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

 

Do you ever wonder what the root cause of your headaches is? Probably not in the middle of having one! Realistically, you just want it gone. The functional medicine approach does not stop at the symptoms. It is a whole-body approach that asks what the root cause of those symptoms is. It’s at the moment you realize that your headaches don’t start in your head, that you are on your way to healing.

 

4 Types of Headaches

There are 4 different types of headaches, each with their own distinct symptoms but all are debilitating, no matter the form. Distinguishing the symptoms will help you categorize the type. These types are migraines, tension headaches, cluster headaches, and secondary headaches. Let’s explore the symptoms of each.

 

Migraine Headaches

The most severe and longest-lasting of all types of headaches are migraines. Migraines often times are preceded by an aura, flashes of light or blind spots. Sufferers may have difficulty speaking and experience tingling on one side of the face, an arm, or a leg. The throbbing or pulsing pain lasts from hours to days and is normally felt on one side of the head. Other symptoms of migraines can include light and noise sensitivity, nausea, and vomiting.

 

Tension Headaches

The most common headache is called a tension headache, or stress headache, It feels much like squeezing or “vice” like feeling around the head, temples, and upper neck. This type of headache is continuous and lasts anywhere from a half-hour to a week and symptoms can include trouble sleeping and difficulty concentrating.

 

Cluster Headaches

Cluster headaches, lasting 15 minutes to 3 hours occur in cluster periods, over a longer period of time. These are considered the most painful or excruciating types of headaches developing on one side of the head, in or around one eye and one side of the face. The severe, burning pain strikes at night.

 

Secondary Headaches

Secondary headaches are those that are caused by other conditions. These conditions can include sinus issues; high blood pressure, overexertion, medication side effect, withdrawal, or hormone imbalances, just to name a few. 

 

The Functional Medicine Treatment of Headaches

Functional Medicine treats all types of headaches with success by looking deeper at the causes. We have remarkable success in treating headaches because we look deeper at the causes and treat accordingly. Often, more than one underlying cause contributes to each headache. Conventional medicine treats headaches and migraines with over the counter and prescription pain medications.

 

Noting the History of Your Headaches

Linden & Arc Vitality Institute doctors and practitioners will take thorough notes on the history of your headaches, along with an in-depth look at your full health story.  We examine the location, type of pain, measured intensity, duration, and any other symptoms associated to determine the potential causes of the type of headache you are suffering from. We use the LMMD 7 Core Nodes of Healing approach to assessing your individual root causes and dig deeper. Let’s apply Linden & Arc Vitality Institute 7 Core Nodes of Healing to your headache relief.

 

7 Core Nodes of Healing For Headache Relief

 

The Gut

One of the 7 Core Nodes of Healing is the gut. Managing the gut and food reactions in terms of managing headaches could be the answer to headache relief. Food sensitivities and allergies are some of the most common reasons for headaches that we see in the clinic. You may not have symptoms immediately with a delayed IgG food sensitivity, the inflammation that grumbles from repeated exposure to a triggering food can result in daily headaches for some. 

 

Histamine and Tyramine food reactions are common triggers of headaches and migraines. As well, dysbiosis, an imbalance in good and bad bacteria, can trigger headaches. An example of dysbiosis is high opportunistic candida overgrowth in the gut. 

 

Hormones 

High levels of cortisol, one of our main stress hormones, can lead to headaches. Therefore, take note of the timing of the headaches during your menstrual cycle. Typically, migraines are caused by an imbalance in Estrogen and Progesterone in women. This is why we typically see a surge in headache symptoms the week leading up to the period. Functional Medicine physicians call this Estrogen Dominance. High levels of Xenoestrogens in our environment and inflammation both cause headaches as well. We can manage migraines/ headaches in a cyclical fashion, using supplements or hormones at different stages of the menstrual cycle.

 

Energy

Mitochondria, the little ‘powerhouses’ or ‘factories’ in the cells, make our body’s energy (or ATP). They do this using nutrient substrates and oxygen. These mitochondria can function sluggishly from nutrient deficiencies, inflammation, chronic infection, and toxicity. This leads to a cascade of events that causes “energy failure” in the nerve tissue. This energy failure can activate headaches.We are able to test the Krebs cycle to assess for mitochondrial dysfunction and can test the individual nutrients that we know fuel the mitochondria.  Riboflavin (B2), coenzyme Q10, magnesium, niacin (B3), carnitine, alpha-lipoic acid supplements are very effective in giving the mitochondria the boost that they need. Intravenous nutrients can start functioning much quicker in someone with an unhealthy gut

 

Detoxification

The body needs regular detoxification to remove the many external toxins that we are faced with on a day to day basis. These exposures come from many different sources. These sources can be anything from pesticides on our food to the air we breathe, the water we drink, chemicals in our cosmetics, and cleaning products. We are exposed to other endocrine disrupters in places like receipts or plastic bottles. Detoxification system overwhelm and poor detoxifying genes allow our bodies to accumulate toxins much easier. These are well established in the literature to cause many health conditions. This “backlog” of toxins in the body can cause many different symptoms, one of which is headaches. Fortunately, we are able to test for all of the different chemicals and metals that we know to be an issue. In a stepwise, staged process, we teach the body how to detoxify more efficiently and see improvement in many symptoms including headaches.

 

Immune Balance/ Chronic Inflammation

Chronic inflammation usually appears from infective triggers, known as “Biotoxins.” Biotoxins can appear from the inflammatory sources from food, gut imbalances, hormone imbalance, and toxin accumulation. Living toxins cause headaches. Examples are mold, Lyme, virus, or bacteria.

 

In genetically vulnerable individuals, these can trigger an inflammatory response termed Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome. This is a multi-symptom, multi-system disease, with headaches and other cognitive disruptions being very common. Mast cell activation syndrome, commonly associated with this, leads to the release of Histamine & other inflammatory cytokines, which can cause headaches. These are exceedingly common in our very ill patient population. We take a detailed history and analyze it appropriately.

 

Brain Power and Mood

Brain neurotransmitter’s imbalances can cause headaches and mood issues. A high level of glutamate, an excitatory neurotransmitter, can lead to headaches and mood changes. It is important to rule out underlying neurological disorders or syndromes as a cause of headaches. Your functional medicine physician will be able to determine what to look for based on a history and examination.

 

Heart Vitality

Your physician will test your heart vitality with regard to headaches. There may be vascular (blood vessel) contributions to your migraines, from vascular activation of the nervous system. There is communication between blood vessels, nerve cells, and possibly Mast cells (mentioned above) in the activation of headaches. Headaches can be caused by high blood pressure so this is an important cause to initially rule out. We can establish from your personal and family history, and other lab results whether you have risk factors for the above.

 

Structural Issues

Cervical Spine, Head, Temporomandibular joint (TMJ), and Dental structural issues are all very closely related. Imbalances in one area can cause disruptions in the other. A detailed history of previous injuries is extremely important. Even “a bump to the head” or hidden dental infections or TMJ can be significant enough to throw things out of balance and contribute to headaches. We refer our patients to brilliant Nucca Chiropractors, Physio/ manual therapists and World Class Biological dentists with experience to assess these areas.

 

Mind Body Spirit Soul 

The doctors at Linden & Arc Vitality Institute always look back to the emotional and spiritual contributions to your symptoms. Your mind, body, spirit, and soul are connected and one out of balance leads to all in illness. Addressing underlying issues helps to start the healing journey. We hold emotions and stress in our cells. Therefore, physical symptoms arise if these emotions have been held or suppressed.

 

Functional medicine practitioners have many tools to help you get the bottom of your headaches. You see from this discussion why medications fall short and do not help many headaches. If we look in the right places and treat your headaches with the individual care that they deserve, true healing and resolution can occur! 

 

A HANDY RESOURCE
To track your symptoms: https://migrainetracker.ca. This can be useful for your physician to determine what type of headache you are having, which will help determine the root cause. 

 

REFERENCES 

  1. Prevalence of Migraine in the Canadian Household Population. Pamela L Ramage-Morin  1 , Heather Gilmour  1. 2014 Jun;25(6):10-6. PMID: 24941316
  2. Front Cell Neurosci. 2018; 12: 233. Published online 2018 Aug 3. doi: 10.3389/fncel.2018.00233. PMCID: PMC6088188
  3. Vascular Contributions to Migraine: Time to Revisit? Bianca N. Mason1,† and Andrew F. Russo1
  4. Alpay K, Ertas M, Orhan EK, Ustay DK, Lieners C, Baykan B. Diet restriction in migraine, based on IgG against foods: a clinical double-blind, randomised, cross-over trial. Cephalalgia. 2010;30(7):829-837. doi:10.1177/0333102410361404
  5. Silberstein SD. Preventive migraine treatment. Continuum. 2015;21(4 Headache):973-989. doi:10.1212/CON.0000000000000199
  6. Stovner LJ, Nichols E, Steiner TJ, et al. Global, regional and national burden of migraine and tension-type headache, 1990-2016: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016. Lancet Neurol. 2018;17(11):954-976. doi:1016/S1474-4422(18)30322-3
  7. Pringsheim T, Davenport W, Mackie G, et al. Canadian Headache Society guideline for migraine prophylaxis. Can J Neurol Sci. 2012;39(2 Suppl 2):S1-59.
  8. Hajihashemi P, Askari G, Khorvash F, Reza Maracy M, Nourian M. The effects of concurrent coenzyme Q10, L-carnitine supplementation in migraine prophylaxis: a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial. Cephalalgia. 2019;39(5):648-654. doi:10.1177/0333102418821661
  9. Bektas H, Karabulut H, Doganay B, Acar B. Allergens might trigger migraine attacks. Acta Neurol Belg. 2017;117(1):91-95. doi:10.1007/s13760-016-0645-y
  10. Sadeghi O, Maghsoudi Z, Khorvash F, Ghiasvand R, Askari G. The relationship between different fatty acids intake and frequency of migraine attacks. Iran J Nurs Midwifery Res. 2015;20(3):334-339 
  11. Köseoglu E, Talaslioglu A, Gönül AS, Kula M. The effects of magnesium prophylaxis in migraine without aura. Magnes Res. 2008;21(2):101-108.
  12. Andreeva VA, Szabo de Edelenyi F, Druesne-Pecollo N, Touvier M, Hercberg S, Galan P. Macronutrient intake in relation to migraine and non-migraine headaches. Nutrients. 2018;10(9):E1309. doi:10.3390/10091309

Author

Dr. Michelle van der Westhuizen, MD

There is an uncompromising connection between COVID-19 and the immune system. Having a supercharged immune system is proving to be our best defense against the virus. Let’s get into the heart of what COVID-19 is, how it spreads, and what supplements you can consume to heighten your immune system function. Before knowing how to fight or treat the virus, we need to better understand what is COVID-19.

 

What is COVID-19? 


 

The Government of Canada states that the Human coronaviruses or COVID-19 causes infections in the nose, throat, and lungs. It is spread by touching your mouth, nose or eyes after touching respiratory droplets spread by an infected person. Let’s explore what to do to prevent COVID-19 from infecting our bodies.

 

What can we do to prevent COVID-19 from striking our Immune Sytem?

Just like with Influenza, the very best prevention from COVID-19 is washing your hands and not touching your mouth, nose, or eyes. This invaluable advice is only half the battle. let’s explore the best defense to stop COVID-19 in its tracks.

 

Your best defense to preventing COVID-19 is keeping your body healthy. Let’s supercharge your immune system with the proper vitamins and minerals and make it a new lifestyle!

 

Supercharging Your Immune System is Your Best Defense

Supercharging your immune system should be the focus of our everyday living. Let’s put it into perspective. If didn’t have an immune system, we would be fully open to the invasion of foreign bodies like viruses, bacteria & parasites, fungus & toxins. These invaders would overtake our bodies and we would be in a constant state of sickness. Pretty scary, huh?

 

A functioning, healthy immune system is always on the lookout for foreign invaders. These invaders are called antigens. Our cells, tissues, proteins, and organs all take part in the process. Our body responds, attacks, and rids them from our bodies. This is called immuno-response or immune system response.

 

Immune System Response

Our immune system responds by producing antibodies to fight the antigens. A copy of the antibody remains in your body for when the same antigen appears, which is why you get some diseases like measles, only once!

 

If our immune system is not functioning, your body will be open and susceptible to the myriad of diseases that come your way. A supercharged immune system can help fend off diseases, like COVID-19, or coronavirus.

 

Supercharging Your Immune System Response

How can we supercharge our immune system response? A healthy lifestyle is your immune system’s best friend. Here are 9 things you can do to raise your immune function and keep viruses like COVID-19 at bay.

  1. Stop Smoking and reduce your consumption of alcohol
  2. Reduce artificial sugar intake
  3. Increase the consumption of fruits & vegetables.
  4. Use essential oils with antiviral properties like oregano oil
  5. Exercise daily
  6. Sleep a minimum of 8 hours every night
  7. Minimize stress and anxiety
  8. Practice stress-reducing activities like meditation and yoga
  9. Take the proper supplements

 

The Proper Supplements


At Linden & Arc Vitality Institute, our knowledgeable doctors can provide you with information about the proper supplements and doses your body needs for a thriving immune system. Amongst the many, 3 supplements stand out to supercharge your immune system: Vitamin C, Vitamin D, and Magnesium.

 

Vitamin C and Immune System Function

Any infection at the cellular level experiences a higher level of oxidative stress and can have a destructive effect on the body. New studies on COVID-19 suggest that high-dose vitamin C is an effective treatment. Immune function is only one step to optimum health. Taking more vitamin C may not boost the immune system. We must look at the whole body’s health including gut health, hormone balance, detoxification, and treating underlying issues.

 

If you do not have enough Vitamin C in your diet, consider adding this to your health regimen. If you have a suppressed immune system, you might want to consider mega Vitamin C doses, monitored by a health practitioner. This along with other immune system boosting practices will hopefully keep COVID-19 away from you and your family.

 

Vitamin D-Light-ful: The Sun Source

This D – LIGHT – ful supplement is an incredible immune system booster. Most know that Vitamin D helps to prevent colds through the winter months. The lack of natural Vitamin D from the sun makes the winter months tougher. Colds and flu are prevalent in every household. It plays a huge role in activating immune cells or T-cells & macrophages that attack viruses and gives anti-inflammatory properties.

 

Vitamin D deficiencies can increase the risk of respiratory infections and the development of acute respiratory failure. COVID-19 is respiratory in nature, which puts humans at greater risk. Consider adding Vitamin D to your health regimen with the consultation of a physician.

 

Glutathione: The Mother of All Antioxidants

Glutathione is the “mother of all antioxidants.” Our bodies normally carry a bountiful amount and it exists in many of the foods we eat.

 

Find amazing sources of sulfur-rich foods in vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, kale, cabbage, asparagus & spinach, and allium vegetables like onions, garlic, shallots, chives & leeks. Don’t mistake the power of glutathione for healthy immune function.

 

As a boost to the effectiveness of the healthy foods you are eating, glutathione is found in supplement form as well. What are the right vitamin & mineral supplement doses for you?

 

Vitamin Supplements & Doses


It is virtually impossible to consume enough vitamin-rich food to keep our body’s immunity heightened. Supplements will be beneficial to fight off COVID-19.

 

Never underestimate nutrition and the bountiful knowledge of your physician. With your health history on hand and the knowledge of risk factors under their belt, their advice will be very beneficial to you.

 

If you believe you have COVID-19, get tested immediately, and quarantine for the recommended 14 days.

 

Please refer to The Key to Healing, where we explore the art of breathing, which helps respiratory function.

 

Immune Function is one of Linden & Arc Vitality Institute’s 7 Nodes of Healing (see picture below), our holistic approach to optimum health. Achieving the health of the mind, body, spirit & soul is the only way to practice medicine.

 

Take your health into your hands and contact us at [email protected].





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

 

Art Therapy has the powerful healing effect of integrating the left and right hemispheres of the brain. Typically the left side of the brain rules the orderly, statistical, mathematical, logical, practical, rational way of thinking; seeing things in straight lines. The right side of the brain represents creativity and passion. It also experiences taste and feelings, free spirit, imagination, yearning, sensuality, movement, vivid colours, and the senses.


Without activities that stimulate integration within each side of the brain, one side can’t make sense of how the other sees things. You cannot put feelings and expressions into boxes as the left hemisphere would require. They will become restricted. To truly experience feelings, they must be felt. Subsequently, the right brain also has difficulty making sense of how the left-brain sees things. As a society, we tend to be mostly left-brain dominant. This causes an imbalance that can create great disruption in the natural flow of everyday living. This is why it is so important to create integration and balance within both sides of the brain.

 

 

Creating Art is Therapeutic

 

Observing, drawing, and creating art, allows for this integration in the most therapeutic way. We integrate the hemispheres of the brain whenever we do anything that requires logical and creative thought simultaneously.


Another powerful way Art Therapy works to change the brain is by rerouting neurotransmitters. In 1949, Neuropsychologist Donald Hebb described the formation and reinforcement of pathways in the brain through repetition. His quote, “Neurons that fire togetherwire together,” coins the thought. Through repetition, we develop habits and ways of being in the world. Though these habits may not always serve our highest purpose. Art Therapy offers an opportunity to explore life in new ways. Using mindful awareness of our emotions, messages from within the body, and tactile sensory expression through art-making.

 

 

What is Art Therapy?

 

Art therapy is a mental health profession using the creative process of art-making to improve and enhance the physical, mental and emotional well being of individuals. This works for all ages.  It is based on the belief that the creative process involved in artistic self-expression helps people to improve life. It resolves conflicts and problems, develops interpersonal skills, manages behavior, reduces stress, increases self-esteem and self-awareness, and achieve insight.


Art therapy uses the creation of art as a primary mode of expression and communication (American Art Therapy Association, 2013).  It integrates psychotherapeutic techniques with the creative process to improve mental health and wellbeing. Sometimes referred to as creative arts therapy or expressive arts therapy, it encourages people to express and understand emotions through artistic expression and the creative process. 

 

 

Making Art Spontaneously

By making art in a spontaneous way, one is able to bring unconscious feelings into consciousness.  Art Therapy can help a person give expression to their feelings and hidden inner conflicts that they may not have words for.  As one creates, they are able to uncover aspects of self that may be locked in the body. When people are then able to associate feelings verbally to the artwork created, the therapy speeds up recovery.

 

Psychotherapy and Art

The idea of using art in psychotherapy has been around since the early days of Carl Jung.  This modality of healing has continued to grow and expand, showing people the benefits of making art in a safe, secure setting. Feelings, once trapped inside the body, will move and expand through the making of art. Doing this brings awareness to ourselves previously uncovered.

 

Although we may have needed these coping mechanisms at one or more times in our lives, they often become a source of pain as they no longer serve the purpose they once did. For instance, maybe you were bullied as a child and now find yourself on guard and ready to attack when provoked. When in reality the threat is no longer with you.

 

You can develop a deep-seated fear to speak out for yourself if you were scolded or physically reprimanded as a child for being too loud or acting out. Maybe this stifling of your voice and spirit has even created a thyroid condition or goiter? These emotions in the body are real and will eventually manifest into physical ailments. By bringing mindful awareness to the body, we are invited to let go of these parts that no longer serve us. and hold us back from living life to our fullest potential.

 

 

Implementing Art Therapy

 

By implementing Art Therapy, I invite you to experience the profound healing that both modalities offer. You don’t need artistic expertise and there is never any pressure to fold like a pretzel or push yourself beyond what is safe for your own body. Honour and listen to your body. Step into a new way of being in the world by allowing space for feelings and messages to arise. I look forward to crossing paths with you soon.

 

Author
Charmaine Husum, DKATI, RTC, CT