For most of my life I have pursued the twin passions of neuroscience and spirituality – the study of the brain and the search for an understanding of life, of humanity’s place in the cosmic order. In my journey I discovered that the ancient wisdom literature from around the world overlaps in a notion we Continue Reading
Emotion and Executive Function
The most important thing to understand about your brain, when working toward wellbeing, is that the brain prioritizes emotion. There are five processing systems in the brain. Sensory (input), Motor (output or response), Affective (motivation), Executive (control), and Cognitive (understanding). The Affective system is the boss system. It runs the show. The Affective system puts Continue Reading
ADHD: Mindfulness as Medicine
How do we use mindfulness to treat ADHD (attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder)? First, we understand that the ability to pay attention and control our impulses depends on our emotional state. Another way of saying this is that the Emotional (motivation) system drives the Executive (control) system. As we see in the ThinkPrint slider, there are 5 Continue Reading
Neurodiversity and ThinkPrint
I am so excited that the term neurodiversity is getting its time in the spotlight. The idea that we all have different kinds of brains – hardwired for doing the different jobs that need doing in a society – is what the term ThinkPrint was meant to convey. Like our fingerprint, each of ours is Continue Reading
Be Your Own Anger Whisperer
Anger has no power to move us forward. Unleashed, it can only cause damage. Our anger is a natural part of our humanness. It is a neurochemical event, and its function is to protect us. But we must learn how to tame this wild beast. Anger, like all negative emotions, is a dark lens though Continue Reading
Mindful Parenting
A wise father once shared with me, years after I had worked with him and his family, that the most powerful lesson he had learned was not to get upset when his child was upset. This is of course very difficult to do. We are hardwired to be distressed by our child’s distress, which is Continue Reading
Healing Anxiety
In my work with my clients, I use a tool that I learned long ago from my teacher, Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. It is called “Three Breaths.” It is a way to stop thinking for a moment, stop worrying, stop ruminating, and to have a refreshing moment of peace, of solidity, of feeling that Continue Reading
Broaden Your Understanding – Zoom Out
When we change the way we understand something – a person, a situation, ourselves – we change the way we feel about it. When we are suffering, we can ease our suffering by looking at our situation from a different angle. We often think we know the truth about it, and this truth saddens or Continue Reading
Why We Can’t Pay Attention When We’re Upset
If you look at my brain logo, you will see that it is a labyrinth. A labyrinth, FYI, is different from a maze in that all paths lead to the center; there are no dead ends. There are two arrows, and two paths. One represents information coming from our inner world (it starts in the Continue Reading
Cultivating Wellbeing
One of the things that contributes to our psychological wellness is having a guiding principle. If you know what is most important to you, it will be easier for you to make decisions, prioritize your tasks, and spend your time doing what is most important to you. Think about what is most important – your Continue Reading