There’s a lot of talk in the chronic illness space about the need to “regulate your nervous system” and “rewire your brain” in order to recover.

This week, we are going to start a 3-part series on brain retraining, its place in the healing space, and if this is a modality you need to consider in your wellness plan.

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First, Let’s Cover the Basics

Did you know that pain is an electrical pathway in our brains before it becomes a felt experience?

Our nervous systems operate on an electrical circuit that needs oxygen, minerals, and balanced vagus nerve function to work optimally.

Essentially, what the brain feels or is exposed to over and over again becomes a deeper (and easier) electrical pathway for signals from the body to travel into and manifest results, such as feeling happy or having a migraine.

With chronic symptoms, each person has deeply rooted patterns and programs that the brain has deemed “necessary” or “default programming” that continues the story of feeling those symptoms.

For example, if we skip breakfast every morning, our body wires around that habit as “not needed” — despite symptoms that may be pointing towards the need for more calories in our days.

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The Good News: Our Brains Are Plastic

Our brains are plastic — meaning, they can be “wired” or “trained” to function a specific way.

This is great news for any chronically ill person because it means they can change their daily experience by working with their nervous system to create a better symptom experience.

How, Specifically?

• Your brain wiring determines what symptoms you may experience.
• Your brain wiring also determines how severely you experience that symptom.
• Working with your vagal tone creates a better balance between brain and body communication, allowing for a smoother exchange of information and the minimizing of mixed messages (aka: symptoms).

Are you starting to see the possibilities here?

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Brain Retraining and Your Wellness Plan

As one of the first certified brain health coaches under the brilliant Dr. Daniel Amen, I find this modality endlessly fascinating and needed when discussing a chronic symptom set of any kind.

As always, though, this technique needs to be considered with your bio-individuality.

Check with your practitioner about when the right time to start is and how intensely you can begin the work.

An unstable body will need a lot of support nutritionally to hold the new patterns and allow them to grow into deeper, more default programming.

It’s entirely possible, though — think of brain retraining as physical therapy for the brain’s daily functioning!

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Coming Next Week

Next week, we’ll talk about the pros and cons of brain retraining and nervous system work.

In the meantime, how has neuroplasticity work helped you in your journey?

Comment below to share your story and encourage other readers!