Following the Energy into 2024
Upper Cervical Spine, Hyper-mobility, Mast Cell Activation, Hyper-focus & High Dopamine States, Codependent No More, Neuroplasticity, Befriending Uncertainty & Poem About Following the Energy.
In anticipation of the new year, I’m previewing some of the topics I look forward to sharing in the coming months. I’m also sharing a poem I wrote for my daughter when she was little, called “Follow the Energy”.
How Having Our Head On Straight Impacts Our Mental Health: The atlas bone is our highest vertebra and sits between our head/skull and the rest of our spine. Its position matters A LOT. There are a number of factors, beyond physical trauma to the head or neck, that can impact the position of the atlas. Stay tuned to learn more about the relationship between upper cervical (neck) instability, posture, the vagus nerve, inflammation and brain symptoms. I’ll also talk about how such issues are diagnosed and treated. And, speaking of “structural issues”,….
The Relationship Between Hypermobility (Flexibility, Being Double Jointed, Etc) and Brain Health: Our connective tissue holds us together - our joints (including our upper cervical spine!), our organs, our blood vessels, our skin). It is a factor in dislocated joints, but also with hernias, varicose veins and wound healing. Though Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS), a hereditary connective tissue disorder, gets a lot of attention, we don’t have to meet criteria for EDS to fall on the hyper-mobility spectrum. Hyper-mobility is surprisingly common in those with brain disorders. In an upcoming newsletter, I’ll discuss the many ways that our connective tissue relates to our brain health and how that information can guide treatment. One of those ways is through mast cell activation.
The Many Root Cause Intersections Of Mast Cell Activation: Mast cells are the responders in an immune response. They are not in the brain, but do communicate with inflammatory cells in the brain called microglial cells. In addition to microglial activation, I’ll discuss how mast cell activation intersects with undermethylation, autoimmunity, mold toxicity, (and other biotoxins), pyrrole disorder, upper cervical instability (again!) and electromagnetic (EMF) hypersensitivity.
Common Root Causes for Specific Brain Disorders: For most people I see or provide consultations for, there appears to be an alignment of multiple root causes to their brain symptoms. Still, there are some conditions and symptoms that are highly associated with specific root causes. What are the most common roots for depression, inattention and hyperactivity, obsessions and compulsions, rage, panic or other high anxiety states, psychosis, and mania? I look forward to discussing this as well as the limits of current psychiatric research. If we study how 100 people with depression respond to a particular medication and we are not considering that 38% are undermethylated, 20% are overmethylated, 17% have copper overload, 15% have pyrrole disorder and 10% have something else going on, then our results are unlikely to mean very much.
Recognizing and Managing High Dopamine States Such as Hyper-focus and Addictive Tendencies: In our world of phones or computers, this can be impacting all of us. While hyper-focus can be a strength, it can also keep us in a physiologically stressed state and disconnected from ourselves and others. And, it can keep us from paying attention to the bigger picture of the moment, our day or our lives. This leads me to some right brain topics I’m looking forward to talking about.
Managing Our Energy and Our Focus: We can easily fall into a daily routine that isn’t working for us or is working against us. If we pull back we’ll notice that we have times in our day when our attention and/or energy are at their highest and other times, when doing less taxing activities makes more sense. We weren’t made to go all day long without replenishing our energy. Instead of doing more, there are ways for us to do less, but more effectively. I’ll be sharing research and examples of how we might think differently about our days and how we use our attention and energy.
Codependency - An Invisible Chronic Stress That Can Prevent Healing & Thriving: Over-functioning, enabling and making other people’s problems our own deserves multiple newsletters. I do believe we all struggle with this to an extent, especially those of us who are in care-giving roles (in our families or in our work). If this resonates with you and you don't want to wait for the newsletter, I recommend “Codependent No More” by Melody Beattie. Despite having read this three times, I still fine that without regular attention to this issue (and these neurological pathways), I reflexively become “Codependent - Just a Little Bit More. ” This leads me to…
Neuroplasticity of Spiritual Growth: By this, I mean that we can make simple intentional and incremental changes in how we live and experience our lives, if not to feel more wonder and joy, then to simply lower our stress. Media, marketing and modern life can easily train our brain to attend to all the negatives. A simple gratitude practice, on the other hand, trains our brain to notice the positive aspects of our lives. But gratitude is just one example that I’ll talk about. Here’s another:
Getting Okay With Uncertainty: Life is full of uncertainty. When we try to control life and grasp and cling to what we think needs to happen, life will show us otherwise. The best we can do is to learn (wire our brains) in such a way that we can be at peace with that reality. As with gratitude, we can do some simple spiritual strength training here. I’ll explain how I work with this personally. No less important to lowering our stress response is…
Learning to Listen to Ourselves: If we’re not regularly checking in with our inner wisdom, inner compass, soul or whatever you want to call it, we can waste our precious days and precious years following someone else's road map. This too, translates to stress in our bodies. I’ve long felt this ability to listen inwardly is essential when it comes to well being, so much so that I wrote this poem for my daughter when she was four.
FOLLOW THE ENERGY
for Sophie
If today I die
I want you to know
To follow the energy
Wherever it goes
Everyone's is different
That's part of the trick
Follow theirs and
You will be sick
You may have a thought
An urge or a drive
You must pay attention
It'll keep you alive
It might be a song
That's stuck in your head
Play it again
Hear what it said
It might be a feeling
When you pick up that book
Turn every page
There's reason to look
You may have to go
To the ends of the earth
You won't have a choice
If it's calling you forth
You have an old dream
You have to explore
You get just one life
Go through that door
At times you'll be wrong
You'll hurt and you'll cry
Live out your moments
Don't let them pass by
And know as you search
For that which is true
I live in your heart
I'm always with you
Your passion is there
It wants to be found
Don't ever settle
Your feet on the ground
Wishing you and your inner compass health, healing and meaning in 2024.
For those interested in checking out a couple of samples of the midweek paid newsletter, I’ve un-paywalled a couple of my favorites.
A Different Kind of Goal Setting for the New Year
Essentialism in Health & Healing
Please let me know if there are any topics you want to learn more about or questions about any of the topics I’ve listed.
Until 2024 (which I really like the sound of),
Courtney
Medical Disclaimer:
This newsletter is for educational purposes and not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment for either yourself or others, including but not limited to patients that you are treating (if you are a practitioner). Consult your own physician for any medical issues that you may be having.
Wow, okay that was awesome. Thank you for sharing it all. So when is the book release for the other poems that you may have stashed away?