The human brain has the ability to adapt at any time to new behaviours and new conditions. Current scientific existence supports the concept that our primal mind-body systems are designed to adapt in ways that reward and reinforce positive emotions and thoughts and effect behavioural change. This means that even deeply rooted thought and behaviours that cause bad health can be ?revivied? to promote better health and to reduce the risk of age-related disease. For this the author suggests a four-week ?addicted to heath? plan which stresses on nutrition, activity, movement, mindfulness, mediation, social relationships and positive emotional states.
We all know that a complex cascade of intricately connected protein messengers in the brain, referred to as neurotransmitters, are delicately influenced by how we ?see? the world and how we interact with and how we ultimately live our lives. These transmitters have a wide range of powerful influences on biological functions throughout the body, for example, the immune system, blood pressure, vascular health, diabetes risk, metabolic rate, wound healing, cellular health, etc. What we experience emotionally?feelings of despair and anger vs. joy, love or gratitude?are manifestations of subtle and very significant shifts in the symphony these neurotransmitters produce each and every moment. All elements of the orchestra need to be in harmony for joy and the optimal immune functions to be realised. In this context, anger and hostility are emotional experiences of an underlying overdrive of our fight-flight stress response squeezing cortisol out of our adrenal glands and rewiring up adrenaline and other neurotransmitters with negative health consequences.
This book examines the health implications of how we interpret the events in our lives and how we respond to those events. The experiences of life reach our head every time to interact with the brain and produce a symphony that alters perceptions of pain, moods and cardiovascular risk. This interplay affects diabetes risk, inflammation, immune function, coping mechanism, symptom management, conflict management, behavioural management and longevity. Divided into three sections, the first section of the book whets the appetite with some personal examples of how the house your brain resides in can be gutted and redesigned. The second section gives a general overview of current research and undertaking in the field of neuroscience, which makes for somewhat heavy reading. The third section provides medical evidence and everyday examples of how these powerful connections can more effectively be applied to life.
The book shows that while managing conflicts in life on how to raise adolescents, our degree of physical, mental emotional and spiritual fulfilment may vary depending on how effectively we navigate. Greater awareness of the interactions of thoughts, feeling and behaviour can enable us to choose more consciously. We will also acquire a greater awareness of what is happening behind the curtain of the mind of others. Behaviour aligned with pursuit and fulfilment of which matters most to us and satisfy that which we value most will activate ?the primal brain circuitry that produces a biological response that pays handsomely,? says the author. He is also of the opinion that these responses when cultivated ?as a way of living? can dramatically enhance health.
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