Neurofeedback on the Brain

Rogue Waves: The Ocean of the Brain

Dr. Karen — 2009-11-05T19:03:06-05:00

I originally published this article back in 2007, but I came across a great blog post from The Squiggle Sense that further talks about how rogue waves occur and their connection to the brain -- The Complementary Nature is Linear~Nonlinear -- and it seemed a natural idea to re-post this article along with the link to the new info. The Squiggle post can be a little heavy going, but hang in there! Hope you enjoy both! -- KS ----------------------------------------------- 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.

Opening Space for Change

Dr. Karen — 2009-02-12T16:13:13-05:00

What can we do to enhance the possibility of creating change through the use of neurofeedback? This is an especially interesting question when we are using the non-directive, nonlinear, types of neurofeedback -- where we aren't driving the change and aren't even sure where to look for change to be happening at any specific moment. I get asked this question frequently - albeit indirectly -- by my clients when they start this kind of neurofeedback sessions -- "but what do I do?" My usual answer is that they can just listen to the music/ appreciate each image as it happens and/or they can bring their attention fully to what they're experiencing and feeling -- whatever that is. There really isn't anything one can do "wrong", except maybe trying too hard to "make something happen"... But certainly some people seem to experience (or at least be more aware of) WOW changes sooner than others. So I thought it might be interesting to consider what we can do prior to undertaking our own personal "brain change projects" or even at the start of each neurofeedback session. How can we enhance the possibility of change? How can we open a space for change to occur in?

Mindfulness: A tool for brain training?

Dr. Karen — 2008-09-18T12:38:46-04:00

Sorry to go missing for the summer - I seemed to have taken a writing-free vacation! But I"m trying to ease myself back into communicating with the outside world . So let's get (re-)started.... There has been a lot of talk about mindfulness this days and lots of expensive courses to teach you "how to do it". Why is this approach so popular and is it worth the time to learn and practice it? I'm going to suggest that yes, it is. And that's because practicing mindfulness gives your brain a chance to allow old, less useful/unproductive "thought ruts" to weaken and change. That means you're less likely to just automatically go down the same old thought and feeling-roads you may be taking that cause you distress. I've had a couple of posts on this topic in the past, but I recently received an email about a free introduction to mindfulness -- and since courses can be so darn expensive -- free looked like a good thing to share with you. It's soon, but there's still time to let the presenters know you're interesed. I'm (with their permission) just going to share the exact content of their notice. Since I'm not affiliated with these folks, please do get back to them directly if you're interested. (But do feel free to say you found out about it here!) Here we go...

MInd Science from Dan Rather Reports

Dr. Karen — 2008-06-01T17:13:59-04:00

This is 52 minute television program from Dan Rather that covers a wealth of information about the brain, its plasticity, its connections with meditation and other ways we can change our brain's functioning. A bit of commitment...but worth it for the overview on brain plasticity....

What Does Change Feel Like?

Dr. Karen — 2008-03-19T18:34:10-04:00

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...

Brain Tales: Stroke of insight - Part 1

Dr. Karen — 2008-03-18T17:48:03-04:00

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.

Brain Training Without Equipment: Mindfulness Meditation

Dr. Karen — 2008-03-14T16:51:04-04:00

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"?

Do We have to DO Something To be Ourselves?

Dr. Karen — 2008-01-16T14:12:34-05:00

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...

Quotes for Neurofeedback: What Happens When Your Brain Changes?

Dr. Karen — 2007-11-17T16:22:22-05:00

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.

Navigating the Brain: Lessons from the Hawaiian Navigators

Dr. Karen — 2007-11-08T17:12:53-05:00

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. ...

Self-Growth and Society: Does One Person Make a Difference?

Dr. Karen — 2007-08-24T16:46:02-04:00

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.

Brain Myths: How Much of Our Brain Do We Use?

Dr. Karen — 2007-06-05T19:19:01-04:00

Question: "I have been told that we only use 10% of our brain's capacity. Not sure all the reasons why we cannot access the other 90%. I want to. I wouldn't mind having a better memory!" Answer: There are differing opinions on this. Some say it's true and it's the result of a built-in redundancy. Not available until something goes wrong. I personally am in the "I don't think so" school and there are a number of lines to evidence to support me on this.

"Parts" of Yourself: Where are they all?

Dr. Karen — 2007-05-17T19:44:06-04:00

There's a fascinating discussion going on over at Dawud Miracle's blog about whether we have "parts" of ourselves or whether we are a "whole" misled by our language and habits of thought into thinking of ourselves in parts. (This guy is not just another web designer, eh?) I had to join such a conversation, but of course I approached the question from the perspective of the brain. (I couldn't help myself -- you'll understand ). To follow the whole conversation (or is that to follow all its parts??), you'll need to go catch up on Dawud's blog, but I thought I would share my thinking on this for my brain aficionados. (That's you.) So -- Why do we seem to have "parts"?

Vipassana and Neurofeedback

Dr. Karen — 2007-04-28T17:34:31-04:00

I came across this YouTube video called "The Simple Path" -- a lecture by S.N. Goenka. It is part of series of broadcasts on Vipassana meditation, also called mindfulness meditation -- "seeing things as they really are". What caught my attention in his talk was the notion of working at deep levels in Vipassana meditation vs making surface changes in some other meditative techniques. It brought to mind the kinds of techniques people are often initially fascinated by when they start exploring ways of training their brain for better performance. These techniques may include...

Can We Predict How Happy Something Will Make Us?: Affective Forecasting

Dr. Karen — 2007-03-01T17:23:20-05:00

Apologies -- I've gotten temporarily distracted from my agenda of posts on creating self-change by more posts from Rick Cockrum's Shards of Consciousness. This week he's writing a series of articles on Happiness and I wanted to do a quick article about his first in the series: Happiness, Emotion, and Fulfillment - Part 1. One of Rick's conclusions was that happiness can't be found outside ourselves, an insightful interpretation he made of the studies he reviewed. This is absolutely one of the take-home messages of the positive psychology approach -- the way your world (and you) appear is highly dependent on how you're looking at it. Look at your world as half-empty and you'll see half-emptiness (or worse) all around you. Look at it as half-full and likely to get filled up and you'll be experiencing that fullness. Research has shown that optimism is good -- from the perspectives of your physical health, your emotional resilience, your personal growth, your relationships, your work....and on it goes. And here's an interesting addition to his point:

Neurofeedback as a Tool for Personal Evolution

Dr. Karen — 2007-02-16T20:33:05-05:00

I've discovered an interesting blog by Rick Cockrum called Shards of Consciousness: Explorations in Personal Development . He writes about disliking the biological approaches to human life, but I hope he won't mind my comments on his post. This is an older article from his blog, but I like some of the things he had to say and I wanted to elaborate a bit on why. I've extracted some of the bits that got my attention:

A Story of Two Wolfs and the Choices We Make

Dr. Karen — 2007-01-29T16:37:07-05:00

Someone sent me this story today. I have seen it before and perhaps you have as well, but I thought it was worth sharing as another way to think about heart coherence. ... Two Wolves

Brain Tales: My Alternatives to New Year Resolutions

Dr. Karen — 2007-01-17T10:00:00-05:00

I don't know about you, but I'm not a big fan of New Year's Resolutions. I do enjoy sitting down at the end of every year and reflecting on what I did and why and how I would like to do things differently in the coming year. But I'm not into the traditional goal-setting thing: exercise 3 times a week, eat 3 healthy meals per day, go to bed earlier. That's not to say I wouldn't like to set these kinds of goals -- IF I could/would do them -- but I can't. Or won't. Or don't. The place I get hung up is in the whole idea of Goals, capital G. Philosophically, I get uncomfortable making too many decisions about where my life "Should" be going. If I had set specific goals and kept my nose to the grindstone to achieve them, I would be in a totally different place than I find myself now. I arrived at this most interesting place in my life by a rather circuitous route and an openness to new opportunities and possibilities. And I'm satisfied with where I am. (For now...who knows what else is coming?) Even though I'm not the type to map out how I want my life to go, I do have ideas for the near-term about what I need to do to progress on my current projects and ideas. And I certainly have ideas about the kind of person I want to be Becoming. So over the years I have developed alternatives to New Year's Resolutions that fit better with who and how I am. What has all this got to do with neurofeedback??

Using our Hearts to Create Heaven on Earth?

Dr. Karen — 2007-01-15T10:00:00-05:00

I've been reading an inspiring little book called Seeking the Sacred: Leading a Spiritual Life in a Secular World. I was attracted to the book because it has essays by Romeo Dallaire and Stephen Lewis -- 2 people I respect for their efforts to fight to make a difference to make the world a better place. One of the essays in the book is by Martin Rutte (you may recognize his name as the co-author of Chicken Soup for the Soul). In it, he talks about a project he started called Project Heaven on Earth. I was impressed by his thoughts about what we can do to create our own Heaven on earth -- and so much of what he says fits in with our recent conversations about positive heart coherence and influencing others around us just by being in a positive place ourselves. So let me share a few quotes from his essay (emphases added):

Diagnosis and Treatment: Does it Add to Neurofeedback?

Dr. Karen — 2007-01-03T18:22:37-05:00

In previous articles, I've shared my distinction between neurofeedback training and "neurotherapy" treatment. I do training, not treatment. What's the difference and why does it matter?, you might ask. The difference between training and treatment is diagnosis.

Just for Fun: Date-a-Brain!

Dr. Karen — 2006-12-24T15:16:12-05:00

I came across a great little video describing the different evolutionary layers of the brain. It's from a site called Global Mind-Shift, which looks like a promising site for those interested in the need and processes for creating a shift in how we all think and feel and act to create a better world.

Review of the emWave: The em-What??

Dr. Karen — 2006-12-16T16:57:17-05:00

I haven't really talked on my blog about the emWave personal trainer recently released by the HeartMath Institute. It's handy little device that you can use to practice heart coherence without having to have a computer on and that lets you wander as you practice. I have been using it with my clients and they have found it a useful addition to training sessions. So much so, that several have asked to purchase the extras I have for use in group classes. So what's all the buzz about? I recently saw a great review of the emWave personal heart coherence training tool on a The Gadgeteer. This is wonderful review of the emWave with great pictures and a quick video so you can see its use. The one comment I want to make in clarification is...

Can Other People Have an Effect on Your Brain?

Dr. Karen — 2006-10-20T18:59:44-04:00

Lately, I have become more and more interested in what the psychology world calls "positive psychology" -- the research related to what goes right in life and strategies for how to maximize feeling good about one's life instead of psychology's tendency to always be focusing on the negative -- what's wrong with you, what needs fixing, etc. From my perspective, our brains (head and heart!) are just as involved in what goes right. In fact, the more evolved areas of our brain are related to positive feelings and thoughts...

The Heart of Neurofeedback

Dr. Karen — 2005-12-29T18:32:31-05:00

What does the heart have to do with neurofeedback? When most people understand the term "neuro", they think neurologist, neurology, neurosurgery...i.e., related to the nervous system and especially the brain and spinal cord (otherwise known as the central nervous system). What does the heart have to do with nervous systems??

A Recipe for Personal Evolution

Dr. Karen — 2005-11-04T12:20:44-05:00

1. Start with a healthy amount of Heart. 2. Add one effective and efficient Brain. 3. Mix thoroughly. 4. Let sit. 5. Check occasionally (especially in cases of environmental disturbances); add a pinch more Heart at least every 24 hours to maintain healthy growth. And that's it! Easy, eh? What's that? You're not an experienced Evolution cook? No problem...we'll take it one step at a time!

What does Heart have to do wth Neurofeedback?

Dr. Karen — 2005-10-18T18:00:44-04:00

I've been planning a series of posts on the importance of including the heart in our personal evolution efforts.

"The heart?", you may say, "what's that got to do with neurofeedback??" -- Stay tuned for the answer to that one!

Anyway, today I came across this quote and thought it miught whet your appetite if I shared it with you.

Mind and heart are only different aspects of us.

- Gary Zukav, The Dancing Wu Li Masters

In posts to come, I'll be expanding more on the science and practice of learning to really Listen to our Heart.

Brain Fiction: What if you could be in another person's brain?

Dr. Karen — 2005-07-14T19:43:43-04:00

After I finished and posted my article on personal growth as a responsibility, I went off for the weekend and a little light reading. Well - what a surprise! -

Personal Growth: Selfishness or Responsibility?

Dr. Karen — 2005-07-05T19:15:25-04:00

Do you ever feel like money or time spent on developing yourself is "selfish"? And even if you don't think so, how often have you had it said or implied by others? Many people, women especially, have been raised to think if they are doing things for themselves instead of others they are somehow being "self-centred". ...