Brain Wellness



I am headed to Atlanta again this week and I'm ready to explain from a different angle what I have been learning as a brain specialist and what I am bringing back to Utah with me. I already wrote a more concrete description of QNRT here.

I am delighted to work with others who are not of my faith, yet I recognize that in Utah, many of my clients will likely share similar beliefs with me. I recognize that you may have a different Higher Power than me and I honor and respect that. I want to make it clear that QNRT isn't a religion nor is it associated with religion. I am writing this to bring clarity to individuals wanting to understand more of what has personally attracted me to QNRT and why I am offering it to my clients in relationship to my faith.

This first part of what is on my mind probably isn't new to you (unless this is the very first post that you have read here). As part of God's grand design to shape us and develop us to become like Him, we left our home of perfect Love and Light. We came to this existence where we are surrounded by people who may mean well but are acclimated to this fallen world. They influenced our young or vulnerable minds in ways that left us questioning or wondering. Other individuals may have more malicious intents either consciously or subconscious and for whatever reasons specific to them, caused us hurt or harm. Sometimes we experienced deep pain, loss, and disappointment simply as part of living in a fallen world governed by the laws of this sphere. Other wounds have came as the result of our own actions. Each one of us have a unique story---a journey---both in the ways we step farther and farther away from Love, Light and Truth and also our return to Them. Although those details will be specific to God's plan for us individually, the pattern is the same. Each one of our journeys includes or will include trauma.

Trauma happens in those moments where we lose pieces of the vision of who we really are and what we have been sent to this earth to accomplish. Trauma causes us to become blinded to not only the truths of who we really are, but also who others are and the way this world "works."Another essential realization we must discover is that trauma not only leaves holes in our spirits and our minds, but it also completely rewires our bodies---especially our nervous systems and brains. Operating without the previous knowledge we had carefully accumulated before coming to this earth and the changes to our minds, bodies, and spirits can easily keep us stuck and blinded to the lies that have started to take root at these critical times.

The happiest news of all is that God not only anticipated all of this, but He prepared for it. Every aspect of this journey is by Divine design---not only collectively for God's children, but also personally for each one of us. That includes you! At the very heart of His plan is His Son, Jesus Christ, who lived a perfect life and offered a perfect sacrifice. His Atonement completely covers every experience and all aspects of those experiences we have had, are currently passing through, or will face in the future. Your Savior is calling to you. He can guide you. He knows the path you must walk to find peace and healing and He wants to show you yours. No two individuals will walk exactly the same path. More on this in a moment, but let's first explore a bit more about how mental/emotional/spiritual trauma can change the body.

Is it really far fetched to believe that what happens to us mentally or spiritually also effects our bodies? Look at the how "...Zeezrom lay sick at Sidom, with a burning fever, which was caused by the great tribulations of his mind on account of his wickedness" (Alma 15:3, emphasis added; See also Alma chapters 14&15). How about Lehi and Sariah? "...my parents being stricken in years, and having suffered much grief because of their children, they were brought down, yea, even upon their sick-beds" (1 Nephi 18:17, emphasis added). President Benson said, "Sin debilitates; it affects not only the soul but the body. The scriptures are replete with examples of the physical power that can attend the righteous. On the other hand, unrepented sin can diffuse energy and lead to both mental and physical sickness. Disease, fevers, and unexpected deaths are some of the things that have been directly related to disobedience. Jesus healed a man of a physical malady and then told him in John, chapter 5, verse 14, to ‘sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.’ Galahad said that his strength was as the strength of ten because his heart was pure" (emphasis added).

Now I'm not saying that everything that "goes wrong" with our bodies or minds or spirituality is linked back to our disobedience, sin, or always related to trauma; however, consider these beautiful words from Sister Nelson. "Of course, diseases can just happen--some are hard wired.

"...Even our conversations do not go unnoticed by our cells. Have you noticed that? Have you ever had a conversation that helped you feel lighter, brighter? And conversely, have you had a conversation that gave you a headache?" (Wendy Watson Nelson, Ph. D., Purity and Passion, Spiritual Truths about Intimacy that will Strengthen Your Marriage, pgs. 24-25). Our bodies are changed by what is happening inside of us mentally and spiritually and how we process the world around us.

What about the opposite? What about our bodies having an effect on our minds or spirits? Have you ever wondered why one of the promises of keeping the Word of Wisdom is "...find[ing] wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures" (D&C 89:19)? President Benson also said, "There is no question that the health of the body affects the spirit, or the Lord would never have revealed the Word of Wisdom. God has never given any temporal commandments—that which affects our stature affects our soul."

Try an experiment, maybe even right now. Notice how changing the way we breathe or the shape of our bodies changes how we feel. How do you feel inside when you become more mindful to your breath...when you choose to slow it down and take in more air with a long inhale and exhale? How is your mental or emotional state change by taking a power stance such as standing in a letter X shape with your arms and legs spread wide and head held high? Simply changing our breath and body shape can have instant or nearly instant effects on what is happening inside of us.

Christ is always our answer. Every single time. I'm not sure I can fully articulate what is in my heart, but I will try. It isn't that He can't be our direct answer as much as sometimes it's on our end of things. Sometimes we are so blinded, consumed, distracted, stuck, or buried---whatever it may be for you---that we cannot yet handle His direct light. It's impossible for it to fully penetrate through without allowing the debris from all that we have experienced to this point to first be removed. Maybe we are stuck at the physical or mental level and need some leverage there first and that is exactly where He is trying to lead us.

Comparing today with when I first started my return journey, I can hear my Savior's voice much clearer. I know how to come to Him for what I need. There isn't as much muck and overwhelming trauma to distract away from that and when things do come up, we work on them together. It's taken seeking, time, practice, and experience. Even then, He still works through means to reach me. His ways can show up in any form because He knows me and who I am right at this moment. Sometimes He speaks to me through the scriptures or other inspired words. Other times it's thoughts, impressions, or feelings during prayer or as I write in my journal. Sometimes it's through an interaction with a loved one. Sometimes it's as I move my body on my yoga mat. Other times it's in the beauty of nature. It's in moments of joy and love. Today it was the overwhelming peace as I walked up to the enter the temple. The ways I hear His voice may not be how, where, or when you hear Him. He is all around us and in everything (see D&C 88), we simply need to practice listening for ourselves!

For my own personal journey, it meant that my Savior worked through means and called to me in multiple forms. Many of us must first peel back layers in our bodies and minds before we can tolerate the deep spiritual healing. It can also make the necessary spiritual work more clear. My journey absolutely included Jesus Christ! He has not only worked with me through spiritual healing, but He has also been my constant power source and compass as I navigate through the physical and mental aspects of my journey, too. In addition to all the ways He has called to me spiritually through scriptures study, prayers, church attendance, and temple worship so that my faith in Jesus Christ could be deepened in order to repent, forgive, and become a new person, He also called to me to discover my own body through powerful tools and experiences. My body needed support from the effects of trauma just as desperately as my mind and spirit and He knew that. My journey has also included the mental shifting that He lead me to. That meant years of group and private therapy as well as 12-step programs and additional opportunities for training and other profound experiences. All of these means have moved me closer to Him in the right way and order for me. For most of us, even with quantum shifts, it is still a process...and one that we can approach with some tools. He always meets us where we are at. I have learned that our bodies can be an excellent starting point for many of us to begin to break through the darkness, lies, and unresolved experiences over our life times.

There are countless tools, approaches, and opportunities to progress. There are never-ending combinations of how to take our journeys back to God as we find wholeness in Christ. What is an answer for one won't be an answer for another. I am not pretending to have "the answer" because Christ is our one and only answer---yet each one of us will find Him differently. Even within the gospel of Jesus Christ there are answers to heal from trauma not only spiritually and mentally, but also physically (such as the ways the Holy Ghost interacts with our bodies or why the ordinances all include our physical bodies so much or the Oath & Covenants of the Priesthood of "the renewing of [our] bodies" D&C 84:33).

But maybe the skills that I have been developing this year to support the physical effects of trauma will add to your journey. If so, I am grateful for the privilege to help support you! If you are even the tiniest bit curious for more concrete details about QNRT then I invite you to check out my page HERE. However you move forward in your journey, I send you love!

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