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If the trees didn’t let go of their old leaves,

If the trees didn’t let go of their old leaves, new buds couldn’t emerge. Nature routinely lets go, and sheds, so it can flourish for another season. Humans are challenged to do the same. We need to let go of things that weigh us down, to release what is holding us back, and stop doing things that no longer serve us. When we are adequately supported to reprocess past experiences and the dysfunctionally stored memories that lay the foundation for our maladaptive responses, we can more readily assimilate new information and experiences. Then our mind can draw on these adaptive networks as resources to support our growth and development. #windowoftolerance #emotionregulation #melbournepsychologist #brainhealth #integrativetherapy #mentalhealth #traumainformed #emdrtherapist #mindbody #thebodykeepsthescore #growyourmind #therapy #nervoussystemregulation #breathwork

Not being able to put things right brings an unset

Not being able to put things right brings an unsettling feeling. That place of not knowing, not feeling certain or secure, is an uncomfortable one for us to inhabit. Rather than sit with the discomfort of not knowing and uncertainty, we want to jump to fix, solve, and rescue. We want to grasp at the threads of solutions still in their infancy, and harness ourselves to the security that hardened judgement and divisive opinion offer. When we are struggling to find our footing it can be hard to make it safe for each other to stumble, to not know, to change our mind, to voice an opinion, or to hold a perspective different from our own. It can be hard to keep in mind our value is not dependent on fixing and knowing. It takes deep humility to sit with the complexity of humanity. “Staying present asks us to hold the full paradox within our own minds and bodies, to enter the suffering that entails. If we are able to do this and remain in a ventral state, it seems that something happens and we may be able to enter a state in which the paradox begins to reveal its value a little differently than ever before …” Bonnie Badenoch The Heart of Trauma #windowoftolerance #emotionregulation #melbournepsychologist #brainhealth #integrativetherapy #mentalhealth #mindbody #thebodykeepsthescore #growyourmind #therapy #nervoussystemregulation #breathwork

Our minds capacity to create movies can be a power

Our minds capacity to create movies can be a powerful ally. There is a wealth of research supporting the power of mental imagery to strengthen adaptive behaviours. Our emotion and vigilance centres are implicated whether we watch a scary movie in a cinema or witness a frightening event unfolding in real life. When we watch the scary movie in a cinema, we might jump in response to the stimulus but we don’t run away as our prefrontal cortex adds context and reminds us there is no need to flee from our seat. We can integrate information from our present moment experience to clarify the difference between a real threat and a make believe attack in a movie as sensation, emotion and thought work together. We sense the threat, feel our emotional response, then turn inward and consider whether the emotion belongs here in the present moment or if it is perhaps attached to something else (a fictional creation, a historical memory, or old patterns). Our capacity for self-regulation lies in our window of tolerance being sufficient to sit with our experience and consider whether those emotions and sensations have a place here and now. The movies in our mind play out every day and they represent a powerful tool in our arsenal. The same mind that can generate catastrophic disaster movies in anticipation of a new experience, can also generate more supportive and reassuring depictions incorporating the resources we need to deal with the situation. Depending on which movie we give our focussed attention, we can enhance or diminish our internal resources. * Which movies do you repeatedly replay in your mind? * Which storylines do you act on and which do you choose to create a different ending? * Which movies are fictional or historical drama and which are real in the present moment? * Run a movie in your mind of the future action you wish to take and notice what shows up in your body and mind. #melbournepsychologist #brainhealth #integrativetherapy #mentalhealth #thebodykeepsthescore #habitsofhealth #growyourmind #therapy #nervoussystemregulation #breathwork #futuretemplate #adaptivememorynetworks

Neuroception is our internal radar. Through neuro

Neuroception is our internal radar. Through neuroception the autonomic nervous system is listening inside to what is happening in your internal organs; outside to what is happening in your environment; and between to what is unfolding between you and other nervous systems in proximity. Long before the information reaches the brain to form a thought, your biology has taken action. Our internal radar is calibrated to respond in particular ways - shaped in an environment that is safe and supportive the system reads cues accurately. We can inhibits the defence system in safe environments and activate them proportionately to the risk. Shaped in an environment that is unpredictable and filled with unexpected events, an environment in which we are unsafe or unseen, our neuroception can become biased towards protection which leads to a mismatch between our autonomic state and actual level of safety or risk (Porges). When we enter a particular state in our nervous system, information about that state flows through the autonomic pathways to the brain, activating the most adaptive response as interpreted by the nervous system, and ultimately creating a story that makes sense of the experience. Just as a river flows from source to sea, the stories we inhabit begin far from the thinking brain in the autonomic nervous system (Deb Dana). Our physiological state creates a psychological story. A sequence of events cascades from neuroception through perception, state and all the way to how we feel, behave and create meaning. It make sense to engage both body and mind in therapeutic work so we might follow a story back to its source. Does a cue from your past flow into the present? Stop and notice your neuroception - take in the environment, people and things around you. What cue of safety or danger did you follow downstream into feeling, behaviour and story? #debdana #neuroception #polyvagaltheory #melbournepsychologist #brainhealth #integrativetherapy #mentalhealth #thebodykeepsthescore #habitsofhealth #growyourmind #therapy #nervoussystemregulation #breathwork

It is good to acknowledge that each of us carry un

It is good to acknowledge that each of us carry unique scar tissue. Our scars are markers of our story. They reveal how we have fared in our travels through life so far, where events have left their imprint, and how we have tended to the wound over time. Is it still raw? Inflamed? Festering? Has it seen the growth of new protective tissue? A healthy adaptation? When we are walking around and notice a familiar stress or hurt we can kindly say to ourselves “oh yeah, that old scar...that is part of who I am. It might hurt sometimes and it is valuable to remember we can live with that. Pain is not lethal and it can have value in reminding us what we have endured, the experiences we’ve had, and what we’ve learned along the way. These inside scars are part of us and they make us interesting and unique…just like every other human we encounter along the way. #melbournepsychologist #brainhealth #integrativetherapy #mentalhealth #mindbody #thebodykeepsthescore #habitsofhealth #growyourmind #therapy #nervoussystemregulation #breathwork

The brain is like an electrical and chemical garde

The brain is like an electrical and chemical garden. Within our skull the structures of the brain has branches reaching out to each other. The neural pathways reach towards each other and don’t touch but emanate currents of neuromodulators to speak to one another. Just like an electrical current sometimes there are surges, sometimes there are limitations in supply, and sometimes the supply gets glitchy. One thing that alters the flow of neuromodulators is meditative breathing. When you breathe you affect the electrical and chemical messages within your brain. What you ingest and digest affects communication within the brain. When we understand the intricacy of our anatomy we are better informed about how to maintain the garden of our mind. The brain is flesh and healthy flesh needs to be irrigated by the blood vessels that comprise our vascular system. If the sprinkler system irrigating our brain gets clogged then parts of our brain will atrophy just as the lawn will wither without water. Our neurons are like seeds in the garden of the mind and as those seeds germinate and radiate their tendrils they need nutrients to build their branches and wrap them in a protective sheath to improve their efficiency. We need to fertilise the ecosystem in our skull and tend the seeds we are planting. Our growth and development is continually impacted by how we irrigate and fertilise the garden of our mind. Which areas do you tend or neglect? Which weeds are prolific and choke out new growth? Which seeds do you nurture to flourish and bloom? #melbournepsychologist #breathwork #telehealth #brainhealth #integrativetherapy #mentalhealth #mindbody #thebodykeepsthescore #habitsofhealth #growyourmind #therapy #nervoussystemregulation

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