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Science based strategies and life coach tools to help you feel better in your body at any age!
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Monday Dec 07, 2020
Monday Dec 07, 2020
Today I interview Iva Faulknerova. I invited her on the show to talk about an online course she took through Yale, called “The Science of Well Being.”
The course is taught by Dr Laurie Santos, Psychology professor and Host of the Podcast “The Happiness Lab”
https://www.coursera.org/learn/the-science-of-well-being
She talks about NPI: Neuro-Psycho-Immunology- the study of how thoughts effect our health. And describes some "annoying features of our brain" that keep us from feeling our best.
Listen for research based tips, to help you make small changes which can lead to greater happiness in your life.
Follow Betsy on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/bodyandmindlifecoach/
Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvXZSYYGL2cfJl-oEOzqspA
Website https://bodyandmindlifecoach.com
*Free Nervous System Modules- 4 free videos explaining the nervous system, how it affects your health, and how to regulate it https://view.flodesk.com/pages/620ffa96e0eda1a0d870b5a6
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If you like this podcast, please give it a five star rating and review on Itunes https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-unstoppable-body-and-minds-podcast/id1493360543
Monday Nov 30, 2020
Monday Nov 30, 2020
Today I am teaching about some ancient yogic wisdom, not neuroscience. But remember, science has it's limitations. We can only observe and quantify certain things we can perceive.
Listen with an open mind, and maybe find a new perspective to look at your body and mind connection.
The Koshas are 5 layers, or sheaths, that cover the light we have within us. When the layers are dense, our light can not shine out. Our goal with the Koshas is to work to become more transparent at each layer. Then, like Saran Wrap over a light bulb, our light can still shine brightly.
And then we have layers, or "koshas", that cover that light.
These layers are made of "Maya", which means illusion
So when the layers over the light are thick and dense, the
light can not shine out. You are locked in the illusion
There are 5 layers- KOSHAS
Starting with the outermost layer- ANNAMAYA KOSHA
(Food Layer)
The part of the body that is fed and nourished by food
-represents the physical structures of the body -bones, the muscles, the skin, the organs
And you could take some things and intervene at the food level
Maybe eating certain foods or taking supplements to help with healing.
But remember too that the problem could originate from a
deeper level and be radiating out.
So it is always good to look at all of the levels, because there can be a reverberation in the body
The food layer can become more or less transparent by what we eat or drink or how we treat the physical body.
Asana or the yoga practice has some effect on the Food layer,
But it primarily works on the next layer in, which is the PRANAMAYAKOSHA- Pranic layer
Prana is LIFE FORCE.
This layer is composed of the physiological structures in the body of blood, lymph, the breath , the respiratory system, the circulatory system, and the endocrine system, like the thyroid.
So if you have ailments in any of these areas, your primary work is here on the Pranic level.
And your primary remedy is the “asana”- yoga movements to promote flow of this life force.
And the other remedy is through Pranayama- which is the breath work.
The third layer, is the MONOMAYA KOSHA (Mind layer). It is what we sometimes call the MONKEY MIND, the irrational mind, the layer of mental chatter and the emotional level of the mind
Ailments of this layer include anxiety and depression
The remedy, the way to feed and nourish this layer, is through devotional practices, keeping good company, and performing selfless service to others. Karmic yoga practices- like caring for someone else. Or Bahti yoga which is chanting, or singing helps at this level.
The next layer is the VINJNANAMAYA KOSHA (knowledge layer)
This is the wisdom, intuition, and the perception. The layer that can figure things out, plan and study. It represents the intellectual level of the mind.
The affliction of this level is boredom
So if this is you- the way to feed and nourish this layer is by studying, and staying engaged in learning, and in growing.
The final, innermost layer is the ANANDAMAYAKOSHA (Bliss layer)
This represents the highest, innermost self (which is made of bliss!). Its is the layer closest to the true self
And so it is the layer that can cause the deepest affliction.
The ailment of this layer is disconnection. Disconnection from others, from yourself or from Source
This layer is fed and nourished by devotional practices, and maintaining connection to a higher power- whatever that is for you.
Follow Betsy on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/bodyandmindlifecoach/
Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvXZSYYGL2cfJl-oEOzqspA
Website https://bodyandmindlifecoach.com
*Free Nervous System Modules- 4 free videos explaining the nervous system, how it affects your health, and how to regulate it https://view.flodesk.com/pages/620ffa96e0eda1a0d870b5a6
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Monday Nov 23, 2020
Monday Nov 23, 2020
In this episode, I summarize what Body and Mind Lifecoaching is, and what I teach.
Body and Mind Lifecoaching is a fusion of what I have learned studying neuroscience and mind management principles.
I teach:
1-A new way to look at chronic pain and disease-by understanding how and why the brain produces pain
2-How to respond when you have pain
3-How to feel ALL of your emotions and sensations in your body
4-How to tap into your intuition
Follow Betsy on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/bodyandmindlifecoach/
Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvXZSYYGL2cfJl-oEOzqspA
Website https://bodyandmindlifecoach.com
*Free Nervous System Modules- 4 free videos explaining the nervous system, how it affects your health, and how to regulate it https://view.flodesk.com/pages/620ffa96e0eda1a0d870b5a6
*Curable App- 6 Weeks Free with this code http://www.curable.com/betsyjensen
If you like this podcast, please give it a five star rating and review on Itunes https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-unstoppable-body-and-minds-podcast/id1493360543
Monday Nov 16, 2020
Monday Nov 16, 2020
The concept of radical self acceptance is that in order to truly change yourself, you must accept yourself just as you are.
We usually think if we are kind to ourselves, then we will never change. So we hold ourselves to unreal perfectionistic standards and then beat ourselves up when we don't achieve them.
But what if the way to change is not to be hard on yourself?
"It wasn't until I accepted myself just as I was, that I was free to change." -Carl Rogers
Radical self acceptance relates to chronic pain and disease in two ways
1-accepting all emotions we have is what John Sarno teaches. Pen-vent or journal to get those repressed emotions out, and then bathe them in self compassion
2-radically accept the sensation of the pain. Go into the body and describe the sensation. Do not fight it or dissociate away from it. React as neutrally as possible and send slow breath to and from that area. React to your body with compassion, not hate or fear.
Accept the sensation of pain, and send the message back to the nervous system that it can relax.
The best way to change ourself, including our perception of pain, is to fully accept all parts of ourself.
Radical!!!
Follow Betsy on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/bodyandmindlifecoach/
Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvXZSYYGL2cfJl-oEOzqspA
Website https://bodyandmindlifecoach.com
*Free Nervous System Modules- 4 free videos explaining the nervous system, how it affects your health, and how to regulate it https://view.flodesk.com/pages/620ffa96e0eda1a0d870b5a6
*Curable App- 6 Weeks Free with this code http://www.curable.com/betsyjensen
If you like this podcast, please give it a five star rating and review on Itunes https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-unstoppable-body-and-minds-podcast/id1493360543
Transcript- Automatically Generated:
This is Betsy Jensen, and you are listening to Unstoppable Body and Mind, Episode 42, Radical Self-Acceptance. In this podcast, we learn to upgrade our brain and understand the power of our thoughts, to heal and to create the results we want in our life. Become the person in control of your healing and make peace with your life.
Become Unstoppable Body and Mind. Hello, my friends, welcome. Today, I'm gonna start off with the drawing.
Do you remember there was a drawing for $100 Amazon gift card? Well, that is being done right now. If you wanna watch on Instagram or YouTube and see me actually drawing the name, you can find me there at Body and Mind Life Coach.
And if you're listening, here's the rustle of the papers as I pick one. So the winner is Kelsey Gorkoski. So I'll be contacting you, Kelsey.
Congratulations. That was a drawing for people who gave my podcast a rating or review. And if you haven't yet, even though there's no drawing involved, please take the time.
It helps this podcast be found by more people so that this information can be shared. So today we're talking about radical self-acceptance. And this concept is based on a book by Tara Brock called Radical Self-Acceptance, a Buddhist guide to freeing yourself from shame.
The main concept with radical self-acceptance is that we all struggle with feelings of unworthiness, feelings of shame, feelings of not being good enough. And freedom doesn't come from trying to be more perfect. Peace comes when we learn to be accepting and loving of ourselves.
Once we can embrace the humanity and the struggles and the imperfections that we all have, then we can begin to create meaningful change. The feeling of unworthiness or not feeling good enough is quite universal. Brooke Castillo said that if you boil all of the problems she coaches on down to one thing, it comes down to self-worth.
And that means that just because your brain tells you you're not good enough, it doesn't mean that it's true. And it means that you're not alone. Most everyone struggles with some form of questioning their self-worth.
Now, most of us address the problem of not feeling good enough by beating ourselves up relentlessly. When we make a mistake, we think you're so stupid. Why do you always screw everything up?
You'll never succeed. You're too weak. We think that if we're harsh on ourselves, then we'll change.
There's fear that if we love ourselves when we do something wrong, then it will get worse. And we know from the model that you can never have a positive result from a negative emotion. So if the emotion we have about something is shame, embarrassment or guilt, then the actions we're most likely to take would be to beat ourselves up verbally, to hide, to not connect with others, and probably to buffer whatever it is that makes you feel good, like eating, drinking, shopping, gambling, being on Facebook too much.
Then the result is that we usually feel even worse about ourselves because we're thinking things that make us feel negatively, and then we buffer to get away from those feelings, which ends up sabotaging ourselves and making ourselves feel even worse. Our brain likes to prove itself true, even if it hurts us. So often, instead of being willing to change, we're stuck in a negative cycle of unworthiness and then buffering, which proves how weak and bad and unworthy we are.
Now notice if there are any areas of your life that you desperately wish were different. Maybe it's a body obsession or an addictive behavior or even the health of your body or chronic pain or disease. The fundamental way to change these things we don't like about ourselves is to accept ourselves, to radically and fully accept ourselves.
Carl Rogers said, it wasn't until I accepted myself just as I was, that I was free to change. So if I hate that I yell at my kids, the best way to change that is not to get really mad and frustrated with myself every time I yell at my kids. The best way for me to really be able to change that behavior I don't like is to fully accept that I am a person that sometimes yells at my kids.
I'm an imperfect human, and it's okay that I'm not perfect all of the time. I could even have compassion for myself, that when I get angry, I may yell, but that's just something that humans do sometimes. It's not an indication that I'm bad or worthless or unfit.
It just means that I have a human emotion, and in the future, I might want to react differently. Now, when you have compassion for yourself, you're not trying to change from a place of scarcity or a place of lack. You're accepting yourself.
You're knowing that you're worthy of love. You're not changing to get away from being bad, but you are wanting to change from a place of already being okay. Whatever we can't embrace with love imprisons us.
The truth is that we hold ourselves to a higher standard of perfection than what we expect from others. But if you think about it, most of us would rather be hanging around with someone that does have some imperfections. It's unnerving to be around someone who is perfect with the perfect hair and the perfect house and the perfect parents to their children, and their children always behave.
We may feel awkward because we're internally comparing ourselves. We might be secretly pleased when we catch a glimpse of their family struggling, so that we know that they're just human like us. This happened to me before, actually once I was doing a yoga class and a student was observing.
And after class, he said that he liked watching me practice. And I asked him what specifically, I was getting ready for some compliments. And he said he liked when I fell out of one of the standing balance poses, because then he knew I was human and not a robot.
So those people that we think are just perfect on Instagram, yes, part of us might look up to them and admire them, but part of us kind of hates that they're so perfect. When people don't seem to struggle or have problems, they don't seem real to us. It's not the kind of person we would want to hang around.
Or one time my dad put it this way. If you were, you know, maybe a high school basketball player, you wouldn't feel really comfortable playing on a professional team. You wouldn't really want to play with them.
It wouldn't be fun for you, even if you got the chance. You wouldn't be at the same level as them. So when we look at people who seem perfect, part of us is repelled by that.
Brene Brown calls these perfect imperfections. She says we can love each other, not in spite of these imperfections, but because of them. We are the ones putting so much pressure on ourselves to show up perfectly every time.
Other people actually like us more when we show up humanly instead of acting perfect. The process of radical self-acceptance is three steps. The first step, as always, is to become mindful.
Name what is there. Recognize when you're thinking the thought, something's wrong with me. Then respond to yourself with kindness.
Say yes to it. Allow it. Don't recoil away from it or beat yourself up about it.
Allow your insecure or judgmental feelings. Then infuse yourself with a profound sense of compassion. Bathe yourself in compassion.
Forgive yourself. Love yourself. And that is how you'll be best able to change it.
Now, how can we apply the radical self acceptance to chronic pain and chronic disease? The first way I feel like radical self acceptance correlates with chronic pain and disease is with John Sarno's theory of why the brain manifests pain as a response to the repressed emotions that we don't want to deal with. With radical self acceptance, we're accepting all of ourselves, all of the parts that are undesirable or ugly or unwanted.
And that's the same thing that we need to do with our journey with healing our pain. It's to accept that there are some emotions that our thoughts have created that we didn't want to feel, but are there in our body. If we don't feel them, then we feel them in our body.
So I think with what John Sarno recommends, with journaling, doing the penvent as I call it, and getting all of those emotions out and just recognizing that they're there. So I feel like radical self-acceptance is exactly what we're trying to do when we're working on healing chronic pain and disease. Really just recognizing all of the emotions that are there and not running away from them and not pretending that they're not there and allowing them to be there and be curious about them and accept them and bathe them with compassion.
As well, think of the concept of pain as something that you could also radically accept. What if the best way to eliminate your pain is when you notice it, to react so neutrally to it, to say yes to it, to allow it, to bathe it in compassion. When we react with fear or strong emotion to our pain, it sends the signal back to our brain that this is important.
We need to pay attention to it. We need to focus on it. It's like the brain turns up the volume of the pain and the hypersensitivity to pain increases.
Because our brain thinks it's really important and it wants to make sure we feel every pain sensation in our body. But the more we can notice our pain with acceptance or even with boredom or neutrality, it sends a message back to the brain that that sensation is not important. The brain can turn down that volume of hypersensitivity to it.
Because we know that people can have the same structural injuries, like disc bulges, arthritis or meniscus tear, and have different perceptions of their sensation of pain. It has more to do with how hypersensitive our nervous system is than the structural abnormality in our body. Some people may even have pain where they can find no structural abnormalities or medical explanations for why there is pain.
So there's a lot of evidence showing that it's not structural changes that cause chronic pain, but a ramped up nervous system and a pattern of hypersensitivity to body sensations. If you are not able to ignore your pain or react neutrally to it, you can practice accepting your pain by going into it instead of pushing away from it. Notice how it feels in your body.
Describe the sensation neutrally. Is it sharp or dull? Is it moving or stuck?
Is it warm or cold? Does it have a shape or a color? You can calm your breathing.
You can send breath to that area. When you're not fighting the sensation, it's more likely to decrease or even go away. There are many times I help people focus on and describe their pain.
And as they focus on it, their pain lessens or changes or moves in their body. I talk about going into your body on episode number 39. And I take you through a meditation where you can do this in episode number 26, somatic tracking, a meditation for pain.
Just like accepting all parts of ourselves can be difficult, accepting the sensations we have in our body, like pain, can be extremely difficult. But neuroscience teaches us that the way we respond to sensations of pain when we have them determines if we'll keep wiring our brain for pain in the future. This is a tricky skill.
We are not taught this way. So be patient and compassionate with yourself as you practice. But know that the best way to change ourselves is to fully accept all parts of ourselves first, and then we can be free to change.
All right, my friends, have a good week. Bye.
Monday Nov 09, 2020
Monday Nov 09, 2020
We all have some form of future fear, which can effect us in the present moment. People with chronic pain and disease often have so many unknowns about their health and prognosis, so future fear can be limiting and debilitating.
Today I want to talk about a specific kind of future fear- fear of evolving yourself into the next version of you. Are there some dreams you have forgotten about or no longer think are possible to chase? Are you not sure if you have a calling in life? Or what that calling is? Listen to this episode for advice.
Follow Betsy on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/bodyandmindlifecoach/
Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvXZSYYGL2cfJl-oEOzqspA
Website https://bodyandmindlifecoach.com
*Free Nervous System Modules- 4 free videos explaining the nervous system, how it affects your health, and how to regulate it https://view.flodesk.com/pages/620ffa96e0eda1a0d870b5a6
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Monday Nov 02, 2020
Monday Nov 02, 2020
Did you know beliefs are just thoughts you think over and over again?
Beliefs that aren't serving you can be questioned.
You will know to question a thought by WHAT YOU FEEL IN YOUR BODY.
Use your body sensations as a guide to start figuring out your emotions, thoughts and beliefs.
When you feel something in your body you don't like, resist the urge to pull away. The more you react calmly and without fear, your nervous system can move from fight or flight, to rest and repair.
Follow Betsy on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/bodyandmindlifecoach/
Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvXZSYYGL2cfJl-oEOzqspA
Website https://bodyandmindlifecoach.com
*Free Nervous System Modules- 4 free videos explaining the nervous system, how it affects your health, and how to regulate it https://view.flodesk.com/pages/620ffa96e0eda1a0d870b5a6
*Curable App- 6 Weeks Free with this code http://www.curable.com/betsyjensen
If you like this podcast, please give it a five star rating and review on Itunes https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-unstoppable-body-and-minds-podcast/id1493360543
Monday Oct 26, 2020
Monday Oct 26, 2020
Today's podcast includes two exercises for going in to the body.
Going in to the body, instead of retracting and dissociating from it, is an important way to start building a mind body connection.
It is a process you can use for processing emotion, decreasing physical pain and resolving trauma.
Follow Betsy on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/bodyandmindlifecoach/
Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvXZSYYGL2cfJl-oEOzqspA
Website https://bodyandmindlifecoach.com
*Free Nervous System Modules- 4 free videos explaining the nervous system, how it affects your health, and how to regulate it https://view.flodesk.com/pages/620ffa96e0eda1a0d870b5a6
*Curable App- 6 Weeks Free with this code http://www.curable.com/betsyjensen
If you like this podcast, please give it a five star rating and review on Itunes https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-unstoppable-body-and-minds-podcast/id1493360543
Transcript- Automatically Generated:
This is Betsy Jensen, and you are listening to Unstoppable Body and Mind, episode 39, Going Into the Body. In this podcast, we learned to upgrade our brain and understand the power of our thoughts, to heal and to create the results we want in our life. Become the person in control of your healing and make peace with your life.
Become Unstoppable Body and Mind. Hello, my friends. Today, we're going to talk about going into the body.
But first, I have some updates. My total podcast downloads this year has almost reached 5,000, which is exciting. I have 31 ratings now on iTunes.
You guys have been really doing your part, giving it ratings and reviews, which I really appreciate. I am still doing a drawing for a $100 Amazon gift card. So if you submit a rating or a review, then take a screenshot, email it to me, or if you follow me on Instagram.
So there's three possible entries per person. So on November 15th, I'll do a drawing for those who have entered to win, and someone will be the lucky winner of $100 Amazon gift card. My email is info at bodyandmindlifecoach.com, and all the information will be found in the show notes.
I've had a lot of listeners from Katrina Ubell's podcast who have started listening, so welcome to all of you. Many of you are physicians, and I've been doing a lot of consults these last couple of weeks with some of you. It's been awesome to talk to different physicians, people in the medical field, people who are interested in learning more about the mind-body connection.
And so I've been thinking of what I've been teaching that I could share with you on the podcast that might be helpful. One of the main principles that I teach is about going in to the body, to really describe the sensations and the feelings as if you're doing it very neutrally. I do this in the Somatic Tracking Meditation episode of my podcast, but I am gonna talk about it here today as well.
I've been listening to Peter Levine's book Healing Trauma, which I totally recommend. It's so interesting, and it talks about how trauma is biological. So I had this realization that was so funny this week.
The things that I've always thought were biological and physical, I've been learning about treating emotionally. And then something that I thought was mainly emotional, like trauma, that you would deal with by talking and analyzing your emotions. Peter Levine talks about analyzing and addressing biologically.
But what is really fascinating is that what I have been learning through life coaching, mind-body medicine, and with Peter Levine, there's this common modality, a way of addressing pain, disease, processing emotions, going through trauma, completing the cycle, is to go in to the body. Think of all the dissociation we have from our bodies. When you have chronic pain or you've suffered with disease, you may think your body has betrayed you.
You may hate your body. You may not trust your body. There may be resistance and even fear, thinking about how your life is limited, what you can or can't do.
There's a lot of times fear of the unknown, what if it gets worse? What is my future hold? What if something else happens?
When you have sensations, you may try to retract away from them, to tighten up, to resist, to push through, maybe even just ignore your body and whatever sensations it has. Now, what comes up for you, as I talk about your body? Take a moment to think if you have a loving relationship or fearful relationship with your body.
Do you feel like you're at war with your body? Are you scared of it?
Let's try right now just to be curious. Let's put the history and the past and the diagnoses and the prognosis over to the side. You can have them back when you want them.
But right now, I want you to just experience going into the body with me. So if you're driving or can't attend right now, maybe this is something that you can just listen to and come back to later when you have a chance to take it deeper and start integrating back into your body. So start by sitting or laying in a comfortable position.
Take some time to feel your body resting against the surface. You can close your eyes, rest them gently closed, and start to lengthen the amount of time you're breathing out and breathing in. And start to lengthen your breath and notice where you feel your breath.
Notice where you feel your breath in your body. Notice if you feel it in your nose, in your throat, in your lungs, maybe the rise and fall of your chest or of your stomach.
Start to pay attention to the movement, to the oscillation, the in and out of your breathing, and make it longer and longer as you calm and relax.
Begin to scan your body.
And describe anything that you come upon in your body. What grabs your attention? And how can you describe it neutrally?
Start by the area of the sensation that you have. And you can describe how big or small it is. If it seems to be dense or moving.
If it has a color, what would it be?
What quality does it possess? Is it a sharp or dull sensation? Is it a warm or cold?
How else can you describe it?
Keep focusing on this area, and notice what happens as you bring your attention to it. Does it change at all?
Maybe you can breathe air into that area. Imagine the breath swirling around whatever area you're feeling this sensation. And as you exhale, imagine anything coming out that's no longer serving you.
Pushing it out, releasing it, exhaling completely like you're wringing out your lungs before you breathe back in.
Try and be neutral as you notice this area. Try and go a little deeper as if you could shrink yourself down and look inside into that place. Maybe look with a flashlight like you're shining it around, being so curious about what you find, reacting so calmly to what you see.
There's really nothing to be upset about in this moment. We're just curious about what's there, going deeper and observing.
When you feel sensation, remember that you can go into it rather than pulling away from it. You may even ask it, why it's there? Does it have a message for you?
And then just calm your mind, breathe in and out, and listen. Some people hear a voice, some people feel a feeling, but maybe you can be open to whatever comes to mind. Even if you think it might be silly or irrelevant, maybe question it.
The more you practice asking your body, the more it will give you answers. Now, you can open your eyes. This is an exercise you can do anytime that you're feeling pain.
If you're feeling sensation, even if you're feeling emotions and want to process your emotions, you could notice when something's feeling off in your day. Maybe you're feeling frustrated, or you're feeling nervous or anxious, or maybe you're feeling excited about something. Really notice when you have these emotions, what they feel like in your body.
You might describe them as where they are in your body, how the quality of the sensation, how it feels. The more you tap into these signals from your body, the more aware you can become of what emotions you're feeling. It sounds weird, I know, to think we have to become aware of the emotions that we have.
But honestly, we're not taught to recognize our emotions. If anything, we're taught that we shouldn't feel certain emotions. People who are into coaching, sometimes we coach ourselves out of feeling so quickly.
So notice if there's something in your body, though, that's not quite feeling right. Maybe there is a little residual emotion that you're not recognizing. Or maybe you can start to recognize those emotions that come up frequently for you.
This is a way of connecting with your body. It's a way of becoming more in tune. It's a way of processing emotions and also releasing trauma going into your body, describing the sensation that you have.
Now I want to do one more exercise with you. This is from Peter Levine's book Healing Trauma that I referred to earlier. And he talks about getting comfortable with penduluming your emotions, basically where you are able to ramp up or increase your excitement level and then come back down.
He said people that have had traumatic situations that have not been resolved have difficulty when they do start to experience that heightened sensation of their nervous system ramping up. And so this exercise with going between emotions of excitement and grounding can be really important. So I want you to get comfortable and close your eyes again.
Really feel the contact you have with the surface that you're sitting on or laying on. Closing your eyes, letting the muscles of your eyes relax.
Taking deeper and deeper breaths, letting your shoulders relax away from your ears. Notice if there's any tightness that you're keeping in your body and try to soften it.
Now here we're going to visualize that you are a tree. So you can be any type of tree that you want. A willow, an oak tree, a pine tree, a big majestic tree that has branches and leaves.
It has a trunk that's stable and strong, and it has roots that go deep, deep into the earth. It's as if there's a magnet pulling those roots to the earth, to the center, and also spreading the branches and leaves up into the air, away from the earth.
Imagine this in your body, that your trunk is the trunk of that tree that is strong and resilient. Now imagine the leaves and the branches. They begin to sway in the wind.
And as the wind picks up, they really start to rustle. They begin moving more and more. And notice this in your body.
Where do you feel movement? Where do you feel intensity?
A big gust of wind comes. It blows the tree completely over to the ground.
There is some anticipation, some excitement, some wonder. As you notice that it's falling to the ground, how does that feel in your body?
But the tree is strong, and it comes back up. The trunk has been centered. The trunk is resilient.
The trunk is strong, and the roots pull it down, down to the earth. Feel this grounding sensation. Feel the stability in the core.
Feel the strength in the base. Feel the roots grounding to the earth.
Now shift your attention again to the leaves and branches in the wind. Feel how your body changes as you observe the movement.
Now, return again to the roots. Return to the grounding. Return to the trunk and the base.
Okay, so you can open your eyes. Now, going back and forth, you may have been able to feel the difference between those two emotions, of excitement, or maybe even a little bit of anxiety or worry, and then the grounding and relaxation and trust. Those are a couple of brief examples I wanted to share with you today about going into your body.
This principle is very important in desensitizing your hypersensitivity to pain. The more neutrally you respond to these situations, it sends the signal back to your nervous system that it doesn't need to be hypervigilant in this area. It sends a signal back to your brain that it does not need to continue to amplify the pain production.
So though it may be something you've avoided, going into your body is actually one of the first things that you can do to work on rewiring your brain to produce less pain. So that's what I have for you this week. Be sure and check out my Instagram.
I'm putting out a lot of new content there. And give yourself some chances to try going into your body this week. Thank you so much for listening.
I hope you learned a little bit about your brain today that helps you in your life like it helped me. Please be sure and subscribe and leave a review. And of course, be sure and share this podcast with someone you know that wants an unstoppable body and mind.
Monday Oct 19, 2020
Monday Oct 19, 2020
Today I talk about Joe Dispenza's book, "You are the Placebo." I give just a few examples from the book, so if you're interested in more the book is such an amazing resource!
The placebo effect demonstrates how the mind makes physical changes in the body, just by having a belief or expectation that something will happen.
It demonstrates the power of your thoughts in healing.
If you want to listen to the podcast episode I did for Katrina Ubell's podcast, click here:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/weight-loss-for-busy-physicians/id1199570390?i=1000494569383
Follow Betsy on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/bodyandmindlifecoach/
Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvXZSYYGL2cfJl-oEOzqspA
Website https://bodyandmindlifecoach.com
*Free Nervous System Modules- 4 free videos explaining the nervous system, how it affects your health, and how to regulate it https://view.flodesk.com/pages/620ffa96e0eda1a0d870b5a6
*Curable App- 6 Weeks Free with this code http://www.curable.com/betsyjensen
If you like this podcast, please give it a five star rating and review on Itunes https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-unstoppable-body-and-minds-podcast/id1493360543
Transcript- Automatically Generated:
This is Betsy Jensen, and you are listening to Unstoppable Body and Mind, episode 38, You are the Placebo by Joe Dispenza. In this podcast, we learned to upgrade our brain and understand the power of our thoughts, to heal and to create the results we want in our life. Become the person in control of your healing and make peace with your life.
Become Unstoppable Body and Mind.
Hello, my friends. I'll tell you what, I have had a great week. I was on Katrina Ubell's podcast.
She has a podcast, Weight Loss for Busy Physicians, and I've been working with her for the last six months, and she had me on her podcast to talk about her progress. Okay, so this is the title of it, which I just love. It's episode 196, How I Cured My Chronic Pain and Acid Reflex with Betsy Jensen.
And I have had a lot more listeners this last week to the podcast, which is exciting. Last week, my podcast had had about a hundred downloads for the week, and this past week, it was 1,400. So about 1,300 new downloads compared to the week before.
So any new listeners, welcome. I've also had more ratings and reviews on my podcast this last week. So thank you guys so much for that.
I was at 16 ratings last week, and now I'm at 24. So I really appreciate you taking the time to give some feedback and help this podcast be found by more people. Plus, I love reading the reviews from you guys and hearing your feedback.
I wanted to read one of the reviews that I just got. It's from KMR Doc, brand new listener. I found you through your appearance on Katrina Ubell's podcast.
Just listen to 34, number 34, about understanding the mind body pain connection. So well explained and make so much sense for the things going on in my life. Sent it to a friend for reference as well.
So glad I found you. Thank you so much. I really appreciate that feedback.
And if you haven't listened to episode 34 yet, it is such a great summary of basically what TMS is, what Dr. John Sarno called TMS or mind body syndrome. So take a listen to it if you haven't yet and see if it resonates with you. Now I am still doing the $100 Amazon gift card giveaway on November 15th.
So you can enter by giving my podcast a rating or review or following me on Instagram. So three possible entries. You can email me info at bodyandmindlifecoach.com.
The links will be in the show notes. And let me know that you've submitted a rating review or followed me, and you'll be entered to win $100 Amazon gift card on November 15th. Okay, that's all the housekeeping stuff.
I'm going to tell you today about several examples from Joe Dispenza's book, You are the Placebo. So it talks about the placebo effect, which many of you I'm sure already know, but it's a big factor in modern day medicine. In fact, placebo trials, double blind studies, all of that is because there is such a thing as a placebo effect.
First, we'll start just by talking about when it was basically discovered. The first one he talks about is Henry Beecher, who was an anesthesiologist in World War II, and they basically were running out of supplies, and they ran out of morphine. And so he started using saline, and many of the soldiers either had a reduction in symptoms or completely had no sensation of pain when they were injected with saline, thinking that it was a painkiller for them.
Then when Henry Beecher returned to the States, he is the one who started studying the placebo effect in drug trials. So basically what that would mean is there's randomized trials, two groups. A group that is given the drug and a group that is given a similar type of pill that is said to be the drug, and there's a huge placebo effect.
Spoiler alert. It's real. It's really hard to even tell how much of it is your brain creating.
These things. Okay, so in 1962, there's a study in Japan where they took 13 children who were allergic to poison ivy. And they would, I love this, in the 60s, they would rub poison ivy on one arm, and they would tell the children that it was a harmless leaf.
Only two of the children showed an allergic reaction, 11 of them did not. Then they rubbed a harmless leaf on the other arm and told the children it was poison ivy. And they all, all 13 of them developed a rash from the benign leaf.
When they believed the information that was told to them about whether the leaf had poison ivy or not, their body reacted accordingly. So on one hand or one arm, a poisonous substance had no effect and a plain leaf created symptoms because of what the children believed in their mind. This proves that thought could be more powerful than the physical environment.
Another study from the 60s, they took 40 asthma patients that were given inhalers full of water vapor. They were told that the inhalers contained an irritant. 19 of them, so 48%, developed asthmatic symptoms like restricted airways.
So almost half of them, when they were just given water vapor, and were told that there was an irritant in there, almost half developed asthmatic symptoms. 12 of them, or 30%, suffered full blown asthmatic attacks. So almost 80% of them basically had either symptoms or a full blown asthmatic attack, inhaling water vapor that they were told had irritant in it.
Then they were given another inhaler which was said to have medicine in it to relieve their symptoms. Guess what? It was also just water vapor.
But all of them had a reversal of their symptoms when they were given the second inhaler of water vapor that was said to have medicine to relieve their symptoms. Again, showing that their thoughts are more powerful than what was actually going on in reality, if you think about it on a chemical level. There's also what Joe Dispenza talks about as a nocebo effect.
When you are given a suggestion that you may develop some certain symptoms, then you are more likely to develop those symptoms if you believe that. So, for example, they took women and gave them a placebo for around their time of the month, basically they said, you'll have worse PMS, you'll have symptoms that are a little more exaggerated than normal. And 70% of them had that.
They were suggestible by that prompt that taking that pill would cause those effects in their body, in their mind, in their emotions, and guess what? They did. So he also talks about how you would probably be a little more susceptible to catching the flu during flu season.
So he says, winter long, you're seeing articles about flu season and about signs all around about getting flu shots. And they remind us that if we don't get a flu shot, then we'll get sick. And then if we see someone that's sick, are we like the Japanese children who believe that their bodies react from their programming?
Or the asthmatics who developed symptoms and then relief of symptoms because of what they thought was in their inhalers? Here's a quote from You are the Placebo. Are we more likely to suffer from arthritis, stiff joints, poor memory, lagging energy, decreased sex drive as we age simply because that's the version of the truth that ads, commercials, television shows and media reports bombard us with?
What other self-fulfilling prophecies are created in our minds without being aware of what we're doing? Good question, right? I think there are those self-fulfilling prophecies.
Pain is definitely one of them. I've heard a lot of people say, you know, Oh, my dad and all my brothers have bad shoulders. We've all had this surgery, you know, whether it's GI symptoms or sinuses or add backs, you know, we definitely just absorb part of that programming from what we hear around us and our body will start to show that.
They'll show those things just like the Japanese children that developed a rash when they thought that there was really an irritant on their skin. And of course, all of this was before COVID. So just insert that.
Okay, more examples. In the late 70s, Dr. John Levine gave placebos to 40 dental patients who had just had their wisdom teeth removed. Most of them reported relief.
So just had surgery instead of getting the good stuff. They're given placebos. I'm just thinking of all those videos of people doing crazy things after wisdom teeth.
They're given wisdom teeth removal, given placebos, most reported relief. And then they gave them Naloxone, which is an antidote to morphine. So this drug chemically blocks the receptor sites for morphine and endorphins, the pain relieving chemicals that our body naturally produces.
So when the patients were given Naloxine, the stuff that blocks the antidote to morphine, their pain returned. That proves that their bodies, when they take a placebo, are actually producing the chemical, like morphine, the endorphin in the body that has that feel good effect. They were creating their own endorphins in their body, producing their own painkillers.
So Joe Dispenza suggests that we are our own pharmacy, that our minds can make all of these natural things to heal our bodies and make us feel better. Exactly how placebos work is still a mystery to neuroscientists, but they have uncovered several important clues. Placebos help the brain release natural chemicals and change brain activity in ways that mimic the effects of real drugs and treatments.
So Joe Dispenza says that our brain is a natural pharmacy. And if you can remember, it's our thoughts that are creating our emotions. So it's those sentences in our brain, our thoughts, which trigger the nervous system to interact with the endocrine system, which is where the neurochemicals and hormones and neurotransmitters are released throughout the body to cause feelings, feelings, those vibrations that we have in our body.
So basically with a placebo, if you think that something has a great chance of working and you're optimistic and you're positive about it, and especially if you keep taking a pill every day, you're thinking those positive thoughts and having that reminder every day, and you basically start to reprogram your brain, produce those chemicals as if that drug is working, when it's basically all just your thoughts and your beliefs that are making it work. Crazy. Okay.
This one's fascinating. In 1981, in New Hampshire, men in their 70s and 80s took part in a five-day retreat. Half of them were asked to actively imagine being 22 years younger.
The other group were asked to remember being 22 years younger, but not to pretend to be different than their actual age. In the retreat, they had environmental cues, like looking at old issues of life and Saturday Evening Post, listening to music of that time, talking about political events and sports heroes all from 22 years ago. They talked about current events, so that was 1959.
Both of the groups, after this five-day retreat, where they immersed themselves in seeing, listening to, interacting with, imagining, talking about being in 1959 instead of 1981, both groups got physically younger. So that means they took some measurements before and after. Their height had increased.
They grew taller, basically, as their posture improved. Their joints became more flexible. Their fingers lengthened as a result of the arthritis diminishing.
Their eyesight and their hearing got better. This is in five days. Their grip strength improved, and they did better on memory tests.
Some of the men, by the end of five days, gave up their canes and were playing flag football. Not tackle football, he says, mind you, but flag football. But if they're in their 70s and 80s, imagining being in your 50s and 60s, that's still pretty active and great.
So then if you compared the two groups, the group that actually pretended that they were younger, as well as talking about it, you know, listening to all the verbal cues and the cues from the environment, they actually thought of themselves at that age and were just really pretending to be younger. And that age, they measured significantly better than the other group in all of those areas. So definitely shows that their body chemistry responded to their thoughts, and change was not just in their minds, but in their bodies.
Joe Dispenza in his meditation retreats shows that there can be changes in people's DNA after day meditation retreats. Research is revealing how thoughts and feelings as well as our choices, behaviors and experiences have profound healing and regenerative effects on our bodies. The power of the thoughts can create physical changes in our bodies.
The placebo may be inert, but the effect is not. Thank you so much for listening. I hope you learned a little bit about your brain today that helps you in your life like it helped me.
Please be sure and subscribe and leave a review. And of course, be sure and share this podcast with someone you know that wants an Unstoppable Body and Mind.
Monday Oct 12, 2020
Monday Oct 12, 2020
In this episode, I talk about TMS- Tension Myositis Syndrome. Or what Dr John Sarno also calls Mindbody Syndrome.
TMS is a defense mechanism of the brain, against what it perceives as a bigger threat to our survival. Our repressed emotions.
Physical pain can come from the body (nociceptive pain) or from the brain (nociceptive pain).
TMS is a type of pain created in the body by thoughts and emotions. There are personality types that are more prone to TMS- perfectionists, people pleasers and co-dependent (I'm only ok if you're ok.)
I am going to quote Dan Buglio's (Pain Free You) list of TMS conditions, see if any of them apply to you:
"heartburn, reflux, abdominal pains, IBS, tension and migraine headaches, rashes, anxiety or panic attacks, depression, OCD thought patterns, eating disorders, insomnia, fibromyalgia, back pain, neck pain, shoulder pain, repetitive stress injury, carpal tunnel, TMJ- jaw pain, tendonitis, facial pain, burning, numbness, tingling, muscle twitches, palpitations, chest pain, pelvic pain, muscle tenderness, "growing pains", knee pain, dizziness, tinnitus, vertigo, allergies, and asthma."
Follow Betsy on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/bodyandmindlifecoach/
Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvXZSYYGL2cfJl-oEOzqspA
Website https://bodyandmindlifecoach.com
*Free Nervous System Modules- 4 free videos explaining the nervous system, how it affects your health, and how to regulate it https://view.flodesk.com/pages/620ffa96e0eda1a0d870b5a6
*Curable App- 6 Weeks Free with this code http://www.curable.com/betsyjensen
If you like this podcast, please give it a five star rating and review on Itunes https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-unstoppable-body-and-minds-podcast/id1493360543
Monday Oct 05, 2020
Monday Oct 05, 2020
Asking good questions is a way you can start building trust with your brain and your body. Do not ask negative questions or indulge in “I don't know.”
You can start by asking yourself, “In this episode I talk about the power of questions, and how we can put our brain to work solving problems for us during the day. "What am I thinking?”or, “What am I feeling?”
Here are some examples of other powerful questions you can ask yourself each day:
What am I grateful for?
How can I honor my body today?
What can I do to laugh a lot today?
How can I have more fun today?
How can I take time for myself today?
How can I make myself a priority so I have more to give others?
What do I love about myself?
What are my strengths?
How can I become more connected to my internal joy?
How can I make choices that benefit me and everyone around me at the same time?How do I feel in the flow?
How can I have more inspiration today?
How can I be more present today?
How can I show more love to myself?
How can I be more patient with myself and others?
How can I live my best life?
Try this! It is amazing how much your brain will help you if you ask it!!!
Follow Betsy on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/bodyandmindlifecoach/
Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvXZSYYGL2cfJl-oEOzqspA
Website https://bodyandmindlifecoach.com
*Free Nervous System Modules- 4 free videos explaining the nervous system, how it affects your health, and how to regulate it https://view.flodesk.com/pages/620ffa96e0eda1a0d870b5a6
*Curable App- 6 Weeks Free with this code http://www.curable.com/betsyjensen
If you like this podcast, please give it a five star rating and review on Itunes https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-unstoppable-body-and-minds-podcast/id1493360543