Tag: health

Cold Submersion Therapy or Cold Water Immersion (CWI) is an ancient hydrotherapy treatment. It relieves many ailments and chronic symptoms. People suffering from immune system or mood disorders, have trouble sleeping or have increased stress levels can benefit from this type of therapy. This form of hydrotherapy is similar to aquatic therapy, pool therapy, or balneotherapy. The use of water in various forms and at various temperatures produces amazing effects on the human body.

 

In Activating the Vagus Nerve: Part 1 – Breathe!, we explored the positive effects that breathwork has on our Vagus Nerve. How we breath affects our autonomic nervous system – which has two branches, sympathetic (fight or flight) and parasympathetic (rest and digest). You can think of the sympathetic as the gas pedal on your system and the parasympathetic as the brakes. Let’s now dive deeper into how we can manipulate the nervous system and make it stronger by introducing cold water immersion (CWI) therapy while we are breathing.

 

“Cold water? What the … ?!” You might exclaim, especially if you are  living in a cold climate like Calgary, Alberta.

 

Taking actionable steps like CWI therapy can help reduce stress levels. CWI is an ancient therapy used to relieve many ailments. People suffering from immune system or mood disorders, having trouble sleeping, or increasing stress levels can benefit from this type of therapy. Here we outline some reasons why CWI is so good for you. It enhances your immune function, boosts your metabolism, elevates your mood, and builds endurance. 


Reasons to try CWI


Enhance Your Immune Function

Cold Submersion Therapy stimulates immune function. It does this by stimulating the white blood cells. They then provoke the white blood cells to attack and destroy toxic substances in the lymph fluid. The cold water positively affects the lymphatic system, affecting the immune system by flushing waste and toxins.

 

Boost Your Metabolism

Cold Submersion Therapy helps to boost your metabolism, which can assist with weight loss efforts. This is not to be substituted for a healthy diet and regular exercise. This practice makes your body work harder to keep you warm, which inadvertently burns calories. It also affects the type of fat the body produces. According to a study done in 2009, brown fat (BAT), or good fat, mobilizes when your body becomes exposed to frigid temperatures. It works to keep us warm, thus eliminating white fat, which is the fat that sits around your thighs and waist.

 

Improve Sleep, Reduce Stress, & Elevate Mood

When we sleep, our bodies heal, so it is vital to get adequate restful sleep. CWI reduces muscle soreness and pain, which allows you to sleep more soundly. Quality sleep will, therefore, reduce stress levels and elevate your overall mood.

 

Build Endurance & Resilience

The thought of submerging your body in cold water makes most people cringe, but it is suitable for your body and your mind! It is a good practice in mental strength, endurance, and resilience which requires you to break out of your comfort zone. I learned that cold never stops being hard. It never gets easier, but your mind has become more resilient and robust. Immersing your entire body in ice water trains your brain to control your responses to stress, pain, and anxiety, instead of allowing your emotions to overwhelm you. Try reframing your thoughts with mindful breath and action by breathing through sensations and feelings that arise. CWI will allow your body and mind to work through a state of stress and enter a state of calm. Don’t forget to breathe, as this is so crucial. When our breathing is full and deep, the diaphragm moves through its entire range downward to massage the internal organs and tissues below it and then moves upward to massage the heart. Training the body to control the breath and negative mind chatter can be a total game-changer for anxiety and depression.

 

If cold water immersion still isn’t seeming like your thing, try ending your showers with cooler water temperatures. You can start slowly and build up to longer stints of colder temperatures. Breath through the discomfort and find a motto to help build your resilience, such as “I am more than my thoughts,” or “I choose to step into mindful, peaceful action”, and “I am stepping away from fear.”

 

The cold never stops being cold but taking actionable steps that you can implement into your daily/weekly routine will guide you towards taking back control over your health by increasing resilience in your mind and body. How powerful is that! Challenge yourself today by trying the Wim Hoff method of Cold Submersion Therapy along with deep diaphragmatic breathing for your overall health. Take the plunge!

 

Author:

Darla Montgomery

 

Men’s health is defined as identifying, preventing, and treating conditions that are most common or specific to men. It is not just a magazine to help men get buff, however, most men would struggle to come up with even a definition that would resemble the above. Men’s health is under-researched, underfunded, and under-appreciated. How is can this be when it represents half the world’s population?


Unfortunately, health is not an issue men talk about. This lack of societal acceptance as an issue has made men’s health become a silently growing, enormous, and destructive problem. This lack of awareness is causing some extremely disconcerting statistics. For example, the gap between male and female life expectancy continues to widen and is on average 4 years. This gap is even wider in socially disadvantaged groups. There is not a single country where men live longer than women. Not only is life expectancy lower but men have a lower quality of life, poorer health, and significantly decreased functioning. Men have decreased quality of life from poor health and on average men spend 9 years in poor frail states (this is close to a decade spent in disability, poor energy, and loss of independence!). Men are more likely to die from cancer, heart disease, lung disease, and diabetes than women. 

 

Men’s Mental Health

Mental health is another arena that is neglected for men. Men’s risk of suicide is close to double or triple that for women. In fact, the risk of alcohol and illegal drug abuse (including other harmful activities) is extremely high as well. This is a reflection of how men are dealing with mental health concerns. Men participate in higher riskier health activities such as smoking and unprotected sex. They are also at high risk of death and disability due to violence and trauma. Society’s silence on these issues has contributed to men accepting this. 

 

Preventative Health Care and Men

Men access preventative health care much less than women and are much more likely to ignore their health concerns and not participate in universal screening programs. There is a profound lack of interest in men’s health by global health institutions and many health organizations omit men’s health as part of their agendas. Apathy on a personal and global scale has only compounded the problem of men’s health. 

 

The real issue here is men’s mindset. Men take pride if they haven’t been to a doctor in 25 years. They claim nothing is wrong and they believe it makes them sound strong. that they are not broken and they don’t need help. Men neglect their bodies for years and maintain their sports cars regularly. Realizing your body is a more complex machine than the car in the garage is the first step in improving men’s health overall. Once established, men will realize that their bodies require care more often than once in 25 years!

 

There is so much that men can do to improve their health. Follow these 2 steps to optimal men’s health. Research to make better choices and the desire to live a life with more energy and vitality! 

 

Step 1: Become Aware of Where You Are Right Now 

The first thing in creating any achievable plan is having an awareness of where your health is right now. Men should visit their doctor to receive age-appropriate screening. Screenings should include a physical exam and diagnostic tests. You can take deeper dive into your health if you have symptoms or health conditions. These more specific testing options can determine your hormones, vitamin, and mineral levels. 

 

It is also crucial to know not only your weight but your body fat and muscle mass percentages. Muscle mass has a big role to play in strength and vitality especially in men. The more strength you have, the longer you live in general. As well, the stronger you are the longer you can play sports, hike, golf, and ultimately avoid a wheelchair. When you receive a well-rounded picture of where you are at, you can begin making a plan with measurable and specific goals.

 

Think of it as getting a scouting report for a hockey draft. As a potential draft candidate, you will find out how you measure up and decide if you want to shore up areas that could use some help. Maybe it’s your puck handling or backward skating speed. In medicine, that could be your mental acuity or lack of quad/hamstring strength. A physician helps you get the most out of life and in the best shape you can. Wouldn’t we all want to look as good and feel as good as Richard Branson (he’s in his seventh decade of life now) rather than a guy who had two knee replacements and can barely walk? 

 

Step 2: Creating Change with Different Choices

Sometimes all people need is to see all the different choices and have it explained in a meaningful way by an expert. You can do simple things that to give you energy, increase your muscle mass percentage, decrease body fat percentage, and change your overall health. 

 

For example, did you know that eating better, exercising, and not smoking can drastically improve erections? Or, that the blood vessels to the penis are the same size as those going to the heart? Thus, erectile dysfunction is a real risk factor for developing heart disease. Most men want to have and keep their erections strong. Functional Medicine also shows that doing keeping strong erections will increase your overall well-being. Measuring, tracking, and being accountable can make these changes easy to implement, especially if you have something to gain. Your gains are overall health and the ability to have healthy erections. 

 

That small voice in your head tells you that things can be different, life can be more joyful, more energetic, more meaningful, and that your health can be better. This is a call to an adventure and a journey to be better. Make the decision to have an extraordinary life and start it by taking care of your body. Would you rather drive around in a Ferrari 308 GTB Berlinetta (the one Magnum PI drove) or have your body be the equivalent of a beat-up Dodge Caravan Minivan? It’s your choice. Your body is the only real vehicle you have in this lifetime so decide how you want it to look and feel. 

 

Prostate Cancer

Men today are terrified of prostate cancer. It affects 1 in 7 Canadian men and is responsible for the deaths of 1 in 27 Canadian men. Age, genetics, and race are well-known responsible risk factors in overall prostate health, but the one element that many people ignore is diet and obesity. Diet and obesity are completely modifiable!

 

Getting “man boobs” is not only unsightly, but it is also a warning sign that you are increasing your risk of cancer. Obese men have a 20% higher chance of prostate cancer and really obese (BMI>35) men have a 34% higher chance of developing prostate cancer. This makes sense because the more fat men carry, the higher the circulating hormones they have! (including female hormones)

 

Screening is essential. It has led to detecting cancer earlier with the hope of intervening and preventing death. One of the most deadly combinations in men’s health are these two factors:

  1. Men’s lackadaisical approach to their health. If they wait until symptoms are felt, it will be too late, because…
  2. Prostate cancer symptoms usually don’t surface until it has metastasized.

 

With screening, we can find prostate cancer 8-10 years before a man would have symptoms. Obviously, with earlier detection, the treatments are more effective. 

 

Men can do so many things to decrease their risk of prostate cancer and improve outcomes if diagnosed. All lifestyle factors play a part in these outcomes including nutrition, weight, exercise, sleep, stress, and relationships. These elements are extremely important to prevention, treatment, and recovery from any side effects to treatment (ie. recovering from surgery). Knowing that cancer can be modified by what you do, not just what the doctor says he can do about it is the best way to take control of your health.

 

One plan men can implement with a diagnosis of low-grade prostate cancer is watchful waiting. This is monitoring with no intervening treatment. We encourage you to address lifestyle factors and re-empower yourselves with the knowledge that you can help participate in changing your outcome. This also helps with the anxiety and stress of having a prostate cancer diagnosis. 

 

Benign Prostatic Hypertrophy

A condition called Benign Prostatic Hypertrophy describes the enlargement of the prostate or BPH. Symptoms of BPH include getting up more than once at night, having a noticeably slower stream, and urinating twice before breakfast. It affects almost every aging man, can cause significant disruption in the quality of life, and requires medical intervention. It can also improve by changing modifiable lifestyle factors. Some of the simple ways to reverse Benign Prostatic Hypertrophy and rebalance hormones is decreasing body fat percentage, especially abdominal fat. We advise adding foods to your diet that are helpful in prostate health.

 

Men’s health is finally taking precedence through functional medicine. The Linden & Arc Vitality Institute approach focuses on the patient as a whole. The 7 Core Nodes of Healing covers the mind, body, soul, and spirit which are all connected, in health and wellness. Each node represents a set of interconnected biological functions, much like a web, all influencing each other. Through detailed quantitative testing and keen analysis, we look at the overall function and organ efficiency of each system in the model. If you’re ready to start taking your total health seriously, contact Linden & Arc Vitality Institute today for an initial consultation.

 

Authors: Julie Hong MD CCFP CTM IFMCP and Jun Kawakami MD MSc FRCSC Urologic Cancer Surgeon

A myriad of environmental toxins and heavy metals torment our bodies daily. These terrible toxins cause chronic illness and disease in living things. Humans ingest these heavy metal toxins in 3 ways: consuming pesticides in the foods we eat; inhaling pollutants in the air we breathe; and using chemical-laden beauty products on our skin and hair.


The exposure to environmental toxins can be so slow and steady that it doesn’t become recognized as a source of the illness. Since conventional medicine doesn’t look for the root cause of illness and only treats symptoms, you may never know if heavy metals are killing you. Since we can’t seem to avoid constant exposure to environmental toxins, we must continually detoxify our bodies to remove them before they wreak havoc on our bodies. Let’s identify the 5 heavy metals/environmental toxins that cause chronic illness.

 

What Are Heavy Metals?

Heavy metals lie throughout the earth’s crust and are naturally occurring elements. These metallic elements classify very differently from each other based on your body’s needs. Some heavy metals are actually essential nutrients such as iron, cobalt, and zinc and others are relatively harmless like ruthenium, silver, and indium. Heavy metals are systemic toxicants and cause chronic illness. These heavy metals are such as arsenic, aluminum, cadmium, mercury, and lead.

 

Arsenic

In the world of environmental toxins, arsenic qualifies as the most widely known, abundant, and lethal of heavy metals. Arsenic exists bountifully within the earth’s crust and in smaller quantities within the air, water, rock & soil. While a large amount of arsenic exists in the natural world, the majority is synthetic. The primary use of synthetic arsenic is in ammunition, auto batteries, electronic devices, semiconductors, pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, and treated wood.

 

The most common route by which a toxicant such as arsenic can end up in our bodies is through environmental contamination by way of mining and agricultural practices. Arsenic travels through our water and ultimately to the soil where we grow our produce.

 

What Arsenic Does To Our Bodies

Arsenic is a type of heavy metal that can cause toxicity to our bodies at a cellular level. Overexposure can cause an array of terrible symptoms such as drowsiness, confusion, headaches, and gastrointestinal flu-like symptoms. It can also cause seizures, anemia, rupture red blood cells, and lower blood pressure. Those suffering can also experience neurological issues like brain damage, peripheral neuropathy, and edema, Arsenic toxicity poisons the cells and has the potential to cause chronic illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease, neurotoxicity, cancer in any part of the body, and ultimately death.

 

Aluminum

Aluminum is the most abundant heavy metal in the earth and like arsenic, is also present in the environment. Although aluminum is not usually harmful, exposure at high levels can cause some serious chronic health conditions. It is in our food, water, air, and soil so our bodies are exposed daily.

 

Overexposure can cause fatigue, confusion, speech problems, cognitive impairment, and seizures. Aluminum toxicity causes other more severe health problems including fractures, deformities, and slow growth in children. Chronic conditions that appear due to aluminum toxicity are muscle weakness, lung and nervous system issues, and anemia due to damaged iron absorption.

 

High levels of aluminum significantly impact bone and brain health. Not only can it increase the potential of brain diseases but can cause bone pain, bone diseases, and reduce bone remodeling capabilities.

 

Cadmium

Cadmium is a silvery, white flexible heavy metal also found in the environment. Most cadmium used today to create batteries, pigments, coatings, and platings and stabilizers for plastics.

Cadmium is not only damaging to the lungs and kidneys, but it also competes with zinc at all cellular binding sites, resulting in loss of enzyme activity.  Breathing in cigarette smoke can cause smokers and non- smokers to accumulate dangerous levels of cadmium.

 

Mercury

We are exposed to the many different forms of Mercury in different ways. It exists in the earth’s crust and emits as a gas via volcanoes and mining or by way of evaporation from bodies of water. But humans do not become poisoned by mercury inhalation but by ingestion, especially through fish.

 

Mercury produces thermometers, batteries, lamps, amalgam tooth fillings, and prescription drugs. People exposed to mercury by way of eating fish containing methylmercury or breaking products containing mercury, including tooth fillings.

 

Mercury poisoning gives tremours, gingivitis, minor psychological changes, and even brain damage. Pregnant women can experience spontaneous abortion, congenital malformation, or development changes.

 

Long term exposure to mercury can affect both the functioning of the central as well as the peripheral nervous system and manifest as a host of symptoms including weakness and fatigue, depressed immunity or gi disturbances . 

 

Lead

Lead has a misconception. It is only present in our drinking water because of lead pipes. While there are sometimes very clear symptoms of heavy metal toxicity such as lead poisoning in children, many symptoms of heavy metal toxicity may not be as obvious.

 

Lead also exists in personal care products and cosmetics. Our everyday exposure slowly builds up in our body tissues and has the potential to cause chronic illness. 

 

Lead toxicity can be difficult to detect as high blood levels of lead can occur in even the healthy. Symptoms do not normally appear until a person has accrued dangerous levels, and even more strange, symptoms vary between infants, children, and adults.

 

Lead Poisoning In Infants Exposed Before Birth

Infants exposed to lead before birth can be born prematurely, have lower birth weight, and can experience slowed growth. This is whether the pregnant mother had experienced any symptoms at all.

 

Lead Poisoning In Children

Children are the most susceptible to lead poisoning. Those exposed to lead can experience irritability, abdominal pain, vomiting, constipation, loss of appetite, weight loss, and fatigue. Worse cases can occur that exhibit developmental delay and learning difficulty, hearing loss & seizures in children.

 

Lead poisoning In Adults

Adults exhibiting symptoms of lead poisoning may experience headaches, concentration issues, mood issues, high blood pressure, joint pain, and muscle pain. Males can have reduced sperm count and abnormal sperm where females can miscarry, have stillbirths or premature birth.

 

With the serious health impact of heavy metals it is prudent for us to educate ourselves and avoid as many potential sources of these multi-system toxicants as we can. There are many resources available online (The Environmental Working Group and the Center for Hazardous Substance research to help you stay informed and safe.  

 

We are exposed to heavy metals most often through ingestion, inhalation, and dermal contact. If you are concerned or believe heavy metals are compromising your health, you may want to consider testing. The most accurate method of testing for total body burden of heavy metals is with a urine toxic metals test. The results can assist practitioners in recommending customized treatments to pull the heavy metals out of your body.  Please contact the clinic if you are interested in learning more.

 

Author

Nora Kassay-Farkas is our Functional Medicine Health Coach and Natural Nutrition Clinical Practitioner at Linden & Arc Vitality Institute. Nora is pleased to provide nutrition consultations and Functional Medicine health coaching to you in your journey to wellness. She offers sessions for CIRS, Brain Health, weight loss, and supports Autoimmune conditions. Contact Nora at: [email protected]

Most often, inflammation is rooted in the gut and caused by food sensitivities. These days we encounter an epidemic of chronic health issues resulting from inflammation. By understanding the gut in more detail, we have the capacity to decrease inflammation without the use of medications that have long lists of side effects and don’t solve the underlying issue.

 

The important thing to realize about inflammation is that it can appear in any part of the body, including hormone systems, the brain, and the cardiovascular system. The evidence for this is unquestionable. This being said, it is very important to identify foods that may be stimulating our immune system and having detrimental downstream health effects.

 

Testing for food sensitivities has its controversies, but it can be a very useful starting point. IBS and Crohn’s disease respond best to IgG testing but are clinically applicable in many other illnesses. The tests reveal gut complaints, chronic fatigue, depression and anxiety, and autoimmune issues, to name a few.

 

Limitations of food sensitivity testing:

 

1. They test only limited immune reactions and do not show non-immune food reactions

Food sensitivity testing is not perfect, as it is only testing a very select part of the immune system. Parts of the immune system most often tested are IgE (true allergy), IgA (mucosal immune system), and IgG (delayed food sensitivities). A negative test does not exclude a reaction by the innate immune system, or a non-immune reaction (like lactose intolerance, FODMAP intolerance, or histamine intolerance).

 

2. Laboratory standards differ

The accuracy of testing can vary from lab to lab, depending on which controls and which antigens they use. For example, an organic apple may have different reactivity to one that is not organic. Heat and processing or roasting may make an antigen more or less antigenic. Whether the lab uses monoclonal antibodies (from one source) vs polyclonal antibodies (from many sources), can also affect the reactivity of the test.

 

3. Individual and confounding factors

False positives may result from smoking, alcohol consumption, periodontal disease and other factors. False negatives may result from immunoglobulin deficiencies. Lab tests may not pick up individual differences in immunoglobulins which could also skew results.

 

Testing often shows reaction to antigens which should be ‘healthy’ foods. This situation is often caused by increased intestinal permeability. Something like gluten may trigger leaky gut, allowing bystanders to leak through the gut layer and stimulate an immune reaction. Gut repair is essential in resolving this.

 

 

With all these confounding factors, how do you figure out what you are reacting to?

The gold standard of figuring of food sensitivities is with an elimination diet. This means taking out the common allergenic offending foods for a period of 3-4 weeks minimum and then slowly reintroducing them one by one. A positive test results when a reaction to the reintroduced food occurs.

 

In an ideal world, every patient with a chronic health condition should go through an elimination diet. Unfortunately, this does not always happen. In many cases, people do not believe that their health condition is related to food and so are not willing to change their way of eating.

 

The benefits of food sensitivity testing:

Enter the food sensitivity test. Though not all testing is perfect, this can be an extremely useful tool in figuring out major food triggers. Keeping the above limitations in mind, improvements in symptoms should occur with removal of the offending foods. The proof is in the pudding: people very often do get dramatically better when they remove the positive foods on the tests.
 

When they do not get better after a trial of elimination, a skilled health care professional will guide the patient to work through different steps based on their history, physical examination and testing, to figure out what is causing their symptoms.

 

Reasons people don’t get better:

  1. Gut healing not done alongside the removal of the problem foods. Much research around gluten removal with or without gut repair, has been done. A large percentage of patients do not improve symptomatically when the gut repair is not undertaken. This involves replacing pancreatic enzymes, gallbladder support, and stomach acid and healing the lining of the gut.
  2. The person is reacting to food in a different way. They may have histamine, salicylate, or oxalate intolerance or a lectin intolerance and respond to a grain and legume-free diet. They could also have fructose intolerance.
  3. They may have dysbiosis, or overgrowth of bacteria/ yeast or parasites (often interrelated with food sensitivities). Because of this they may have FODMAP intolerance (with SIBO) or may react to foods that trigger candida, like sugar.
  4. They have a misunderstanding about which foods contain the antigens they are reacting to or are being inadvertently exposed to. A common example is gluten, found in many spices, teas, toothpaste, etc.
  5. Their symptoms may not be directly related to the gut and can be related to heavy metal toxicity, biotoxin illness (mold commonly causes gut issues) or autonomic imbalance.
  6. They had a false positive test.

 

The good news

The aim is not to be off the offending food forever – the aim is to figure out why someone is reacting in the first place. If you heal your gut and eliminate correctly, you should be able to eat most things again but some people may need to stay off certain foods lifelong. The most common of these are gluten, dairy, and eggs.

 

The bottom line is that food sensitivity testing is far from perfect, but it is very often a starting point to guide a patient in the right direction and motivate lifestyle changes. The important take home is to ask why the food reactions are happening in the first place. On many occasions, people become frustrated because they follow the elimination of the foods found on their tests and they don’t feel better. It is essential to have an experienced health care provider interpret your food sensitivity test in the context of what your issues are so that you can be guided in the right direction and achieve the best results.

 

References

Bentz, S., Hausmann, M., Piberger, H., et al., (2010). Clinical relevance of IgG antibodies against food antigens in Crohn’s disease: A double-blind cross-over diet intervention study. Karger – Digestion 81(4), 252-264. https://doi.org/10.1159/000264649

 

Drisko, J., Bischoff, B., Hall, M., & McCallum, R. (2005). Treating irritable bowel syndrome with a food elimination diet followed by food challenge and probiotics. Journal of the American College of Nutrition 25(6), 514-522. https://doi.org/10.1080/07315724.2006.10719567

 

Guo, H., Jiang, T., Wang, J., et al., (2012). The value of eliminating foods according to food-specific immunoglobulin G antibodies in irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhoea. Journal of International Medical Research 40(1), 204-210. https://doi.org/10.1177/147323001204000121

 

Meletis, C.D., & Barker, J. Delayed-onset food allergies (2004). Alternative and Complementary Therapies 9(2), 61-65. https://doi.org/10.1089/107628003321536968

 

Uzunısmaıl, H., Cengız, M., Uzun, H., et al., (2012). The effects of provocation by foods with raised IgG antibodies and additives on the course of Crohn’s disease: A pilot study. Turkish Journal of Gastroenterology 23(1), 19-27. DOI: 10.4318/tjg.2012.0332

 

Zar, S., Mincher, L., Benson, M.J., & Kumar, D. (2005). Food-specific IgG4 antibody-guided exclusion diet improves symptoms and rectal compliance in irritable bowel syndrome. Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology 40(7), 800-807, https://doi.org/10.1080/00365520510015593

 

Author

Dr. Michelle van der Westhuizen, MD

The Default Mode Network (DMN) is a set of interacting brain structures first described in 2001 by the Washington University neuroscientist Marcus Raichle. It’s called that because it is most active when the brain is in a resting state. This network links parts of the cerebral cortex (thinking, decision making, higher brain functions) with deeper and evolutionarily older structures of the brain involved in emotion and memory. 

 

The Default Mode Network influences and inhibits, other parts of the brain, especially those involving emotion and memory. It prevents signals from being interrupted or interfering with each other. Neuroimaging studies suggest that the DMN is involved in higher-order “metacognitive” activities. Activities such as self-reflection, mental projection, cognitive time travel, and the ability to interpret others’ mental states. (Sheline, Barch, Price, et al., 2009).

 

The Default Mode Network and Ego Connection

What is especially interesting is the connection between the DMN and the Ego. We believe the DMN is the part of our brain that is responsible for judgment, tolerance, reality testing, and a sense of self. Freud called this the “ego.” Author, Journalist, and experiential researcher Michael Pollan, in his book How to Change Your Mind (2018), referred to this area of the brain as the “me” network. This area lights up when given a list of adjectives relative to one’s self-identity. It also reacts similarly during daydreams, magical thinking, self-reflection, and when we receive Facebook likes (Pollan, 2018). Subsequently, the Default Mode Network activates “by default” when there is no task at hand.

 

Freud said that the ego keeps anarchic forces of the id in check, and Pollan compares this to the DMN maintaining strict connections on brain function developed over the course of our adult lives. “It appears that when activity in the DMN falls off precipitously, the ego temporarily vanishes, and the usual boundaries we experience between self and world, subject and object, all melt away,” Pollan said.

 

Coming From A Place of Ego

Noticing when we are coming from a place of ego instead of a place of mindful awareness can drastically change our interactions with the world. Other schools of thought sometimes refer to it as ‘getting out of your own way’ to allow your destiny or Dharmic path to unfold. This was so eloquently put by British philosopher who popularized Eastern philosophy in the west, Alan Watts (1944), “Ego, the self which he has believed himself to be, is nothing but a pattern of habits” (1966). Mindfulness and Art Therapy are ways for us to create new habits and awareness that involves the world around us instead of only ourselves.

 

Why Mindfulness Is So Important

What is mindfulness?
Paying attention to the present moment, on purpose, non-judgmentally.
Jon Kabat-Zinn

 

Current research is finding is when we try to silence the interminable flow of opinions and thoughts in our head when meditating (what some Buddhists refer to as the ‘monkey mind’) is actually the Default Mode Network! It’s the DMN flaring up when the brain has nothing better to do. Through mindfulness and meditation, we are able to silence this ‘monkey mind’ chatter and thus switch the DMN offline to bring a greater sense of calm and peace. Being in a mindful state of mind also keeps the frontal lobes on line and helps integrate experiences and feelings rather than dissociate from them (Ogden, 2019).

 

Using Art Therapy coupled with mindfulness, we are working to reroute our neural networks to change patterns, habits, and behaviours in the brain. If our DMN kicks in during this process, it inhibits this change from taking place. As expressed by neuroscientist and best selling author Dan Siegel, “Your mind can change your molecules”. This is why staying present and recognizing when we go “offline” is so important. Be gentle with yourself as learning anything new is a process. Then, come back into the present moment with ease. Know that the more often you do this, the more engrained these new neural networks will become, and the easier it will be to come to clarity.  

 

Stress

When we’re stressed, our judgments become impaired and our prefrontal cortex goes offline. “Mindfulness keeps the frontal lobes online and helps integrate (information) rather than dissociate”. (Ogden, 2019). Staying mindful means tapping into the body, noticing your physical sensations, and how they come and go. Our physical sensations are not permanent; we notice this when we become mindful.  We become aware that our current state of being is impermanent. This can bring us hope when the stresses of life feel awful and overwhelming.

 

The Defense Mechanism of Disassociation

We disassociate as a defense mechanism. The DMN is engaged. Although this behavior served humans in the past, this is an ineffective way to cope. We develop and grow through conscious awareness in the here and now. which makes disassociation no longer required. Personal growth has a lot to do with creating new habits and neural pathways in the brain instead of relying on old ways of being that do not serve our highest consciousness.

 

Depression and Anxiety

What is especially interesting in the study of the Default Mode Network is its correlation with depression and anxiety. Studies have shown that people who experience depression and anxiety have a more active DMN than those who don’t (Wise, Marwood, Perkins, et al., 2017).  “The baseline imaging findings are consistent with those found in patients with major depressive disorder and suggest that increased connectivity within the DMN may be important in the pathophysiology of both acute and chronic manifestations of depressive illness” (Posner, Hellerstein, Gat, et al., 2013). One can imagine how ruminating over a specific issue that does not hold our body and mind’s highest good could lead to a downward depressive spiral. Mindfulness and coming into the present moment can actually help stop the rumination of upsetting circumstances and life events. Mindfulness literally makes us happier! What a wonderful tool to keep close.

 

References

Fisher, J., Ogden, P. (2015). Sensorimotor psychotherapy: Interventions for trauma and attachment. W.W. Norton & Company.

 

Kabat-Zinn, J. (2005). Wherever you go, there you are: Mindfulness meditation in everyday life. Hachette books

 

Ogden, P. (2019). Treating trauma faster series. Retrieved on April 24, 2019 from https://www.nicabm.com/program/treating-trauma-master-4/?del=homepagepopular

 

Pollan, M. (2018). How to change your mind. Penguin Press.

 

Posner, J., Hellerstein, D.J., Gat, I., et al. (2013). Antidepressants normalize the default mode network in patients with dysthymia. JAMA Psychiatry 70(4), 373-382. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2013.455

 

Sheline, Y.I., Barch, D.M., Price, J.L., et al. (2009). The default mode network and self-referential processes in depression. Retrieved on May 3, 2019 from https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/106/6/1942.full.pdf

 

Watts, A. (1966). The book: On the taboo against knowing who you are. Random House Inc.

 

Wise, T., Marwood, L., Perkins, A. et al. (2017). Instability of default mode network connectivity in major depression: a two-sample confirmation study. Translational Psychiatry 7, e1105. https://doi.org/10.1038/tp.2017.40

 

Author

Charmaine Husum, DKATI, RTC, CT

The breath is a powerful source of transformation for brain health and breathwork is a practice that improves it. The rate and rhythm of the breath are intimately connected to our mental & emotional states (Brown & Gerbarg, 2012). Just as the emotions and the mind cause the breath to vary, by consciously controlling the breath, we gain control over our mind and our emotions (Trinity College Dublin, 2018).

 

Anxiety and Stress Eased by Breathwork

Combining this modality of breathwork with the eye gaze by noticing ten things in the room and mentally or aloud saying their colour and what they are, as well as pressing the feet into the floor, will activate your parasympathetic nervous system and bring you into a feeling of calmness (McKay, Wood, & Brantley, 2007).

 

Depression

On the other hand, when a person is feeling the depths of depression and despair, they may sigh a lot with almost a sense of defeat. The breath here is usually more in the belly. To bring more life force or prana into the body, it is recommended to sit up straight, lengthen the spine, and with an open mouth – breathing deep and forcefully into the upper chest. This activates the sympathetic nervous system and creates a sense of alertness and aliveness (Levine & Frederick, 2005). Taking breathwork one step further, raise both arms above the head as you inhale, allowing the eye gaze to follow the hands while keeping the chin level (Rosenberg, Rand, & Assay, 1987). Five to ten of these breaths and one will feel a tingling in the whole body, with the eye focus becoming clearer and a sense of elation.

 

How and why does this happen?

The respiratory system is one of the only major systems in the body which is usually involuntary but can be voluntarily controlled via attention (Levine & Frederick, 1997). The rhythm of our heart is thought to be another involuntary system, but if we want to, we can change the speed of our heart by modifying our breath. Should we slow down our breath, for example, this brings the body and mind into a state of calmness and relaxation, thereby slowing the heart rate.

 

The Breath: A Life Force

Breath is the life force that keeps us going; if we didn’t breathe, we would die. When we are able to control the breath with breathwork, we are able to moderate the way we feel in the moment and develop a sense of control over stress levels.

Your rate of breathing and state of mind are inseparable. Using a full yogic breath or other pranayama techniques reprograms your whole cellular memory (Khalsa & Lumpkin, 2015).

 

History of The Breath

For thousands of years, ancient wisdom techniques from the east have exalted the virtues of breath-focused practices, such as pranayama and meditation for their numerous cognitive benefits, including an increased ability to focus, decreased mind wandering, improved arousal levels, more positive emotions, decreased emotional reactivity, and many other benefits (Yates & Immergut, 2017).

 

What did they know that we are just now validating scientifically? Well, a new study by researchers at Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience and the Global Brain Health Institute at Trinity, Dublin explains for the first time the neurophysiological link between breathing, cognition, and emotion. The research shows that the way we breathe directly affects the chemistry of our brains in a way that can enhance our attention and improve brain health. This study focuses on changes in the levels of noradrenaline in response to the breath. Noradrenaline is a chemical messenger released in the brain when we are challenged, curious, focused, or otherwise emotionally aroused, and when we exercise. If produced at the right levels, it is essential to help the brain grow new connections (Trinity College Dublin, 2018).

 

Breathwork: A Scientific Study

Outlined here by a Ph.D. candidate at the Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience and lead author of the study, Michael Melnychuk: “Practitioners of yoga have claimed for some 2,500 years, that respiration influences the mind. In our study, we looked for a neurophysiological link that could help explain these claims by measuring breathing, reaction time, and brain activity in a small area in the brainstem called the locus coeruleus, where noradrenaline is made. Noradrenaline is an all-purpose action system in the brain. When we are stressed we produce too much noradrenaline and we can’t focus. When we feel sluggish, we produce too little and again, we can’t focus. There is a sweet spot of noradrenaline in which our emotions, thinking, and memory are much clearer. This study has shown that as you breathe in, locus coeruleus activity is increased slightly, and as you breathe out it decreases. Put simply this means that our attention is influenced by our breath and that it rises and falls with the cycle of respiration. It is possible that by focusing on and regulating your breathing you can optimize your attention level and likewise, by focusing on your attention level, your breathing becomes more synchronized.”

 

Breathwork and Brain Aging

Even more exciting in this area of research was the understanding and uncovering of how breathwork and meditation may have an effect on the aging of the brain. Ian Robertson, Co-Director of the Global Brain Health Institute at Trinity College, Dublin, writes: 

 

“Our findings could have particular implications for research into brain ageing. Brains typically lose mass as they age, but less so in the brains of long-term meditators. More ‘youthful’ brains have a reduced risk of dementia and mindfulness meditation techniques actually strengthen brain networks. Our research offers one possible reason for this — using our breath to control one of the brain’s natural chemical messengers, noradrenaline, which in the right ‘dose’ helps the brain grow new connections between cells. This study provides one more reason for everyone to boost the health of their brain using a whole range of activities ranging from aerobic exercise to mindfulness meditation.”

In sum, breathe deep! It’s good for your brain health.

 

References

Brown, R., & Gerbarg, P. (2012). The healing power of the breath: Simple techniques to reduce stress and anxiety, enhance concentration, and balance your emotions. Shambala Publishing.

 

Khalsa Kaur, J., & Lumpkin, N. (2015). Enlightened bodies: Exploring physical and subtle human anatomy. Kundalini Research Institute

 

Levine, P., & Frederick, A. (1997). Waking the tiger: Healing trauma. North Atlantic Books.

 

Levine, P., & Frederick, A. (2005). Healing trauma: A pioneering program for restoring the wisdom of your body. Sounds True Inc.

 

McKay, M., Wood, J.C., & Brantley, J. (2007). The dialectical behavior therapy skills workbook: Practical DBT exercises for learning mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, emotion regulation, and distress tolerance. New Harbinger Publications Inc.

 

Melnychuk, M.C., Dockree, P.M., O’Connell, R.G., Murphy, P.R., Balsters, J.H., & Robertson, I.H. (2018). Coupling of respiration and attention via the locus coeruleus: Effects of meditation and pranayama. Psychophysiology, 55(9). DOI: 10.1111/psyp.13091

 

Rosenberg, J.L., Rand, M, & Assay, D. (1987). Body, self, and soul: Sustaining integration. Humanics Publishing Group.

 

Trinity College Dublin. (2018). The Yogi masters were right — meditation and breathing exercises can sharpen your mind: New research explains link between breath-focused meditation and attention and brain health. ScienceDaily. Retrieved from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/05/180510101254.htm

 

Yates, J., & Immergut, M.. (2017). The mind illuminated: A complete meditation guide integrating Buddhist wisdom and brain science for greater mindfulness. Hay House Publishing.

 

Author

Charmaine Husum, DKATI, RTC, CT

 

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