Can't think of a title in 2019

My brain’s all over the place…not in a bad way, but in an “I can’t seem to focus on one thing” kind of way.

I had my first post-school continuing education workshop this weekend, and it was such a great experience. It was “Bodywork for PTSD,” and, as the title suggests, dealt with all aspects of having clients with PTSD or trauma experience. A great deal of it is about understanding their physiological effects and how we can address that. And there is much more to it than just helping them relax. There’s a lot we can do (that I’m just starting to learn about) to directly affect the nervous system, and especially the autonomic nervous system, to get at releasing some of the physiological remnants of trauma. It’s fascinating, and it has my brain working overtime with trying to process, understand, and tie it in to what I already know.

It’s also rekindled my fascination with neuroscience, or rather the intersection of neuroscience, mental health, nutrition, movement, psychology, and other areas. I first started looking into it back when I was diagnosed with depression, and it ended up blending with some of my studies on religion, writing, and expression as well. There’s a lot going on in my head with theses areas that I need to unpack, especially since this is a big rabbit hole, but one I’m finding very compelling.

One of the areas I’m interested in is how activity, exercise, yoga, etc can actually alter brain chemistry, anatomy, and physiology.

So can touch, which gets into why massage can be a powerful therapeutic tool beyond just “it feels good.”

Writing also has an impact on brain chemistry as well.

So does creativity in general - whether as creator or audience. Writing, art, music, dance…anything creative can have profound impacts on how our brain functions. And scientists are just starting to scratch the surface of a lot of it.

I can get borderline obsessive with reading, learning, etc about subjects, and this is where I’m at currently…