Category: Mind Body Spirit

March 13, 2022

Mind Chatter And How to Fix It

James Allen put it this way, “As a man thinketh, so is he.” This is the case because we truly are what we think about. This is based on the subconscious scripting written in the basement of our minds and the behaviors stimulated by memory and emotion related to that scripting. Our minds are plastique, meaning this scripting can be molded, changed and re-written over time, one just has to have access to the pliable parts of the brain.

To understand this, some basic understanding of the brain functions is essential. There are two main compartments in our mind.

The conscious side of the mind is where we analyze and logically think about our thoughts and images we’ve seen. This is the location where we have agency and choice and make decisions about whether we will accept those thoughts as truth or reject them. The fact that we can consciously think about our thoughts and analyze them is what differentiates us from the animals of the world. We can decide in advance of our action what reward or consequence will occur if we act out on those thoughts before acting upon them. This is the divine nature of man. Animals don’t think is way. They function solely on instinct.

The conscious mind is where we can choose and decide without the thought or image having an effect upon us. However, once the thought is spoken verbally, the thought and it’s associated emotion is recorded deeper within our minds by crossing the Critical Factor Belief System Barrier into our subconscious imagination. Once there, the thought is then amplified in the imagination, validated by previously recorded memories and may begin to generate emotional energy that can then activate the autonomic nervous system (brainstem) based on the degree of emotional stimulus.

It is, therefore, essential to think critically, analytically, and logically about the rewards and consequences of the thoughts we think before taking action. You have to decide in advance of speaking whether or not this thought is going to be right, true and correct for you, or inappropriate for you in advance of speaking it and moving on into acting upon it. If it is incorrect for you, you are to “bounce the thought out of your mind.” This means that you reject the thought outright, and the thought is not given subconscious access.

The subconscious mind acts like your own personal “genie in the bottle.” The genie in the bottle doesn’t care what is right or wrong, good or evil, worthy or unworthy. The genie only wants to fulfill the wishes of the conscious mind, the genie’s master. That’s is the reason seemingly good people can do bad things. It’s the reason that people are shocked by their own actions when they are place in situations of tremendous stress or trauma. Whenever and whatever you consciously speak, whether you know it or not you are directing the genie for good or ill. Anything that is a misdirection or a negative implication about yourself is considered to be “potty mouth verbiage” and self-sabotage.

Speaking negativity or talking yourself further into a problem instead of speaking your way out of it gives a directive to the subconscious mind. Speaking, “I am depressed,” is interpreted as a literal directive to the genie in your subconscious mind to turn up your feelings of depression. The genie doesn’t care or judge, it only wants to fulfill the directives from the conscious mind. If you exclaim, “I hate life!” the genie focuses you on everything about life that is unpleasant, difficult, and makes you miserable. The genie is doing its job to fulfill whatever you direct it to do. The same is true of positive things you say. When you say, “I love my life!” feel the difference.

It is necessary to clean out the basement or the subconscious mind from all the inappropriate rationalized stinking thinking patterns. To do this requires a stairway down to the basement. Trance, pondering or hypnosis is the stairway down. It is the intentional internal access to the basement of the mind. We want to intentionally go down to find out what rationalized thinking errors exist, and then, correct them at the level where they exist.

In the past twenty years of my medical practice, it’s become more and more difficult to address the disconnect between the conscious and subconscious mind and the subsequent diseases that arise from this disconnect with traditional approaches and medication.

Mind Chatter

The process and experience of becoming clear minded is a gradual process. Many people that I talk to tell me that they commonly experience their minds racing from subject to subject and experience to experience throughout the day. For many, this even occurs as they try to fall to sleep at night leading to chronic sleep deprivation and insomnia. So many thoughts occupy their minds, and so many voices seem to chatter to them daily. We call this “mind chatter,” and though most people think it is normal, having multiple memories and emotions bombard your mind is distracting and problematic to learning and normal day to day function.

With the advent of cell phones, handheld access to social media, the internet, and the media bombardment with COVID-19 fearmongering, this mind chatter has exploded across the generations, especially the among younger generation. We have created a younger generation stuck in their imaginations, highly susceptible to suggestion.

Take Your Mind Off of Guard Duty

Your mind creates this chatter to prevent forgetting important things to be completed. You can dramatically improve this by learning to Take Your Mind Off of Guard Duty. This means that before bed, or while you are in bed and a thought comes to mind, pull out a piece of paper and a pen and write down the thought, and then when you are going to thing about it tomorrow or the next day. It is essential to write down the date and time so that your mind no longer feels the need to worry and remind you . . . its’ written on the paper.

You can download a copy HERE of my bedside page to use to facilitate this exercise nightly.

Familiar Thoughts & Subconscious Memory

Many people experience these thoughts or voices as “familiar.” These voices sound much like their own thoughts. Because they are tied to emotion, many people feel they are their own thoughts and they believe these thoughts. They recall situations in school and childhood where they felt rejected, not good enough, not smart enough, etc. Constant thoughts and feelings of inadequacy, fear, and guilt fill their minds. These are things that journaling and hypnotherapy helps to correct and quiet.

Most of these thought scripts people hold in their subconscious minds are negative and have a binding effect, essentially holding people back from being and becoming all that they want to become.

The goal of hypnotherapy is to guide you in resetting your thought patterns back to a calm, clear, clean, confident, peaceful, powerful mind.

Eight Rules of the Mind

There are eight rules that govern interaction between the conscious and subconscious mind. These are important to understand:

Every thought or idea has a corresponding physical reaction.
What is expected tends to be realized.
Imagination is always more powerful than reason.
Opposing ideas cannot be held at one and the same time.
Once an idea has been accepted at the subconscious level, it remains there and governs our behavior in that area of our expression from that time forward until it is replaced by a new idea, or it altered and amended.
An emotionally induced symptom produces an organic change in the body when that emotion is persisted in long enough.
Each time your nervous system reacts in a given way, it becomes easier for the nervous system to react and respond that way the next time.
When dealing with the subconscious mind, the greater the conscious effort, the less the subconscious response.

All of Us Have Experience Trance Caused by Advertisers

The natural trance ability of the human mind has been used for centuries to establish thoughts and beliefs in the minds of people. And, like most things in life, these suggested beliefs could be meant for good or ill depending upon the intent of the person making the suggestion, and the content of the suggestions themselves. People can be stimulated through suggestion to release and enhance the natural healing capacities and properties of the mind and the body. On the flip side, people with evil or devious intent can attempt to use these natural trance abilities to promote ill will.

Most of the advertising we experience today takes advantage of our ability to go instantaneously into trance and become hyper-suggestible. This is done through the form of advertising jingles used to implant thoughts, ideas, and beliefs into our minds. These jingles serve essentially as “incantations” directed at our subconscious mind. Radio and TV advertisers use catchy, suggestive phrases (a form of what we all affirmations) to encourage, influence, and persuade us to buy their products or services. In particular, music enhances our natural inclination to go into trance, increasing our susceptibility to suggestions. Television advertisements combine music, affirmation scripts and visual cues with the intent to put us into trance.

Most of us have noticed a constant bombardment of advertising through TV, Radio and internet whenever a new product launch beings. Advertisers know that we need to hear the name of the new product and picture ourselves using it in our imagination several times to get us to accept a mental association and then internalize the message, memorize it and have a desire to own or use the item. Many of us often accept the suggestion, unaware of the process being used upon us.

For example, “Do you deserved a break today?” 100% of those reading these words will know exactly what I am talking about and the fast-food chain that wants you to have that break. Coke is currently using the “Yes No Song” as their jingle. Pepsi recently changed their tagline to “For The Love of It” with their own new hashtag #ForTheLoveOfIt.

I’m sure you’ve seen the 10 most effective jingles or catchphrases of all time:

These are all examples of intentionally focused scripts designed to bypass the conscious critical factor filter and immediately access the subconscious mind, be remembered, and stimulate emotion. Advertisers, and hypnotherapists alike, know that once you’ve scripted the subconscious mind, you think it, you feel it, and you act on it.

All People Experience Trance Daily

Hypnosis describes perfectly the natural processes of our mind. In fact, everyone experiences multiple episodes of trance levels every day during the normal routines of life. Each of us naturally go in and out of trance or hypnosis, experiencing different levels of altered states of mind on a daily basis. First, think of the various trance levels you go through as you go in and out of deep sleep.

Another example is when you have an important meeting the next morning and you have to get up at 6 am. You tell yourself, “I must be up by six o’clock , or I’ll be late. I must get up at 6 am.” Even though you never thought about what you were doing, you have likely found yourself waking up just before your 6 am alarm goes off. Your subconscious mind did exactly what you programmed it to do. You automatically woke up on time because this is something you directed your subconscious mind to perform. Our subconscious mind does for us exactly what we have established as our most predominant thoughts.

Another recognizable state of trance is that of daydreaming. This level of trance is also referred to as “waking hypnosis.” When you begin to think about the events of the day while driving down the freeway, focusing inwardly to the point that you drive right past your exit, unaware. Have you ever been on a long road trip, pull up in front of your garage door, and suddenly realize you are home? You can’t remember the last hour or so of driving. This is commonly referred to as “highway hypnosis” or “white line” hypnosis.” You simply shifted from an external-only focus consciously to a dual state of external and internal focus. In this state of mind you have the ability to perform both functions – consciously drive the car, yet internally focus on other thoughts, at one and the same time.

Perhaps the most obvious signs of trance are a deep and profound physical relaxation and lack of awareness of time. You have likely been in trance while concentrating on reading a book or watching a movie, or when you are highly focused on a project. When the book ends and you direct your thoughts toward an external focus, you become aware of time again. You suddenly think to yourself, “I cannot believe I’ve been reading for two hours already – it only seemed like minutes.” Or, you experienced the opposite. Something only lasted a few minutes, but it seemed to take hours.

A deeper state of trance or hypnosis may be experienced while watching TV. When someone in the family announces that dinner is ready, the person watching TV may not even move or blink an eye. In this case, both the conscious part of the mind and the subconscious mind have ben brought into greater concentration or singularity of focus.

Seven Observable States of Mental Awareness

Many people who have never studied trance are afraid of it because it is unknown and they’ve heard incorrect or false notions about these states of mind. They have understandable fear of the unknown and have not yet learned the ways in which they can use hypnosis for accomplishing worthwhile projects, behavioral changes and healing. Trance can be used to give you access to every thought, feeling, emotion, every sensory perception – touch, taste, smell and sound – you have ever experienced form birth until now.

Hypnosis or trance is simply a sleeplike state of enhanced concentration. There are seven different states that are easily identifiable. Each state has a different beneficial therapeutic effect when used appropriately.

Intentional Consciousness or Waking Suggestion
1. Where observation, analysis, critical thinking and evaluation occur
2. Wide awake, fully alert, eyes clear and bright, paying attention to detail
3. Person feels self-confident, self-control and the ability to make choices
4. Gama waves predominate in the brain with intense concentration– 100 Hz or more
5. Beta waves present with less complex thought 12 – 95 Hz
Waking Hypnosis or Daydreaming
1. Dual state of conscious and subconscious awareness with primary focus in the subconscious mind
2. Relaxed body, sag in jaw and shoulders, tearing of the eyes, dryness in the mouth, feeling an urge to swallow occasionally
3. Highly imaginative state – where we imagine ourselves the hero or heroine of a story or movie. Daydreaming about what we want to accomplish. Great state for affirmations. Spacing out in a classroom. Often experience when highly engrossed in a movie.
4. Beta waves present with internal focus 12-30 Hz
Hypnoidal Trance
1. Usually experienced first thing in the morning when you wake, but your body has not yet moved. It is that state when we mentally awake and wonder if we have overslept or wonder what time it is.
2. Mental awareness. Body still asleep. May experience a single jerk of the body or an “abreaction.”
3. This is the natural state of meditation and deep personal reflection. Often the state in which inspiration or personal improvement thoughts occur. Best state for prayer, affirmations and autosuggestion
4. Beta waves present 12-30 Hz
Catalepsy or REM State
1. Preferred state for hypnotherapy and creating new decision-making processes. Person has access to their own conscious and subconscious functions at the same time.
2. Ability to analyze, think and speak logically, as well as access subconscious imagination, memories and emotions
3. Robot-like movement, rapid eye movement side to side, slowed breathing, balance between the extensor and flexor muscles, ability to hold the arm out for long periods of time without fatiguing, some people will have some muscle rigidity in arms or hands
4. Preferred state for access to the conscious and subconscious mind at the same time.
5. Alpha waves predominate – 8-12 Hz
Somnambulism or Sleepwalking State
1. Intelligence is locked into the imagination and person is in chronic trance with the ability to walk around “asleep.” Limited ability to filter or block out thoughts or suggestions. Generally feel other’s opinions are of more value than their own.
2. Some individuals live in a chronic somnambulistic state since childhood, they are awake but very suggestable because they spend the majority of their day in their imaginations. These people must be de-hypnotized first.
3. Eyes roll up and back in their head. Lethargic in complete muscle relaxation.
4. State of high suggestibility, highly creative and imaginative. Architects, musicians, artists, designers and writers are often in this state. Used effectively for localized pain control.
5. Theta waves predominate – 4-8 Hz
Esdaile State or Hypnotic Coma
1. State of complete sensory desensitization and used today as a mode of complete pain control for birthing, dentistry and in pain clinics.
2. Deep state of trance and internal focus, produces temporary amnesia and analgesia, resistant to following commands and suggestions, can hear and understand what is going on around them, but chooses not to respond due to state of euphoria experienced, often state they want to be left alone to enjoy this state
3. Robot like, oblivious to pain, balance tone of extensors and flexors
4. Can be used to desensitize from troublesome perceptions. Natural anesthesia and amnesia for pain control
5. Delta waves predominate – 0.5-6 Hz
Sleep
1. The state just before deep sleep. Conscious mind become dormant; Subconscious mind dreams away emotional content of the day
2. Eyes closed, deep muscle relaxation, deep rhythmic breathing
3. Health and wellbeing enhanced and restored with 7-9 hours of sleep. Stress reduction occurs, improved heart function. Improved alertness and memory with regular adequate sleep.
4. Delta waves 0.5-4 Hz

As you can see from the states of hypnosis above, each of these states has beneficial uses for therapy. Dr. Nally or his hypnotherapist will help you reach and remain in the necessary state to address various components of thinking errors directly related to disease found within the subconscious mind. Everything in hypnotherapy is designed to move the “seat of power” back to consciousness and to remove the “double mindedness” disconnect that can occur between the conscious and subconscious mind.

You can learn more about fixing your mind chatter and mind-body medicine here.

Sources:

Boyne, G. (2017) Self-Hypnosis: Key to your inner power. Westwood Publishing.
Boyne, G. (1989). Transforming Therapy. Westwood Publishing.
Elman, D. (1964). Hypnotherapy. (2^nd) Westwood Publishing.
Levine, PA. (2010). In an unspoken Voice: How the body releases trauma and restores goodness. North Atlantic Books.
Parker, DW; Bickmore, CA; Crews, D. (2013). Spiritual Mind Management. CHTS.
Sarno, JE. (2006). The Divided Mind: The Epidemic of Mindbody Disorders. (Paperback ed.) HarperCollins Publishing.

February 20, 2022

You Are the Shark

A few years ago, my son and I were scuba diving the “Fish Bowl” just off the coast of the beautiful island of St Thomas in the Virgin Islands. This dive was 60-80 feet below the surface and was some of the most beautiful coral reef and aquatic life I have ever seen. The water was crystal clear with unlimited visibility and there were hundreds of schools of fish in this area.

As we dove into this amazingly beautiful depressed bowl-shaped area of coral that was about the size of a football field, more and more aquatic wildlife came into view.

We saw thousands of fish – the most colorful fish I’ve ever seen, hundreds of different species. We saw sting rays, barracuda, lobster, and some of the most beautiful coral I have ever witnessed. It was exhilarating, breathtaking and peaceful all at the same time.

However, as we swam over and around the ocean floor and through the coral caverns that lined it’s walls, I noticed something very unique. All of these species of aquatic life would swim, then rest. Many of them would rest for a period on the ocean floor or in a cove or cavern of the beautiful walls of coral reef.

Then, every few minutes, I’d catch the view of a group of reef sharks as they swam by. As they swam, they would watch us, and swim over or under our diving group. Yet, the sharks never stopped. They never rested or waited quietly on the ocean floor like the other aquatic predators we saw that day.

Majestic and fearsome creatures with the beautiful waving motion of their tails, sliding smoothly through the saltwater along the edges of the reef. These reef sharks and the other nurse and hammer head sharks we saw never stopped.

I learned a fascinating lesson that day. If a shark stops swimming, it dies.

The ocean may be its home . . .

And, the shark may be one of the most fearsome creatures under the deep blue . . .

But, without forward movement, the shark will drown. Sharks rely upon obligate ram ventilation of water passing through their mouths filtering oxygen as it is rammed against the gills.

If they stop swimming, they stop receiving oxygen. If they stop moving, they die.

It was a powerful life lesson.

You and I are much like the shark, we survive on a diet of protein, fat and movement.

You are a fearsome collection of appetites, powers, and instincts made for constant forward movement.

If you do not grow . . .

If you do not evolve, risk, or expand . . . Slowly but surely, you will die a spiritual or emotional death.

You may wish and pray it were otherwise. You can try to will yourself content with stagnation and starch . . .

You can try to force yourself to be satisfied. Believe me, I’ve tried.

Yet, as you know by now . . . it doesn’t take. It doesn’t work. Your hunger increases, and you start gasping for air.

You are the shark.

To whatever extent you have failed to move forward, that lack of momentum is drowning you in a deep blue sea of “what if’s,” “could have’s,” and “if only’s.”

You and I are not overwhelmed.

You are not suffering from too much. You and I suffer from TOO LITTLE.

Underwhelm frequently masquerades as overwhelm, and it stifles the life-giving apparatus.

You’re not over stretched. You’re not tapped out. You are profoundly under-utilized . . . bored, rotting & stymied.

The narrow walls of your life begin crushing your heart when you’re not moving. You know it’s true.

Even when everything within you wants to retreat . . .

Fin your tail, flair your vents and MOVE FORWARD.

Do not be afraid to play the bigger game, take the wild risk, make the bold move.

I gained four life lessons from this experience. These make more sense when viewed with this perspective:

Happiness is not the absence of problems; it is the ability to deal with them, swim at them head on.
Feeling sad after making a decision doesn’t mean you made the wrong decision. You decide and you keep moving.
You’re not stressed out because you are doing too much. You are stressed because you are doing too little of the things that make you feel most alive, the thing that keeps the oxygen moving across your gills.
The lesson you struggle with will repeat itself until you face it and learn from it.

Be the shark you were meant to be, and, at last, watch your life begin.

Adam Nally, DO

@DocMuscles

June 27, 2021

Sunday Evening Sunsets in Arizona

February 26, 2018

Dr. Nally’s Twenty Two Tough Truth’s

Sunday’s are my day of rest, . . . if a physician ever really rests? I’m sitting out under the stars very late on this Sunday evening, into the wee hours of Monday morning. (It’s our turn for flood irrigation at 2 o’clock in the morning). But, I appreciate these times of solitude. It is on Sunday’s that I’ve been able to work on twenty two life lessons (tough truths) that make life better. I do my best to treat Sundays as a “sacred” or “holy day,” a day of rest from my temporal labor, to contemplate the word of God, to pray & meditate, to participate in public worship and focus on where I am at in my personal spiritual development.

Yes, I know. I’m a physician; and yet, I believe in God.

No, it is not a contradiction. (I can already see my in-box filling up with agnostic castigation.) Friends of mine claim atheism or agnosticism. Yet in the day to day trenches of life, I find there is no real atheism. There is no such thing as not worshiping. When it comes down to it, we all worship something. We each have the choice of what we worship. Worship being defined as giving adoration, reverence or homage to someone or something.

We have the choice of worshiping the God, a god (however you may define god), spiritualism, truth, ethical principles, nature, football, money, your body, someone else’s body, power, fame, etc. You and I know this on a basic level, we just have to come to grips with what it is we hold on a pedestal, and to which we “pay homage.”

There comes a point, when one deals with life and death on a daily basis, that a person must question the very existence of God, and come to terms with who or what we actually pay homage. I’ve sincerely asked that question . . . I’ll leave that story for another time.

It’s during my Sunday afternoons, that I’ve been able to contemplate and attempt to re-apply the “tough truths” of life that seem to challenge me. So, instead of sharing some bacon with you this evening, I thought I’d share twenty two of the truths that I am working on improving in my life. (Though . . . they’re almost as good as bacon!)

Twenty Two Tough Truth’s that I’ve Learned & Had to Re-Learn in Life:

There is much about life over which we have absolutely no control. You cannot control everything that happens in life, but you can control how you respond. Your response is your greatest power. “The joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives, and everything to do with the focus of our lives.” (Russel Nelson)
It’s not about the cards you’ve been dealt, it’s about how you play the hand. (Randy Pausch)
W. C. Fields said, “Smile first thing in the morning and get it over with.” My expectations often make me utterly unhappy. Happiness is letting go of what you assume your life is supposed to be like right now, and sincerely appreciating it for everything that it actually is.
In mortality, we will always be incredibly imperfect. If you wait until you’re perfect before you share your stories, ideas, talents and gifts with the world, no one will ever hear from you.
A moment spent worrying is a moment wasted. Worrying will NEVER change the outcome. Do more, worry less. Train your mind to see the lesson in EVERY situation, and then make the very best of it. Liberating ourselves from our fears, automatically gives people the ability to do the same around you.
The best lessons often come from the very hardest days. If you are having a hard day, stand strong, there is a lesson here. Sometimes you have to experience a low point in life to learn a good lesson you couldn’t have learned any other way.
Success easily gets to our heads, and failure easily gets to our hearts. Our true character is usually revealed at our highs and lows. Be humble at the mountain top, steadfast in the valley’s and faithful in between.
We often confuse being busy with being productive. What you pay attention to grows. So, focus on what truly matters and let go of what does not. “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” (Jim Rohn)
More money left un-managed just creates more problem. Yes, we need money to live. Earn it. Save it. Invest it. But, avoid spending money you haven’t earned, to buy things you don’t need, to impress folks you don’t even know. Manage your money so it doesn’t end up managing you.
Most of us don’t need more to be happy – we need less. When things aren’t adding up in life, begin subtracting. Life gets much simpler when you clear away the physical and mental clutter that makes it complicated.
Our fancy gadgets (phones, computers, tablets, radios, etc.) often get in our way and dehumanize us. We all need to learn to be more human again. Don’t avoid eye contact. Don’t hide behind the gadgets. Smile often. Ask about people’s stories . . . And, then, listen.
We don’t always get what we give. You will end up sadly disappointed if you expect people will always do for you as you do for them. Not everyone has the same heart you do.
Most arguments we have with one another are pointless. Be selective in your battles. Peace in this moment may be better than being right. You actually don’t need to attend every argument into which you’ve been invited. “You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every barking dog.” (Winston Churchill)
I’ve never met a strong and confident person with an easy past. Be grateful for your scars. Be thankful for the emotional muscle and physical strength you gain from standing against the winds of life.
The only way to completely avoid pissing people off is to do nothing of importance.
The true definition of “Hell” is to meet the person you could have become on your last day on earth.
Just because you fell off the ketogenic wagon today, doesn’t give you license to drag it into the woods, set it on fire and use the insurance money to buy Twinkies.
“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” (Mae West)
Ignoring your passion in life creates anxiety. Ignoring the anxiety, creates panic and hopelessness. Never ignore what moves you. Mold your work around the lifestyle that brings you passion, don’t mold your passion around your career.
The human body tends to move more or less in the direction of your expectations. This is why it is so important to know that the attitudes of confidence and determination you feel and hold are just as much a part of your treatment program as medical science and technology.
The hottest places in Hell are reserved for those, who in times of great moral crises, maintained their neutrality. (paraphrased from Dante Alighieri)
A man would do well to carry a pencil in his pocket, and write down the thoughts of the moment. Those thoughts that come unsought after in the moment are commonly the most valuable, and should be secured by recording them, . . . because they seldom return. (Brigham Young)

Over the years, I’ve carried a leatherbound little notebook with me and I write down thoughts or quotes I hear into that little note book. Among these thoughts and quotes I’ve collected, I’ve found that on Sundays, I can let my mind chew on them.

One of the things that I’ve learned over the years is that observing a weekly “day of rest,” or “holy day,” is that this behavior is one of the most important safeguards to health and wellness. I’ve learned this from my personal experiences during periods when I didn’t observe the “day of rest” and periods where I have closely guarded that “day of rest.” I’ve found that observing the Sabbath has truly become a “delight” as spoken of by the Old Testament prophet, Isaiah.

Science Demonstrates Importance of Day of Rest

What is fascinating, is that science has recently demonstrated how this works. In early 2000, Marcus Raichle from Washington University demonstrated that the human brain demands 20 percent of the body’s energy and uses only 5-10 percent more when solving calculus problems, reading a book (or this blog post, for that matter) or writing a letter. However, they noticed that some areas of the brain became notably less active when concentrating on a mental challenge, but fired synchronously when laying flat in an MRI scanner, allowing their thoughts to wander (1).

This was confirmed by a number of other researchers who noted that there was a coordinated communication between diverse areas of the brain when people were “resting.” This mysterious coordination between different parts of the brain during “daydreaming” has become known as the default mode network (DMN). In the last few years, we’ve learned there are actually five different “resting state networks” that coordinate vision, hearing, movement, attention & memory. However, the DMN is the most researched and appears to be the most important.

Dr. Immordino-Yang reviewed the research on the DMN and found that downtime is an opportunity for the brain to make sense of what it has recently learned. It is during this “day of rest” that the mind coordinates unresolved tensions, conversations we had earlier in the week, re-writing verbal blunders, and practicing standing up to those that intimidate us. Our minds shuffle through the neglected to-do lists and post-it notes on the mental refrigerator of our brain, searching for solutions and answers. It moves back and forth through childhood scenes and futuristic adult hopes and dreams. It is during this time that our brain looks at the moral connotations of our performance with others (3).

Other research demonstrates that the mind solves very tough problems during this period of rest and day-dreaming. You may have experienced something like this when you solve a problem while in the shower. (I hate to admit it, but many of my problems get solved in the shower.) When the mind isn’t actively working or learning something new, it can accumulate, memorize and rehearse recently learned skills, actually transcribing them onto new brain matter (4). Recent research demonstrates that this recording of new memory and skill, called “sharp-wave ripples” actually occurs more often during “rest periods” than during sleep (5).

Meditation and the Day of Rest

Meditation and/or prayer have been shown to strengthen connections between regions of the DMN. Those that observe a day of rest with meditation develop a more intricate wrinkled cortex, the outer layer of the brain that gives us the ability to perform abstract thought and introspection. Meditation appears to increased both the volume and density of the hippocampus, the area of the brain essential for memory storage and the frontal cortex that allows us to control or rein in emotions. Fascinatingly, meditation and observance of a “day of rest” slows the natural “wilting” of the brain regions required for sustained attention that normally withers as we age (6, 7, 8, 9).

How soon does observing a rest day or “keeping the Sabbath” become effective? A number of studies show that noticeable changes occur within a couple of weeks. More importantly, daily meditation has been show to be more effective in the long run than the total hours of meditation over one’s lifetime (10,11).

As a physician and a clinical hypnotherapist, I personally use and recommend daily meditation. If you want a free copy of my self-guided meditation program for relaxation and weight loss, CLICK HERE.

Now, what I want to know, is does bacon intake during the rest day have any effect on the hippocampus, frontal cortex or wrinkle cortex? I guess we’ll have to wait for that research to be completed. In the mean time, check out my membership page to see what we do know about the use of fat and cholesterol does to help attention and energy.

References:

1. Raichle ME, MacLeod AM, Snyder AZ, Powers WJ, Gusnard DA, Shulman GL. “The maturing architecture of the brains default network.” Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2001 Jan 16; 98(2):676-82.

2. Moussa MN, Steen MR, Laurienti PJ, Hayasaka S. “Consistency of Network Modules in Resting-State fMRI Connectome Data” PLOSone. 31 Aug, 2012. http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0044428.

3. Immordino-Yang MH, Christodoulou JA, Singh V. “Implications of the Brain’s Default Mode for Human Development and Education.” Perspectives on Psychological Science. 29 Jun, 2012. 7(4): 352-364.

4. Payne, JD. “Learning, Memory, and Sleep in Humans.” Sleep Medicine Clinics. Mar 2011. 6(1):15-30. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1556407X10001220.

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August 8, 2017

Keto Happy – Do You Live A Life of Happiness?

Founded by the Secret Society of Happy People in 1999, August 8th was officially named the National Day of Happiness. It was a day created to recognize and express happiness. (I personally think it should involve the sharing of bacon, but some may disagree.) Most people, whether they admit it or not, are searching for happiness. (Most people are searching for bacon, too, . . . but that is for another article.) We hope for happiness, we aim for happiness, and we wish happiness upon our family, friends and neighbors at holidays and birthdays. It appears to be a desired condition of the soul.

In medical school, we learn that the body is almost 80% water. One of my professors intelligently quipped, “if you’re unhappy all day, that means you are essentially a cucumber with anxiety.” For many people, happiness is really hard to find. Money is hard to find . . . but, that’s because it gets wasted by people trying to find happiness

What exactly is happiness? It is a transient condition or state of cheerfulness, contentment, satisfaction or pleasure. Many people mistake meaningfulness as happiness. Meaningfulness to one’s life is more enduring. For example, suddenly having a wind-fall of cash may make you happy for the short term. However, what you actually do with that cash over the next few days, months and years is what brings degrees of meaning to your life.

Basics of Happiness

Happiness is based upon your emotional & spiritual vision, and how living your life aligns with the principles you hold most valuable. You can’t control all of the circumstances of your life. Things both good and challenging will happen to you that you never expected. However, you have control of your own happiness. You and I are the architects of it.

In working with a majority of patients who are over 65 years old, I have found that the older we get, the more we look back and realize that external circumstances don’t really matter or determine our happiness. We determine our happiness.

How do we increase our level of happiness? There are 10 Simple Steps to Happiness:

1. Improving Health

As a doctor, I’m a huge advocate of improving your health which plays a dramatic role in happiness. Losing as little as 10 lbs has been shown to improve energy, decrease your risk for major disease, improve sleep, improve sex life, and decrease inflammation. Improvements in any of those areas will reduce stress and anxiety and increase happiness so you can imagine while improvements in ALL of these areas could dramatically change your life.

As an advocate of the ketogenic lifestyle, I’ve found that the majority of my patients are able to lose 5-15 lbs each month for the first three months using this approach. They average 2-5 lbs pf weight reduction each month there-after while following a ketogenic approach over the long term. Understanding that this is one of the long term keys to success in happiness I want to make sure you know that I’ve developed some custom strategies to help with this and will share them with you below. This lifestyle decreases risk for diabetes by 75%, improves mental clarity, and slows the aging process. (Who wouldn’t want those side effects while eating bacon?)

2. Savor Daily Experience

Bacon Wrapped Jalapenos

First, savor the daily experiences. We live our lives at such a high speed, we often neglect to take time to enjoy the experiences around us. A recent trip in down town Amarillo, Texas, brought me to the front doors of a restaurant that served cream-cheese & sausage stuffed, bacon wrapped, jalapenos (try saying that 5 times fast). I had a bit of time and decided to try them. It was the first time in 3-4 days that I actually had the chance to slow down and savor the place around me, the flavors of the food, and the atmosphere of the restaurant.

Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno’s & Happiness

Just taking a bit of time to savor these things made this experience a very memorable and happy experience that I probably won’t soon forget.

Take 3-5 minutes today to just think about where you are. Savor the smell of a rose, the color of the sky, the shape of the clouds or the sight of a bird. These sensory images can, and will, leave indelible memories and release dopamine and serotonin naturally in the brain. Savoring the daily experiences of life can be part of the process of meditation we will talk about below.

3. Volunteer

Get involved and volunteer in meaningful activities around your neighborhood, church & community. Research shows that voluntarily giving of time increases happiness in the giver. It also allows one to see, participate with and help those around you who may be less fortunate. Volunteering your time and energy regularly increases your gratitude we will discuss further below.

4. Express Gratitude

Expressing gratitude daily has been shown to dramatically increase your sense of well-being and happiness. Expressing gratitude requires awareness. It requires you to take inventory of everything around you (something you will already be doing if you are savoring your daily experiences). Gratitude can be expressed in a journal, through prayer & meditation, or directly to those around you. However, expressing gratitude requires effort.

In the Judaeo-Christian view, expressing gratitude is actually a method of expressing faith. The 17th chapter of Luke holds a biblical example of this concept. When the leper returned to express his thanks to Jesus Christ for being healed, he wasn’t told “Your gratitude made you whole.” Christ told him, “Thy faith hath made thee whole.” He implied that the act of expressing gratitude is a demonstration of faith, a necessary and essential process in human development.

5. Recognition of Personal Value

I’m not talking about your bank statement or personal financial statement. I’m talking about recognizing the value of your soul. The only successful non-medication based program to help people overcome addiction is the 12-Step Program through Alcoholics Anonymous. The essential second step of the twelve is recognition that a power greater than ours is involved in our lives. Whether, you believe in God or a greater universal power, recognition of your value is an essential perspective to gaining happiness. This has been demonstrated thousands of times through the 12-Step Programs.

Often, the feeling we have of our personal worth is based on the love and interest we receive from those around us. Yet, this love is sometimes lacking. The love of men is often imperfect, incomplete, or selfish. What if you looked at yourself with the same benevolence, love, and confidence that God does? Imagine the impact it would have on your life to understand your eternal potential as God understands it. If you could view yourself through His eyes, what influence would that have on your life? Recognition of this principle is essential to making any lasting change.

6. Become Who You Are

The celebrated Greek poet, Pindar, said, “Become who you are.” Isn’t this a paradox? How does one become who they already are?

Many of my and the younger generations grew up to the sounds and images of The Lion King. You probably remember the scene where Simba receives a visit from his father, Mufasa, the deceased king. After his father died, Simba fled from the kingdom because the guilt he felt about his father’s death. He wanted to escape his responsibility as heir to the throne.

His father appears to him and warns him: “You have forgotten who you are and so have forgotten me. Look inside yourself, Simba. You are more than what you have become. You must take your place in the circle of life.” Then this invitation is repeated several times: “Remember who you are. … Remember who you are.”

Simba, completely shaken by this experience, decides to accept his destiny. He confides in his friend, the shaman monkey, that it “looks like the winds are changing.”

The monkey replies, “Change is good.”

And Simba says: “But it’s not easy. I know what I have to do. But going back means I’ll have to face my past. I’ve been running from it for so long.”

“Where are you going?” the monkey asks him.

“I’m going back!” cries Simba.

(This is also a great movie because of the “bacon references:”)

Admit it. You smiled didn’t you!

7. Meditation

Meditation and prayer have been shown to actually change areas of the brain that relate to stress management and mood regulation. People who meditate regularly over long periods of time have better ability to find and maintain positive states like joy and compassion. Richard Davidson and his colleagues found that meditation increases brain activity in areas related to happiness as well.

8. Relationships

Happiness has been linked to quality relationships as well. Robert Wallinger, psychiatrist at Harvard University, conducted a 75 year multi-generational study on happiness. He found that the quality of the relationships was powerfully connected to happiness. Lonely people were less happy and had poorer health. People with higher-quality relationship or social ties were the happiest.

However, it wasn’t just having a relationship, but having one with a stable and consistently caring person that made the difference. Having lots of acquaintances or being in a relationship with an unreliable or abusive partner did not make people happier. Amazingly, listening (savoring shared experiences) and complimenting (expressing gratitude) improve the quality of relationships. (Sharing your bacon improves relationships as well.)

9. Food

A number of studies have demonstrated that a ketogenic diet increases gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), a key neuro-hormone signaling satiety and pleasure, in the brain. GABA increases sensations of happiness and euphoria. (Yes, this is why eating bacon makes you and I happier. It’s probably why the thought of bacon in the video above made you smile.) Shifting into a ketogenic state at least periodically has the effect of increasing your sense of happiness throughout the day. It is actually the ketone that does this. Whether you get into ketosis through diet alone, or through the use of exogenous ketones, both methods are effective in aiding you in your quest for happiness.

10. Allow Others to Help

I know you are probably familiar with the term it is better to give than receive but did you know there is evidence to support the reverse is true too? That happiness also comes from allowing others to help? Think about it. When you are helping others, especially when they appreciate it, you feel happiness or joy. Others experience those same feelings when they are able to help you. Think of a child that wants to make you a meal. No matter what it looks like when it gets to you, you smile and feel happy at the effort, the child smiles back proud at their success. There is happiness in giving and receiving.

So today’s your chance to receive. As a doctor, I find myself shying away from sharing this information with you directly because I never want anyone to feel like my efforts are about me. I’ve spent years learning and understanding the benefits of a Ketogenic lifestyle and spent additional years researching products that work and my local patients are experiencing tremendous results! A friend told me that not sharing this information with people directly was actually being selfish. (Ouch!) “When you know someone has a problem that you can solve, shouldn’t you share it and let them make their own decisions?”

Although that was painful to hear, it helped me commit to being more direct about how I can help all of you to feel better. If you are ready to change the way you feel and want to live a happier, healthier life, the time is NOW. Put these 10 steps in action and enjoy the benefits of a KetoLifestyle. If you want to know more about what I do, keep reading my blog, join my weekly newsletter and watch me Live Stream every week on Facebook Live & Periscope giving you free tips and tricks to stay healthier. If you know you are ready for a change, and you want to see how I can help, check out the variety of Ketogenic programs I offer to help you find the Happiness inside You! Because we all love gifts and they make us Happy, in honor of #NationalHappinessDay, you should see a pop up here for something special! ] Be sure to click here to go to the Keto Kart and cash in on better health!

However you decide to approach your day today, choose to be happy. It really is up to you.

January 12, 2017

Three Things . . .

Are you interested in controlling your weight? It revolves around thought, speech and behavior. Sign up for my FREE six-part weight loss mini-course above and find out how.

December 27, 2015

Does Jung & Myers-Briggs Typology Effect Obesity?

Sitting around the dinner table this evening we began discussing personality types. As a fun exercise, we each took the Jung Typology Test based on Jung and Myers-Briggs findings about personality. If you haven’t taken this personality test, you might find it quite interesting and the topic of hours of conversation around the dinner table . . . as we did this evening. The test is free on-line and takes about 10 minutes.

Carl Gustav Jung – Swiss Psychiatrist & Psychotherapist

The actual Myers-Briggs Type Indicator costs about $50.00 and includes an interpretation by someone trained in giving the test. It differs slightly in its questions and the way the testing is interpreted.

Both tests provide an interesting insight into your individual psychological preferences regarding four categories. According to Carl G. Jung’s theory of psychological types published in 1971, people can be characterized, first, by their preference or general attitude about the source of and how they express their energy:

Extraverted (E) vs. Introverted (I)

The second preference is one of the two functions of perception, or related to how they perceive information coming from either the external or internal world:

Sensing (S) vs. Intuition (N)

and the third preference relates to how one processes the information that they have received, acting as one of the two functions of thought or judgement:

Thinking (T) vs. Feeling (F)

Isabel Briggs Myers, a researcher and practitioner of Jung’s theory, proposed that the fourth preference related to how one applies or implements the information that he or she processed above. She proposed a judging-perceiving relationship as the fourth dichotomy influencing personality type in 1980:

Judging (J) vs. Perceiving (P)

Each of these dichotomies represents an opposite pole of preference and each of us have a dominant pole toward which we gravitate.

Based upon your dominant traits, a personality type index is assigned.

Kim and Lee studied these personality preferences and how they relate to diet, health and propensity toward obesity. Their findings were interesting in that expression, perception and judgement did not seem to have any bearing on health or obesity. However, the application of judgement vs perception did play a role in health. Judging (J) means that a person organizes all of his or her life events and, as a rule, sticks to those plans. Perceiving (P) means that he or she is inclined to improvise and explore alternative options.

Significantly better dietary and health behaviors were identified in those preferring Judging (J) versus those preferring Perceiving (P) traits. Those preferring the Judging (J) behaviors included eating breakfast, regularly eating three meals a day, smoking less, exercising more and having a lower tendency to nocturnal eating.

The findings show that the use of Jung Type or Myers-Briggs Type Indicator may be helpful in identifying and index those with a Perceiving (P) trait that would benefit from dietary and exercise education, nutritional counseling and/or behavior modification programs.

It has been my experience that those with a “P” type dichotomy preference would benefit greatly from daily food planning and journaling.

So, what is your Jung/Myers-Briggs type?

Just for fun, and because my kids were very curious about what each personality type would appear as in character, I’ve included the Jung/Myers-Briggs Disney typing.

I’m an ENFJ, just in case you’re curious.

References:

October 18, 2015

Psychology of the Ketogenic Lifestyle . . .

Ketogenic Lifestyle – the Balance of Endocrinology & Psychology

Over the last few weeks, I’ve had the pleasure of talking to a number of patients and friends about what it means to live a ketogenic lifestyle. A low-carbohydrate or ketogenic lifestyle is different from a low-carb diet. It is different because the definition of lifestyle implies the way a person lives their life that reflects specific attitudes and values, not just how they eat. My recent posts, The Principle Based Ketogenic Lifestyle – Part I and Ketogenic Principles – Part II, focus on fundamental principles making the ketogenic lifestyle one in which balance and grounding in all aspects of life can occur. When the mind, the body or the spirit are out of balance or un-grounded, symptoms of metabolic inefficiency, sickness or disease result.

I have been fascinated, as a family practitioner, that the body produces “warning flags,” when there is dysfunction in one of these areas: mind, body & spirit. These warning flags are byproducts of inefficient inter-related functionality between the body’s systems and it is one of the foundation principles of osteopathic medicine. Prior to the advent of many of our diagnostic techniques today like MRI, CT scan, advanced laboratory evaluations, and ultrasound, these were the only indicators of disease that a physician could identify, and upon which diagnosis was made. These flags often show up on the skin, in the hair or nails, in the complexion, or in general appearance or mannerisms.

Skin Tags (fibroepitheial polyps) under the arm

For example,”skin tags” are now recognized as pathognomonic, specifically indicative, of insulin resistance and will often occur up to 20 years before impaired fasting glucose or diabetes is ever recognized.

Exopthalmos (bulging or protruding of the eyes) from hyperthyroidism

Exopthalmos, or protrusion of the eyes, is pathognomonnic for overactive thyroid function (hyperthyroidism), and spider angiomas occur as a somatic flag that cirrhosis of the liver is present.

Alligator Skin (severe dry skin) found in hypothyroidism

Hair loss and dry skin, or “alligator skin,” represents the exact opposite with an under-active thyroid (hypothyroidism).

Spider angioma seen with cirrhosis

When metabolic pathways get “clogged” or flow of blood, lymphatic fluid or hormones do not reach the destinations they were meant to reach, symptoms of accumulation or poor function begin to arise.

Anterior Chapman’s Reflex Points (images adapted from Osteopathic Foundations of Medicine.)

The osteopath is also trained to recognize a corollary Chapman’s Reflex Points that act as flags for dysfunction in specific organs or regions of the body. These points relate directly to what causes the pathognomonic flag. I frequently identify abdominal, adrenal, pancreatic and liver Chapman’s points present in those with insulin resistance, inflammatory diseases, pre-diabetes and diabetes. Understanding how to interpret and use these flags comprises four years of medical school and three to four years of residency and often years of clinical application.

Mental or spiritual pathways can often be bloc-aided by poor recognition of, or refusal to acknowledge, individual truths in our lives. Interestingly, the signs or warning flags of spiritual dysfunction are also expressed physically.

“Oh, no?! Dr. Nally are you going to get all religious on us?”

Maybe.

Over the last 15 years of my medical practice, I’ve witnessed the spiritual component of the “mind, body, spirit” unit, or lack thereof, have profound impact on the body’s ability to heal. Every one of us must defeat what Sigmund Freud called the pleasure principle – the human instinct to seek pleasure and avoid pain, including recollections or memories that are painful. Hiding from these memories because of pain is very common and is part of human nature. We often believe that thinking about or re-living the truth may cause us individual overwhelming un-survivable grief. So, we naturally bury the thoughts and emotions and feelings deep down into our subconscious minds.

In fact, we take irrational risks, busy ourselves, use food or drink for short term comfort and move from one distracting or debilitating relationship to another. We lose and then regain gain weight, become workaholics, hide behind thousands of texts, social media posts and emails in order to protect ourselves from the part of ourselves that we don’t want to think about.

However, when we step away from the distractions and courageously look at our individual history, our personal life story, honestly and completely, feelings of sadness, anxiety, regret and anger may often arise. These painful emotions bring with them essential insights into how experiences will help you and I individually grow, become a better people, and help others along the path. It takes faith to trust that these experiences will not destroy us, but were allowed to occur by a loving Father or Creator, understanding that for you and I to grow, we must each be given individual agency to chose. It takes faith to recognize that that Father has your individual best interest in mind. Hiding from these emotions clogs the mental and spiritual systems and fuels disabling depression, anxiety, insomnia and fatigue. These feelings, real as they are, persist when there is no other physical sign of illness. That’s because this illness is not physical. It is spiritual. When we are out of line with the truths that bring peace and balance to our lives, negative, self-limiting patterns of activity and fear stifle growth and development mentally.

It is fascinating to me that on more than one occasion, as an osteopath, when a patient suffering from these symptoms gets a massage or has an osteopathic or chiropractic manipulative treatment, they may suddenly become tearful or have unexpected release of emotion. Physical treatment over the areas of congestion can, and do, cause a reflex triggering of mental, emotional or spiritual release of tensions.

How do I know that it is truth we are hiding from? Take the words of the Buddhist teacher Sogyal Rinpoche found in The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying among many others throughout the ages:

“Saints and mystics throughout history have adorned their realizations with different names and given them different faces and interpretations, but what they are all fundamentally experiencing is the essential nature of the mind. Christians and Jews call it “God”; Hindus call it “the Self,” “Shiva,” “Brahman,” and “Vishnu”; Sufi mystics name it “the Hidden Essence”; and the Buddhists call it “buddha nature.” At the heart of all religions is the certainty that there is a fundamental truth, and that this life is a sacred opportunity to evolve and realize that truth.”

“Wait a minute, what does all this have to do with a ketogenic lifestyle?”

The ketogenic lifestyle is one that is based on values. A patient following a ketogenic diet recognizes that food has just as powerful effect on the hormones of the body as does prescription drugs. Understanding the value of hormone balance and the principles that effect weight, inflammation, blood pressure and cholesterol, the ketogenic lifestyle is one in which carbohydrates are restricted in an individually tailored way to obtain the end goal. How does a ketogenic lifestyle balance mind and spirit?

Step One –

Put down your force-field. This takes courage and it takes faith. Your force-field is any distraction that keeps you from thinking and feeling and identifying truth. These include excessive alcohol, illicit drugs, binge eating, smoking, gambling, working excessively or getting lost in repetitive dramatic romantic relationships .

Believe me, the force-field gets heavier every day. After my father passed away at age 58 from the major complications of diabetes and my sister committed suicide a few years later, I threw myself into work and church service. I worked 16-18 hour days, completed a second board certification in Obesity Management and a fellowship in Health Policy, all while serving as a bishop and counselor in my church. I found that I could raise my force-field of justification to hide from the pain and emotions of family illness and depression.

But the force-field saps your energy and cheats you out of seeing your full potential. I found that as long as I held up my force-field (and some of us care more than one), I couldn’t see the experiences that made me who I am and connect me with those I was trying to serve and help. As long as I was holding up my force-field, I was living in the fear of re-experiencing the pain of loss and the worry of future disease, . . . and people sense that.

You don’t have to drop the force-field all at once. You don’t have to quit work and become a hobbit. You just have to lower the field a little bit, enough to peek over and let the Eternal Truth shine on you. Truth is a funny and powerful thing. The more we overcome our reluctance, face the pain and the fear, the more we realize just how often things begin to go well for us. Living in the presence of great truth and eternal law and being guided by permanent values is what keeps a man patient when the world ignores him, and calm and unspoiled when the world praises him.

Step Two –

Identify emotional or behavioral patterns that you want to change. If you don’t know, ask a trusted friend, your spouse, or your relatives. As I think back over the years, I had a couple trusted friends pull me aside and identify a few of those patterns face to face. I appreciate that, and I’ve never forgotten it.

Make a list of the events in your life that you regret and wish you would have made a different decision.
Go over the list as many times as you need to to identify the pattern or theme that seems to tie the regrets together.
Then actually write down the theme or reason that you identified as the cause. This allows you to identify and remove the corrupted soft-ware of your soul.
This process can take time and is often camouflaged by denial.
Major insight often comes as a knock on the door of denial, so listen carefully to what is being said. Listen to yourself listening. Psychiatrists say that if something said while listening to a patient makes them suddenly feel sad or irritable, then that may be a meaningful theme in the patient’s life. Listen to your gut feelings as you go through the day. Don’t ignore a prompting from your soul.

Step Three –

Realize that today’s negative emotional and behavioral patterns are connected with painful memories and unsolved past conflicts.

Do you get a gut feeling that you want to change the subject when someone brings up a financial setback? Do you want to reply with one liners like, “I’m sure it will all work out?” Are there other topics that make you uncomfortable? Ask yourself why that topic makes you uncomfortable . . . seriously, ask yourself, and then answer yourself. Do you suspect your spouse of cheating when there is no objective evidence to support the suspicions? Recognize these uncomfortable feelings are our subconscious waving flags to make us each aware of unresolved conflicts within our mind and spirit.

Remember, we attract the type of energy we give off.

Step Four –

Pray to whatever higher power you believe in. Meditation, prayer and “ponderizing” brings a reservoir of faith and courage to find and to face the truth. If you have the faith, get on your knees and sincerely ask God for help facing your truth and the challenges, fears and sadness that reflecting upon it may initially bring. I promise you that you will gain the strength to accomplish the task. It will bring the strength to overcome the hidden trauma in your earlier life and will give you the strength to resist the call of ice cream at 3 am.

Following these four simple steps, keeps you vigilant to the physical and spiritual warning flags that may arise on your ketogenic journey and will bring great confidence while modifying your diet to balance your body’s hormonal milieu. Confidence inspires courage. Those with courage and confidence in themselves, and faith that they are on the right path, are unstoppable. Good luck . . . I look forward to seeing you on my journey down the same path.

October 4, 2015

The Simple Effects of Ponderizing . . . The First Step in a Principle Based Ketogenic Lifestyle

I have found, over time, that happiness in life seems to be the greatest when I strive for balance in the three basic aspects of life: Mind, Body & Spirit. Yes, I am a physician, and I spend the majority of my day applying advise and treatment plans that have been demonstrated to be effective through the tried and true scientific method. However, I know from personal experience, and from working closely with patients for over 15 years, that science alone, does not bring fullness and happiness to life. Truth and learning can be found through study and also by faith. Finding balance and peace physically is important, but finding that balance emotionally and spiritually are often essential. Being able to follow a Ketogenic Lifestyle effectively over the long term (longer than 6 months) actually requires understanding of some basic principles. This is the first in a series of articles regarding The Principle Based Ketogenic Lifestyle.

I treat patients with obesity, one of the most difficult diseases to address in the medical office. I find that just applying diet alone doesn’t always solve the problem. If the patient’s life is out of balance emotionally or spiritually, the stress this causes often halts effective weight loss and metabolic healing. You may disagree with me on political or religious issues, but healing is not about politics nor is it about religious doctrine – it is about understanding where we are, the path forward, and our potential to get there. The mind, body and spirit are deeply interconnected. Often, until we recognize and treat those connections, true healing cannot occur.

The first step in treating any illness, including weight, is recognition of the problem. The Medical Community has recognized Obesity as a disease, but obesity is also a symptom of underlying physical metabolic dysfunction that may be tied to the mind and spirit. Daily journaling is the tool that lets one see if the dysfunction is tied to mind or spirit. I ask my patients to keep a daily food journal. This is very important in looking at the patterns of macro-nutrient intake. But the more powerful effect of journaling allows one to see how food is tied to emotion – mentally and spiritually.

Simply writing down what you eat each day, when you eat it, and how you felt after you at it is actually quite profound. The patterns that emerge are usually seen and identified by the patient long before I ever see them. In fact, patient’s often bring those patterns up before ever showing me their food journals.

I’ve found, in keeping a food journal myself, that combining my journaling with other other daily goals, uplifting thoughts and reminders was even more helpful and powerful. This can be done on paper, a notebook, a planner or even on the computer. (I have a few patients who are accountants or engineers – they bring in complex spread sheets). What is important is daily consistency. It takes about 3-4 weeks of journaling to begin to see patterns.

I have taken the advise of one of the leaders of my church to “ponderize” a scripture, meaningful poetic verse or truth filled quote each week as part of the journaling process. He defined “ponderizing” as the act of pondering and memorizing a scripture or a favorite uplifting poem or verse each week. This is done by writing the verse on a written card or note in a place that you will see it frequently each day during the week. When you see it, read it and ponder it. Just the process of frequently reading it will lead to memorization each week. I have found that reading and pondering a verse 3-4 times a day for a week, lends itself to easy memorization. Each time you read the verse, think about it and ponder it for a moment, then go on with your day. This will give you a brief opportunity to elevate your thoughts each day, and will give you a place your mind can go and think when you don’t have to think. It gives your subconscious mind the ability to solve complex patterns at a higher level.

Said David O. McKay, “Tell me what you think about when you don’t have to think, and I’ll tell you what you are.” “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he . . . ” (Proverbs 23:7).

For some reason, with all the cares of the day, work, family and the challenges of life, I have fallen out of this habit for some time. When this leader mentioned this process in his comments, I was reminded of the peace and balance I used to feel each week when doing this simple activity. I have recommitted myself to restart this activity and I invite you to do the same. This time to ponder opens your mind and allows you access the deeper worries and fears holding you from what you what to accomplish. It takes great courage to make permanent lifestyle and dietary changes. When someone can’t clearly see what lies ahead, it fills them with fear, doubt or both. But journaling, even in its simplest form, gives a person the ability to resist and then master the patterns that have kept them from change. As Mark Twain said, “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear – not absence of fear.”

Courage is tested when we purse difficult goals, fight against disease with unknown outcomes, or work to regain health. The testing can be painful. Journaling, and ponderizing in the process, gives courage to take small steps, one day at a time. Admitting to, journaling when we fail or make mistakes, fear of failure or feeling unsure actually increases our courage. Being given a week to ponderize an uplifting scripture or verse enhances that courage . Journaling successes and failures empowers us individually. The psychiatrist Carl Jung wrote:

“There appears to be a conscience in mankind which severely punishes the man who does not somehow and at some time, at whatever cost to his pride, cease to defend and assert himself, and instead confess himself fallible and human. Until he can do this, an impenetrable wall shuts him out from the living experience of felling himself a man among men. Here we find a key to the great significance of true unstereotyped confession – a significance known in all the initiation and mystery cults of the ancient world, as is shown by a saying from the Greek mysteries: ‘Give up what thou hast, and thou will receive.'”

Journaling and ponderizing allows one a form of confession and renewal. It gives one courage that you have survived today’s challenges and seen the pattern of fallibility in them. It is actually energizing. And, the path to healing begins to become clear.

Journaling also is a great way to outline side effects from carbohydrate withdrawl that will last for 2-4 weeks (That’s for another blog post, however).

Feel free to ask me about the verse that I am ponderizing each week. I will happily tell you which verse I am pondering and memorizing; but, I will in tern, ask you which verse you are ponderizing.

This week, the verse I am ponderizing comes from the Bible – Genesis 35:2-3:

“Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments: And let us arise, and go up to Beth-el; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.”

Did you begin your food journal? And, what verse are you going to ponderize this week?