Brain Balance and flexibility
are the two main principles that underlie our approach.
Brain Balance
Equality of distribution or equilibrium between oppositional forces.
The brain mediates your perception, thoughts and actions. If one part of the system is out of balance, the effects can ripple out into many other areas.
If you are experiencing emotional or functional difficulties, we will see over or under-activity in the corresponding areas of the brain. These areas will be working harder than the others, and putting the brain out of balance.
When our brain activity is out of balance, there will be corresponding problems in our emotional or physical health.
Brain Flexibility
The ability to move fluidly and effortlessly.
What you use grows stronger. This is as true for the brain as for physical muscles, and is called neuroplasticity. With repeated use, a thought, mood, or emotional state becomes a ‘habit’. The habit grows into a trait, and over time grows into a constant underlying state.
If the brain is out of balance and loses its flexibility, you may get stuck thinking when trying to sleep, dreaming when trying to concentrate, or be saddled with uncomfortable emotions.
The brain has been pushed out of balance, and has lost the flexibility needed to shift out of it.
The Vehicle Analogy
Brain balance and flexibility are often explained in terms of likening the various functions of the brain to those of an automobile.
Foot hard on the Accelerator (SNS Flexibility)
The Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) is your internal accelerator – it governs your alert state, your adrenal function, and arousal level. If this critical system is locked into an ‘on’ position, you can be plagued with sleeplessness, anxiety, and racing thoughts – perhaps a low-level panic as you drive.
You can think of it as having your foot firmly planted on the accelerator pedal at all times, which makes it difficult to slow down. It is hard on the vehicle; after a while it will start to burn out.
FOOT HARD ON THE BRAKES (PNS FLEXIBILITY)
The Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS) can be thought of as your internal brake pedal. The opposite action of the SNS, it governs your ‘rest and digest’ function. If the PNS is permanently engaged, it can result in digestive trouble, lack of ‘pep’, enthusiasm and vitality. You may feel generally disconnected from your vehicle, or not quite at home inside.
It can take a lot of energy to get around if you don’t first release the brakes.
Social skills and Intimacy →
Sleep and Fatigue →
FOOT ON THE ACCELERATOR AND THE BRAKES (SNS/PNS BALANCE)
When our SNS accelerator and PNS brakes are both fully engaged, try as we might we will have difficulty getting anywhere at all with any comfort. You may even end up swinging from high energy to extreme lows. It is, of course, an exceptionally poor use of mental energy.
Spinning your wheels like this is a problem more common than you might think. In the long term, this can put undue stress on the nervous system and shorten the life of your vehicle.
Trauma and PTSD →
Emotional Balance →
ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL (BRAINWAVE RATIO)
Is your attention going to where you put it, and can you hold your attention there as long as you need to? Or are you fiddling with the radio, checking messages, or staring off into the countryside rather than being able to stay on task? Does your mind drift somewhere completely different than where you intended?
When you are driving, it’s good policy to have your eyes on the road. It saves you from making needless mistakes.
Wheel Alignment (Brainwave Stability)
If your brain is unstable, it is akin to having poor wheel alignment. Whenever you try to get somewhere, your emotions or actions may shake, wobble and buffet around. Migraines, epilepsy, tics, and a number of other symptoms may result from poor stability.
Proper alignment helps you stay on the road.
Low Horsepower (Dominant Frequency)
How much brain power is available? Is there enough power to run your vehicle when under load? Is power running short in a certain area, or is all the energy being used somewhere other than where it’s needed?
If there isn’t enough basic electric horsepower to go around, you may feel like you are always stalling at tasks. Without enough energy to get through the day, your mind will fade and falter.
Reaction Time (Phase)
How long does it take for the vehicle to react? Many of the brain’s functions are timed events. Timing can be crucial – signals from one part of the brain should arrive at another area at just the right moment to perform a specific task efficiently. When the delay is too short (hyper-cohered) the signals arrive too early; when the delay is too long (hypo-cohered), it arrives too late.
In either case, it can make it difficult to get from point A to point B if the controls aren’t doing what you want them to, when you want them to do it.
Austism, Dyslexia, or Developmental →
Linkages (Coherence)
Coherence is like the linkages on the car. In order to properly make sense of the world around us and accomplish complex tasks, the different parts of the brain must share information. If different areas are not connecting to each other, getting anywhere can be tough.
Learning Disabilities may show either (or both) excessive or deficient coherence characteristics; serious traumatic brain injury classically results in excessive coherence.
Austism, Dyslexia, or Developmental →
Interested in learning more about how your brain works? Check out our UK neurofeedback training solutions.