Friday, July 29, 2016

Massaging Your Reward System Might Bring Healing Power!

For some time I have written and spoken about the power of the human brain and my speculative belief that the brain contains the power to heal. We are simply at a point in our evolution that such power has not been tapped or understood. In some circles, such speculation is routinely refuted as nonsense. I will remain fixed on my belief and time will evince what I believe.

The Human Brain is simply too complex for us to not have the ability to manage our health from within. The brain carries the blueprint for what the rest of the body is to do and this is precisely why we are alone in our ability to derive happiness or misery from a single thought!

In my recent book, What is the Purpose of My Brain: Spiritual Healing and Salvation (2016-Tate Publishing), I explore the importance of the reward system in our brain. This relatively old collection of neural structures deep inside our brain is the area that is responsible for us feeling pleasure, joy, and most importantly Love. Love is the greatest medicine we have and trumps all others. Love is God and in my book I make the argument that our brains have been granted us to commune (or refute) God.

I argue that we have the ability to massage our reward system through expression of love, forgiveness, faith, humility, kindness, and hope. These are the lessons taught us by St. Paul many years ago and I am simply suggesting they are the neurospiritual medicines that can bring us health and peace. We have to practice though on a daly basis and our brain will flood with positive neurochemicals and hormones.

I read a recent published article with great interest as it seems to back my speculation. The paper was published in Nature Medicine and the argument is that by "ticking" our reward system we help to enhance our immune system. This is a specific example of my idea that the brain carries the blueprint to affect the body. It underscores again the mind-body connection. While this study was done in mice there is reason to believe that such a response may also occur in humans.

If we fiind that the immune system is enhanced and triggered when our reward system gets engaged we have the potential for an entire new therapeutic approach and indeed a pathway to self-healing!

It is my contention, that our technological advancement is simply exposing what we should expect, the brain has the mechanism for health and healing!

Dr. Nussbaum