How's Your Amygdala?
I just dropped a copy of my old yoga class cd in the mail to my prayer partner. She's admitedly an over-thinker (one of the reasons we've bonded over the years [she's told me two things that make me appreciate her: "I've never met anyone who thought more than I do!" and early one morning when I called her with talk of my most recent worryfest kicked off by a dream, "You wake up thinking, don't you?!"). I told her that yesterday I picked up the most recent copy of Time magazine in which the cover article explained Why We Worry About The Things We Shouldn't, and promised to copy the yoga cd tonight (the one she asked about earlier this year) & send it to her along with the article. Now that I've completed the task, I'm reminded of how to reach a peaceful plane...each day finish one thing you've left undone that doesn't seem important but can make a difference in someone else's life.
I read the article about worry earlier today and had a better understanding of why I (and so many others in my family) over-think & worry about things we shouldn't. It's because our amygdala (the fight or flight centers) are quick to send signals up to the reasoning part of our brains (the "now wait a minute" centers), but slow to receive messages back. To me this seems analagous to the relationship we as humans have with God. We have all these issues and send prayers up to God (i.e. messages about the troubles in life) but don't wait for Him to send us direction. We're too busy talking to hear direction on what the real deal is in the situation. Somehow I believe certain music (which has been proven to manipulate our emotions, which are directed by that part of the brain) soothes the amygdala until the higher region can get a calming message back. Which brings me back to the yoga cd.
My prayer partner visited me over MLK weekend earlier this year. I had a meltdown while she was at church (a substitute service for the church where we met) because it was a reminder that our church was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Ever since the storm, I'd been feeling disconnected from God and spiritually abandoned. To try to calm my spirit, I reached back into my memory for a time when I felt the most peace, and my yoga cd was the most recent thing that came to mind. She returned to my home to find me sitting on my park bench in my backyard drinking a Heine and crying with my son holed up in his bedroom on the phone telling a friend, "Mommy's having a bad day. She's having a problem with her dad." My prayer parnter found somewhere for my son to go, poured out my Heine, and coached me through my moment. Once I'd calmed down, she asked me to send her a copy of the yoga cd by the end of the month...and I said I would. That was over 10 months ago, but I've finally gotten it done.
I'm hoping she'll get the article & cd and use both as a substitute for me helping her through these upcoming holidays. I've sent them knowing that this has been a rough year for her and her amygdala's probably going to want to work over time while she remembers 2006. As much as she's been there for me, I know that she's going to need support and I'm not in a position to give it to her. My amygdala's still getting used to not having to deal with hurricanes, jack@$$es, and financial insecurity.
I read the article about worry earlier today and had a better understanding of why I (and so many others in my family) over-think & worry about things we shouldn't. It's because our amygdala (the fight or flight centers) are quick to send signals up to the reasoning part of our brains (the "now wait a minute" centers), but slow to receive messages back. To me this seems analagous to the relationship we as humans have with God. We have all these issues and send prayers up to God (i.e. messages about the troubles in life) but don't wait for Him to send us direction. We're too busy talking to hear direction on what the real deal is in the situation. Somehow I believe certain music (which has been proven to manipulate our emotions, which are directed by that part of the brain) soothes the amygdala until the higher region can get a calming message back. Which brings me back to the yoga cd.
My prayer partner visited me over MLK weekend earlier this year. I had a meltdown while she was at church (a substitute service for the church where we met) because it was a reminder that our church was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Ever since the storm, I'd been feeling disconnected from God and spiritually abandoned. To try to calm my spirit, I reached back into my memory for a time when I felt the most peace, and my yoga cd was the most recent thing that came to mind. She returned to my home to find me sitting on my park bench in my backyard drinking a Heine and crying with my son holed up in his bedroom on the phone telling a friend, "Mommy's having a bad day. She's having a problem with her dad." My prayer parnter found somewhere for my son to go, poured out my Heine, and coached me through my moment. Once I'd calmed down, she asked me to send her a copy of the yoga cd by the end of the month...and I said I would. That was over 10 months ago, but I've finally gotten it done.
I'm hoping she'll get the article & cd and use both as a substitute for me helping her through these upcoming holidays. I've sent them knowing that this has been a rough year for her and her amygdala's probably going to want to work over time while she remembers 2006. As much as she's been there for me, I know that she's going to need support and I'm not in a position to give it to her. My amygdala's still getting used to not having to deal with hurricanes, jack@$$es, and financial insecurity.
posted by N'j at 11:02 PM
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