We all have 3 brains controlling us
The gut, the head and the heart. They are more connected than I realized! But not always in control. Sometimes they don’t work well with each other. And we know that if any one of these brains is causing problems, the whole body suffers!
Let’s face it, there are enough divisions outside of our bodies, we don’t need our insides warring also. We want our brains to communicate nicely with each other and run a healthy, united system together.
We concentrate a lot on taking care of the outside of the body, making is clean and presentable. We haven’t focused as much on the care of the brain, heart or gut in this country.
I researched this connection between the gut, brain and heart for a speech I gave. I was floored by what I learned! Here are some of my findings and how to get them all working together.
The Gut Brain
The gut is full of nerves and shares this nerve connection with the brain through the vegus nerve
Some people rely on their Gut feelings. Maybe you have experienced a “gut wrenching” event. Or have a “feeling in your gut” about something.
In fact, our gut knows when something is wrong before our brain. The brain is up there all alone and relies on information from the gut for what is going on.
Feelings in the Gut
Our gut digests feelings as well as food, so when emotions are not dealt with completely, and are just stuffed, they actually eat away at the gut.
Not only does this effect digestion, but many dis-ease issues begin in the gut.
Stress changes the gut bacteria.
Anxiety and depression can cause changes in the gut health. But inflammation in the gut can affect the brain and cause symptoms that look like autism, anxiety and depression. – Mental Health America
Healthy bacteria in our gut are our warriors that fight bad bacteria. They come from eating live foods.
Serotonin is well known as a brain transmitter. 90% of serotonin is made in the digestive tract.
“Altered levels of this serotonin have been linked to diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome, cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis” – CalTech
This means a compromised gut is going to effect our head brain also.
The Head Brain
A lot of new studies are being done on the brain. Science can now see how thoughts grow in the brain. According to Dr Caroline Leaf, a neuroscientist that studies thought patterns, the average person has over 30,000 thoughts a day.
A lot of these thoughts are random, they are like seeds. If we continue to think on something, that seed starts to grow, and they become like trees in our brain, called dendrites. The trick is, what kind of thoughts are we growing up there?
All memories have a feeling attached to them, that is how they are retrieved. Negative thoughts can grow as easily as positive ones. But they effect us a lot differently. They even look way different on scans. They grow toxins in our body.
We create the conditions for illness: we make ourselves well or sick!
Fear vs. Love
Fear shuts down all of our brains. Love literally lets light shine in!
“Research shows that fear triggers more than 1400 known physical and chemical responses.”
“Toxic thoughts and emotions disrupt and cause structural changes down to the cellular level.”
-Dr Caroline Leaf in her book, Who Switched Off My Brain?
Have you ever made yourself sick after a really stressful situation?
My first Gymnastics competition when I was nine years old, I got so sick I missed it. Just from the nervousness of thinking about it. I got physically sick after almost each one that first year.
The Heart Brain
“For as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he” Prov. 23;7
Our heart is the center of our desires. It is connected with the right side of our brain, the limbic center, which controls our emotions.
Groundbreaking research by Dr Candace Pert shows that emotions regulate what you experience as reality.
“You won’t believe it unless your brain’s limbic system (the seat of your emotions) allows you to feel that it is true.”
The right side of the brain is our feeling and subconscious side. The left side is our thinking and conscious side.
If we think in our brain that we want some thing in our life but we unknowingly feel in our heart (or subconscious mind) we are not worthy of it, we will likely not get it.
“The mind heart always wins out. The prayers of the heart are always answered.” – states the therapist and author, Karol Truman, in her book Feelings Buried Alive, Never Die.
The more our right and left brain, our thoughts and feelings, are lined up, the quicker we actualize those thoughts in our life.
So this single mindedness of heart and mind is huge. We need to both know it and feel it (believe)
James 1;8 “a double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”
Connecting the Brains
So how do we connect our 3 brains? 3 suggestions that were shared with me:
- We listen to our brains. They need to be good friends to each other and treat each other well.
We acknowledge our emotions and digest them. We digest them with forgiveness, acceptance, love. FORGIVE OURSELVES AND OTHERS.
- Change the reaction, by changing the thought. Excitement creates the same body responses as anxiety.
Excitement tightens my stomach and gives me sweaty palms too, just like stress. But excitement doesn’t shut down my creative thinking. So if I can say in my mind, “ I am excited to give this speech” for example, that creates a better reaction in my body then “I am anxious about this speech.”
- Do something physical to cement the change.
ie. have a hand pump that goes with your victorious thought. Or wear a reminder bracelet, etc.
Remember improving the health of any one of our brains, helps the others get healthier too. So you can start today on improving diet, thoughts and/or emotions for immediate benefits!
We are all connected and our bodies are our home we live in every moment.
“We are marvelously made!”