If you can, stay with the visualization to “see,” in your mind’s eye, the intelligence of your body radiating out throughout your nervous system, connecting what’s felt and sensed, what’s inborn biologically on a cellular level, and what’s learned and known in the brain. That may give you a small sense of your own deep, almost unfathomably so, true and embodied intelligence.
At left: the brainstem and medulla oblangata (the part extending into the spinal column). On the right: the cerebellum.
The peripheral nervous system. Note that the enteric nervous system, a key part of the body brain connection located in the “gut,” and largely around the large intestine, also actively exchanges information to and from the brain. The Vagus Nerve, often associated with anxiety and depressive conditions, is the direct connection between the medulla oblongata – the lowest part of the brainstem – and the gut.
And, WOW, if the gut-body connection interests you at all, dive in to this eye-opening exploration of the biome’s potential role in influencing what have long been classified as “mental health disorders” … “The Gut Microbiome and the Brain.”
Recommended as a visual prompt, not an to actual activity. As in “do not try this at home.”
“Beliefs are the operating system of the cell, and like computer software, they can be changed to upgrade the system. When we change our beliefs, we change the chemistry of our body.”
—Dr. Bruce Lipton, mind/body health pioneer
A visual glimpse at the peripheral nervous system. Note the large Sciatic Nerves (yes, this is where Sciatica occurs) from the central glutes down to the ankles, and the Vagus Nerves that extend from the body brain region down to the lower gut.
I’m a fan of how Dr. Kulreet Chaudhary speaks about Ayurveda through the lens of neurology and, well, practical life. Watch here, explore further, or visit her website. I also recommend her article on the gut-brain connection through an Ayurvedic perspective.
Here is a video exploring the emotional / body health connection through the lens of Chinese medicine. Ancient health and healing practices seem to have all acknowledged a connection that many of us feel – yet that has long been discounted.
…and how can we talk about “mind body connection” without inviting Deepak to the party? This is a short and lovely guided meditation.
“If you don’t manage your reptilian brain, it will manage you. It usually does.”
— Ram V. Iyer
I’m no fan of the term “reptilian brain” for two reasons. First, the “body brain” is much more subtle and complex than that term connotes; second, the functions and even biology of the cerebellum and brainstem are much more ancient than that.
However, if the phrase helps people understand how survival-oriented (and un-”thought”-full) this region is, then, heck: reptilian it is. As pioneering trauma researcher and bestselling author Bessel A. van der Kolk (who wrote “The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma”) says, “Together the reptilian brain and the limbic system make up what I call the ‘emotional brain.’”
It’s powerful to think of the emotional and “body” systems in the brain as an important part of our full intelligence. As you listen to this episode, feel deeply into what comes up in your body – resistance? Remembering? Reconnection? Whatever you feel is important information. I hope what you learn here helps you connect with and trust the secret superpower of your body’s intelligence.
Best, Ellen
ellen@thebrainandbeyond.com
I hope you enjoy the music I’ve arranged with artist Lucia Lilikoi to share on my podcast.
Here’s her website, lilikoimusic.com … and you can listen to the full version here, and follow her on Apple Music and Spotify. Her website links to a range listening platforms. Enjoy.
