DR. JAY KUMAR

As we celebrate the long Thanksgiving weekend and the beginning of the Holiday season, it's easy to forget the true meaning and purpose of this time of year. Even though Thanksgiving is a North American holiday, its significance is universal regardless of your nationality, spiritual faith, or cultural believes.

For those not familiar with the holiday, Thanksgiving is an annual feast that honors the bounty of the autumn harvest and celebrates the abundance that nature provides. For millennia, both the European and Native American cultures marked the harvest time by giving thanks to the plentitude and nourishment that the earth gives for our livelihood. Eventually the European and Native American traditions merged into what we now know as Thanksgiving. In essence, Thanksgiving is truly much more than a North American holiday, as it is a way for all of us to "give thanks" and to express gratitude for all that we have in life–health, abundance, love, family, friends, and, of course, the traditional Thanksgiving feast.

In our modern culture, Thanksgiving sadly also has become synonymous with shopping and consumerism. Contrary to what we hear and see on TV, billboards, and internet, the essence of the Thanksgiving holiday is not about getting the best deals on Black Friday or to be swept up in the shopping frenzy of the Holidays. Rather, it is a time to pause and reflect on all that truly is of value in life. As I like to say the key to happiness and true joy is, "Not Buy More, Be More!”

However you ultimately choose to mark and honor this Thanksgiving weekend and the upcoming Holidays I invite you to remember their original significance–that is to give thanks and cultivate an attitude of gratitude for all the abundance in our life. In fact, new studies of the brain from neuropsychology state that gratitude is one of the easiest and healthiest ways to experience overall wellbeing in body, mind, and spirit. In the past few years, scientists now recognize that gratitude is one of the most powerful and healthiest of human emotions. Studies at University of Miami, UC Davis, and other universities successfully demonstrate that remembering to be grateful for what we have in life can greatly outweigh any sadness, stress, or challenges we might currently experience.

The reason why expressing gratitude has such a strong effect is its ability to connect us to other people. Generally, when we express thanks we acknowledge the actions of others. Being grateful enables us to expand our thoughts away from our own individual concerns so that we remember the joy and happiness that others provide. You can learn more about the Neuroscience of Health & Happiness here.

Basically, when we experience gratitude we hit the proverbial “pause button” in our mind. We shift away from our repetitive thoughts, our worries, and anxiety and begin to focus on happiness, joy, and love. From the perspective of neuroscience, the part of our brain that fires when we give thanks is the left pre-frontal cortex, the same area responsible for feeling love and compassion. In addition to boosting your emotional and psychological health, cultivating an attitude of gratitude has physical benefits. As we experience greater levels of gratitude, neurotransmitters in the brain release chemicals to stave off stress, depression, and anxiety.

One of the easiest ways that I find to generate feelings of gratitude is to make a list of all that you’re grateful for in life. Your list might include your family, spouse, partner, children, pet, or possibly even your health, the beauty of nature, and the very fact of being alive. Make copies of this list and place them by your bed, on your office desk, or on the fridge, or places that are most visible to you. Every time you look at this list, repeat out loud to yourself one thing on your list that you are grateful for in life. Not only verbalize the statement but truly feel it. Envision that person, place, or idea in your thoughts and connect to the emotion of gratitude and joy that accompany the memory. Like with our body, neuroscience also states that our mind is also a muscle that can be trained and developed. As we cultivate greater gratitude for what we have in life, we automatically experience a healthy attitude toward life! Read full article on the neuroscience and psychology of gratitude here.

As you enjoy and commemorate this Thanksgiving weekend always remember all that you're grateful for in life. Never forget that the greatest gift is actually your presence in the world. According to the eloquent words of Melody Beattie,"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”

Keep on Living Your Light® as you enjoy this Thanksgiving weekend in gratitude, abundance, joy, and wellbeing.

Dr. Jay Kumar
www.drjaykumar.com
Facebook – Dr. Jay Kumar
Twitter – docjaykumar 

“The ultimate healing capacity of your brain may be, for all practical purposes, infinite." Dr. Jay Kumar

Check out the latest podcast from AWAKE with Dr. Jay Kumar on the Doug Stephan Good Day Show. In this episode we discuss how neuroscience now validates the power of our thoughts and intentions in our healing process. A really great episode!

AWAKE & ENJOY!

One of the greatest discoveries to come out of neuroscience in the past couple of decades is the concept of neuroplasticity. Basically, neuroplasticity describes the ability for our brain to rewire and restructure its neural structure and anatomy. A key phrase in neuroscience is, “Neurons that fire together wire together.” What this means is that over time our collective experiences and thoughts that we repeat about who we are and our environment become neurologically wired in our brain. In essence our psychology creates our biology. As we experience the various thoughts and feelings throughout our day, they actually leave traces behind in the neural structure of the brain. If you spend your entire day worrying about what others think about you or thinking about how miserable your life is, those very thoughts begin to form a neural network that wires together cementing that concept in your mind. Conversely, if we can cultivate more gratitude, self-forgiveness, and compassion toward ourselves, we can begin to rewire these “neural nets of negativity” into a healthy brain and being.

The neuropsychologist, Dr. Rick Hanson, nicely states, “The mind is like Velcro for negative experiences and Teflon for positive ones.” I’m sure many of us can relate to this idea, but why is that our minds tend to remember the painful, negative experiences but not so much the joyous, happy moments? There’s actually a neurobiological answer that has to do with something called a “negativity bias.” At the University of Washington a study revealed how a negative experience remains wired into our brain more strongly than a positive one. In fact, it takes up to five positive experiences to outweigh a negative thought! Neurobiologists believe that this “negative bias” of the human brain was an evolutionary trait that helped early humans survive by allowing the brain to react to, remember, and recall life-threatening experiences. Imagine you were an early human chased by a lion; your brain would store that information into a neural net, recalling that memory as a survival mechanism. The lesson is that in order to experience authentic happiness, we actively have to focus on the positive to overcome the negative experiences in our life that our brain has imprinted into our consciousness.

The last item to mention is that of mirror neurons. In the past 15 years, neuroscientists discovered that our brain possesses mirror neurons that are responsible for us to feel compassion and empathy toward others. There exists a part of the human brain known as the insula, which is the area activated when we tap into our internal feelings and sensations. So when we dance, do yoga meditate, focus on our breath, swim, run, or are in nature we begin to connect to the internal terrain of our body. The insula gauges how we’re feeling and what we’re experiencing within our body and mind in the present moment. Since neuroplasticity demonstrates that the brain is capable of growing at any age in life, we can enhance the development of the insula. So why is this so important, you may wonder? Brain scans reveal that people with more developed insula tend to have more developed mirror neurons, which enable us to become more self-aware, compassionate, caring, and empathetic toward others. It is this notion of compassion and empathy toward others that allows us to experience greater happiness and wellbeing on a daily basis.

The more we can begin to focus on all the abundance, gratitude, and joy inherent in our life rather than going through life in worry, doubt, pessimism, and fear, the more healthy and vibrant our brains become. When the human brain and body are healthy and strong we tend to cultivate the “four C’s” of calmness, contentment, caring and creativity. In the next entry, I’ll discuss specific ways in which we can entrain our brain to create more healthy neural pathways through daily exercises and techniques to cultivate a happy brain, body, and being. Finally, I leave you with this empowering message, “No external conditions are required for happiness. Happiness is who you are!” Until then, keep on thinking happy thoughts as you continue Living Your Light®. 

Dr. Jay Kumar
www.drjaykumar.com
Facebook – Dr. Jay Kumar
Twitter – docjaykumar

“I believe that there is a subtle magnetism in Nature, which, if we unconsciously yield to it, will direct us aright.” Henry David Thoreau.

Learn what neuroscience and ecopsychology are saying about the healing power of Nature and its powerful effects on the human brain. AWAKE & ENJOY!

Dr. Jay Kumar
www.drjaykumar.com
Twitter - @docjaykumar
Facebook - Dr. Jay Kumar 

Change is one of the most challenging aspects of life, especially when change manifests suddenly or unexpectedly as loss, a matter I’ve blogged about in previous posts. (Read more here) Specifically, fear of change or feeling out of control amidst change is a topic that I find myself often exploring with clients. As the noted scientist and natural philosopher Charles Darwin once said, “It is not the strongest of the species
that survives, nor the most intelligent,
but the one most responsive to change.” No matter how fit or strong you are physically, it is your mental and psychological ability to adapt and respond to change that is the most important survival tool in life.

Before exploring how you can deal with the fear of change, let’s briefly talk about the emotion of fear. Neuroscience advocates that fear is a natural evolutionary product of our collective biology that we inherited from our early human ancestors. Fear was a survival mechanism that protected us from real and immediate threats. Even though most humans now live in a world relatively free from constant danger, our brains are incapable of distinguishing between real versus perceived fear. For example, you experience “fight or flight” fear when your life is truly at risk, e.g. think of being chased by a lion in the African savannah. Contrarily, the fear of public speaking or of confronting your boss for a raise is a self-inflicted perceived fear of a future, non-imminent situation. While “fight or flight” fear is an autonomic biological response that is real and crucial for survival, all other types of perceived fear are self-created and, therefore, can be controlled. In essence, there’s a difference when your life is truly at risk and when you’re taking a risk. Our neurobiology makes it difficult, but not impossible, for many of us to harness the primal areas of our brain that produce biological fear. However, the good news is that perceived and self-created fear appears to be a product of our higher cognitive brain that, with practice, we can more readily tame. Fear of change, which falls into the latter category, is something we fortunately have the power to manage.

So why, then, do we fear change? I believe the answer is that change creates the perception that we have no control of our life. It is the dread of not being in control that we really fear, which in turn produces the accompanying anxiety and stress. While many of us might enjoy the status quo and feel complacent in a life without change, we must understand that change is the fundamental rule of nature. Your cells, skin, hair, and nails change regularly to keep your bodies healthy and strong. The seasons in nature change annually to produce new life and food on the planet. Therefore, change is literally within and all around helping us and all life on the planet to thrive. Basically, without change life would perish.

So how can you cope with your fear of change? Here are some tools that you might find helpful.

1)    The first step to control your fear of change is your ability to view it as an inherent part of your life. In a previous post, I mentioned that “Suffering = Resistance to Change.” (Read more here) The more you resist change in your life, the more anguish you experience.

2)    Another handy tool is to re-conceptualize the word “change” with other terms. Words such as growth, renewal, evolution, or transformation are all synonyms for change. What those words have in common is the underlying and inherent principle of change.

3)    Another key to embracing change is to practice mindfulness and to focus your thoughts on the present moment. (Read more here) Doing so allows your thoughts and consciousness not to dwell on the unknown future, but rather on the “here and now.”

4)    Deep-belly breathing is another scientifically proven method to alleviate the emotion of fear and the physical sensations that accompany it. (Watch breathing video here)  Remember, fear is just a form of energy. As energy can never be destroyed but merely transformed from one state to another, your fear can also be transformed. I strongly believe that fear is nothing more than excitement without the breath.

5)    Another effective tool that I personally use and highly encourage to my clients is to make a daily affirmation. While it can be anything that you find helpful, I regularly use the following, “I live my day as I embrace change as part of my life. I am powerful and have the strength to create the life that I wish. I know that the universe (God) is conspiring for my greatest good and happiness!” 

On a final note, when your fear of change is not properly checked, it can manifest in unhealthy ways in your life. Not only are there physical dangers of living constantly in a state of fear, but there are also emotional and psychological concerns when you fear change. On an individual level, you may react to change with resistance, anger, and violence toward yourself and even toward the world. On a national and political level, when a society or a culture fears change, it often leads to war, violence, and acts of terror. I venture to say that many of the terrorist acts we witness of late are the result of those who fear the massive changes happening in society and who choose to respond from a place of anger and hatred . I’ll discuss more of this in a later post.

Again, the key to your finding harmony and peace in life is to embrace the fundamental law of nature that everything changes. How you choose to respond to life’s changes, either with fear and resistance or with acceptance and flow, is the key to your health and wellbeing. The more you can embrace the power of change in your life and not fear it, the more we all will thrive as individuals, a culture, and a planet. To rephrase Darwin’s original quote with an example in nature, the bamboo that has the ability to bend is much stronger and endures longer than the oak that resists!

Keep on Living Your Light® as you learn to embrace the flow and change in your life!

Dr. Jay Kumar
www.drjaykumar.com
Facebook – Dr. Jay Kumar
Twitter - @docjaykumar

"The key to happiness in life is not to be in the KNOW but to be in the NOW!" Dr. Jay Kumar

Check out another great podcast of "AWAKE with Dr. Jay Kumar!" In this week's episode learn how to become more present and live in the now! 

ENJOY AND AWAKE!

Dr. Jay Kumar

Check out the podcast of today's debut radio show "AWAKE with Dr. Jay Kumar!" In this week's show -

• Hear what the Dalal Lama had to say about the justification for killing bin Laden.

• What neuroscience says about the nature of compassion and empathy

• How you can become more AWAKE in body, mind, heart, and spirit!

ENJOY AND AWAKE!

Dr. Jay Kumar

How can you awaken and tap into your innate sense of happiness in all areas of your life? This podcast reveals how you can manifest your purpose in work, family, and personal life. Plus, discover what the latest trends in neurobiology and medicine have to say about happiness and the ways to achieve it. Enjoy the talk and keep on Living Your Light! Dr. Jay Kumar

Show Description - So, have you ever felt elated, relaxed or uplifted by a piece of music or felt a deep sense of well-being and joy when singing, chanting, or humming? Today’s show explores the science, sociology and spirituality of the healing power of music, sound and voice with Silvia Nakkach.