u-oh, I've been thinking again :}

A thought just came to me that amazed and astounded me and I feel so excited by it, I am almost bursting to share.

The brain and nervous system are made up of billions of cells called neurons and these neurons send out information into the spaces between neurons, via chemicals and hormones, which tell the other neurons around it to either get excited or go to sleep.  (very basic, sorry).  Until recently, scientists believed that the neurons we are born with are all we have and they slowly die off over our lifespan.  In 2000, it was recognized that this is not so.  We can grow new neurons and the ones we have can change the way they communicate, which means we can heal problems in our brain cells!! 

If we are unwell, mentally, emotionally or physically, it can also be traced back to neurons in some way.  It has been proven over and over again that trauma (which is emotional in origin anyway) physically effects the brain.  Trauma can cause blindness, deafness, migraine, depression, chronic fatigue and lots of other so-called physical states.  Too much of this and the body/mind begins to break down and decay.

For more info on this sort of info, you might like to read “Waking The Tiger” by Peter A Levine; “The Brain That Heals Itself” by Norman Doidge; “Does Stress Damage The Brain” by J Douglas Bremner; “The Neuroscience of Psychotherapy” by Louis Cozolino; or even search the net coz there is some easy-to-understand info out there which I find really fascinating and helpful to know.

The thought that came to me today was:  What if the planet is an analogy for all this?

A few years ago, I read a book called “Your Body is the Barometer to Your Soul so be Your Own Doctor II” by Annette Noontil.  Annette wrote about how the planet is suffering from our lack of care and trying to wake us up and heave us off with earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, floods and other natural disinters.  It got me to thinking and I like the analogy in that.  Annette even writes a section in her book about how the problems with our cars can be traced back to our own thinking and emotional states, teaching us how to heal our lives.  I carried her book with me for two years and I found it so very useful.  I still look at my car that way and I still believe I am healing my body this way too.

That thought I had today though: What if the planet is an analogy for all this?

Suddenly my mind raced ahead (as it often does).  What if the planet is the mind/body and people are like the neurons?  We send out info into the spaces between us both verbally and non-verbally which either excites or inhibits those around us and, when the messages are mixed, wrong or confused, problems occur (just as they do in the brain).  So then, the neurons (people) are working hard to ensure homeostasis (natural function) and automatic, unconscious things are taken care of, without much awareness or mindful effort.  Things that are not unconscious or automatic require learning, flexibility, adaptation, patience, mindfulness, emotional and cognitive maturity, and application.

This is the same in the brain too.  The brain performs unconscious, automatic processes like heart beat, blood pressure, temperature control, thirst, hunger, sexual impulses, etc.  We don’t use the thinking or feeling parts of our brain to do this.  It just gets done.

Emotions or feelings are a way that our brain can tell us if we are okay or not, they are like a translator for us and they cause reactions within us.  When we feel good and healthy, our brain is probably doing okay.  When we feel miserable or in pain, our brain may not be coping so well and so our feelings are designed to alert us to this.  In today’s world of constant distraction and pressure, a lot of us have stopped paying any attention to feelings at all, or like me, stopped feeling all together. 

Our thinking brains are useful to help us understand, empathise, control urges, respond and consider.  This is supposedly what separates us from animals (not here to talk about creationism vs. science and don’t mean any offence).

So, back to my analogy.  If the planet is a global representation of humans and humans are an individual representation of the planet, then I can learn from the planet about my body, mind and spirit.  Learn what I need and don’t need.  This makes me feel really happy coz for a long time I have felt disheartened about this learning.  I would bemoan the fact that I have this amazing body to live in but haven’t any clue on how it works or what it needs to function at it’s optimum level.  Now I can employ environment to ‘home’ and vice versa.

Like the planet, when my body has had enough and can’t take anymore, it will try to wake me up with earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, tidal waves and more, in the guise (for me) of cluster headaches, spinal problems, arthritis, incontinence, asthma, pain and depression.

I look forward to the moments ahead as I learn from this great, amazing planet and absorb what she has to teach, while respecting and restoring her in kind along the way.