Give your Brain the Information It Needs to Transform your Life
Thoughts and Speculations on Living with a Brain by Dr. Karen Shue
View Article  What Does Change Feel Like?
I joined a conversation over at the Shift in Action website which was hosted by a member named Rod Sherwin. He posed a question about how we can know when shifts in consciousness -- personal or societal -- are happening. How can we know when we experience not just big dramatic shifts in our ways of being, but even the little movements that might take us from 3 out of 10 on some scale of change to 3.5 out of 10? In working with people's brains using nonlinear methods of feedback, it is very common indeed that people experience changes - shifts in their ways of being, thinking, feeling, and/or acting - that they are just not aware of at the time of the shift. Every neurofeedback practitioner I speak to has stories of people changing in all sorts of both subtle and dramatic ways, but not seeing the change themselves or not realizing how big or important a shift it is. I think this is partly...   more »
View Article  Brain Tales: Stroke of insight - Part 1
This is a video from TED.com that I think you will find moving and inspirational --- one, because I did and two, because a number of my clients and readers have already shared the link with me, being sure I would want to see it. It's almost 20 minutes, but I think you'll find it gives you food for thought that's worth every minute. Jill Bolte Taylor is a neuroanatomist who realized one morning that she was experiencing a massive stroke.   more »
View Article  Brain Training Without Equipment: Mindfulness Meditation
Imagine yourself sitting back for a nonlinear neurofeedback session.... That means that your brain is going to have a "conversation" with itself (which I recently described in my newsletter, Not Just Neurofeedback, as the brain looking at itself in a mirror - let me know if you want to be on the list and have access to back copies like this). Your conscious mind doesn't really have anything specific to do in order to "make" something happen on purpose". In fact, the best thing you can do is to get out of the way. ;- ) But what does "get out of the way" mean, exactly? How do you "get out of the way"?   more »
View Article  Is Neurofeedback just a "placebo effect"?
I had a great question the other day from a reader: "My question is this: What objective proof will I have that these treatments are doing what's intended as opposed to any ''placebo effect''." This is such a common worry, either for people considering the use of neurofeedback or from other professionals that know very little, if anything, about neurofeedback that it seemed a good idea to share part of my answer with all my readers...   more »
View Article  Why Haven't I Heard of Neurofeedback Before?
I get this question -- Why haven't I heard of neurofeedback before? Why didn't anyone tell me? -- all the time from my clients and people calling or writing to me to find out more about neurofeedback. The really frustrated ones are the individuals who have worked with me to decrease their migraines, stop panic attacks, stabilize their mood and who want to know why their physician never told them about this option. I never have very good answers for them. Today I read an article --   more »
View Article  Do We have to DO Something To be Ourselves?
I was watching the television program Nova on PBS (Absolute Zero) last night and they were taking about a phenomenon called a "Bose-Einstein condensate" Listening to the behaviour of particles and knowing that nature is generally shows what is called "self-similarity" (think of the repeating patterns of fractals..here's a wonderful animated example of self-similarity), I wondered if this idea of a Bose-Einstein condensate could apply to the human level as well. The principle of self-similarity means that you see repeating patterns at different levels as you zoom in and out So I played a bit...   more »
View Article  Just for Fun+: Exercise Your Brain and Donate to the Hungry

This is an excerpt from Daphne Gray-Grant's newsletter Power Writing. I thought it was such a great idea I wanted to share it with as many people as possible.

She's telling us about an on-line self-test of your vocabulary. It's a great idea because:
(1) using the language networks in your brain strengthens them;
(2) exercising your brain in general strengthens it, and
(3) for every word you get right, 20 grains of rice are donated to the United Nations' World Food Program. 


Practice a lot ;-) 

So…Here's her description:

All of this is a pep-talk designed to persuade you to try a new, fr'ee vocabulary website launched this October by U.S. computer programmer John Breen. Basically an on-line vocabulary test, much like the SAT, it presents you with a series of multiple choice definitions. Your answer to each question is scored immediately and you move on to the next one. (You can set options so that when you leave your computer the site “remembers” your score for the next time.)

Think you're pretty smart already? (Or worried about not being smart enough?) No worries! The site, which is called FreeRice, automatically adjusts to your vocabulary level. When you get a word wrong, the next word provided is from an easier level. When you get three consecutive words right, you move to a higher degree of difficulty. (Experts say that this constant fine-tuning of levels is the best way to ensure you are learning and not just playing a game.) FreeRice has 50 levels in total, but staff say it's rare for people to get past level 48. Go ahead; knock yourself out.

But you're probably wondering about the site's odd name. And therein lies the best news of all. Each time you get a word right, the site's sponsors donate enough money to pay for 20 grains of rice for the United Nations' World Food Program. That may sound like a pitifully small amount, but the site has already raised more than five billion grains of rice in less than two months.

So you can build your vocabulary, become a better writer, have fun and help reduce world hunger – all at the same time. How great is that?

I'm up to 2020 grains today -- how about you?



View Article  Quotes for Neurofeedback: What Happens When Your Brain Changes?

Everything has its own place and function. That applies to people, although many don't seem to realize it, stuck as they are in the wrong job, the wrong marriage, or the wrong house. When you know and respect your Inner Nature, you know where you belong. You also know where you don't belong.

Benjamin Hoff from  the The Tao of Pooh


I love this quote because it so nicely describes what I see happening with people when I work with them using nonlinear neurofeedback.

They may start off thinking that the Problem is their health condition, or their relationships, or their mood, or…whatever.

But as they work, they start to feel a renewed Connection with themselves and it gets harder and harder to do things that don't respect that Inner Nature, as Hoff says. So they just naturally start to make different decisions, react differently to people and events around them, take care of themselves differently…they uncover who they really are and their world changes.
View Article  Navigating the Brain: Lessons from the Hawaiian Navigators
I was watching a program on the native navigators from the Hawaiian Islands some time ago (and it is a stunning place. Now on my list of places to visit. As I understood it, these navigators actually used a process very related to the brain’s functioning and why our brain and CARE works: 1) They learned the patterns of waves in and from different directions and destinations so they could recognize each one. ...   more »
View Article  The Beauty of the Brain: Brain Painting with EEG - Updated
I've come across a site with the most gorgeous images of brain activity I've ever seen. And these aren't just inspired works of art, they are actually images derived from EEG activity. Here's just a couple to inspire you to go and look at more....   more »
View Article  Just for Fun: The Gratitude Dance!
This is a fun little video of 2.5+ minutes that carries a serious message about taking the time to appreciate the good in your life. Once I saw it, I just wanted to share it! And imagine the joy if everyone were doing it -- now, that's a wonderful form of social contagion!   more »
View Article  Self-Growth and Society: Does One Person Make a Difference?
I heard an interesting question the other day about whether anyone even notices the impact of a single person. Does it matter what we as individuals do? Can we really make any difference at all? Although the question wasn't directed to me, I had an answer anyway (this may not surprise those of you who know me ). And this seemed like the perfect place to show the beginnings of that answer, although I just might find myself inspired to create a longer version of these thoughts -- if you'd be interested in this, just let me know. So here we go.... The short answer is yes, each of us does make a difference. The long answer involves a few different lines of research about how you feel and what you do.   more »
View Article  Brain Tales: Stacy's Story of Epilepsy and Neurofeedback
I received an email the other day from Bernard Ertl, the creator and moderator of the Coping with Epilepsy website and forum. When I had a chance to visit his site and read about the experiences he and his wife, Stacy, have had with neurofeedback, I knew I wanted them to share some of their story with my readers. I often get requests from folks who find my website, Brain and Health or blog to share what "typically" happens when someone receives neurofeedback training. I'm not allowed by my professional regulations to ask my own clients to share, so when I find someone who is willing to share their story, I really want you to be able to hear it from their mouth (keyboard?). Even though there really isn't one "typical" pattern, I know it helps to hear about what others have experienced. So first let's let Bernard and Stacy share their story, then I have a couple of comments. And just for the record -- apart from these preliminary comments and the ones that will follow, this is a completely unedited version of what Bernard so graciously sent to me...   more »
View Article  Just for Fun: The Butterfly Effect and Brain Symptoms
Here is an fun little video of 30 seconds. So, what does this have to do with the brain?Well, although this is intended to be an amusing video, it is a fun explanation of a principle of the physics of nonlinear systems -- what is popularly called the "butterfly effect". That sounded like a bit a mouthful, so let's back up just a bit...   more »
View Article  Video on Neurofeedback for Peak Performance
I came across this 5 minute video of Rae Tattenbaum talking about optimal performance coaching and the use of neurofeedback. I thought you might enjoy it as it shows what the process of neurofeedback using the CARE model looks like and talks about the importance of learning to be Present to our own experiences in order to be in Flow more of the time.   more »
View Article  Rogue Waves: The Ocean of the Brain
I came across a wonderful article that shows what happens in the ocean when rogue "monster" waves appear and capsize ships. What makes it wonderful and why am I writing about it here --- on a blog about the brain and neurofeedback? You may not see a connection between rogue waves on the ocean and what happens in the brain -- or why that matters for our lives. Good question. I hope by the end of my article you'll see why I was so delighted to come across this story as a teaching tool about the brain and how neurofeedback can work.   more »
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