Feeling overwhelmed, stressed and anxious? The cure might be right outside your window. Studies suggest a short walk in nature improves memory and minimizes brain fatigue. Learn more in my recent podcast on the Doug Stephan Good Day Show.
Dr. Jay Kumar
www.drjaykumar.com
Facebook – Dr. Jay Kumar
Twitter - docjaykumar
With kids now back in school and off for college, the joy of another academic year begins. As a university professor, I am genuinely passionate for my students to achieve optimal performance in their studies and for our children to aspire to their personal best in all areas of life.
Let's face it, learning doesn't come easy to everyone, so how can we encourage our children to excel in school? As a professor who teaches courses in neuroscience, health and happiness, I am delighted to share these five scientifically proven tips from educational neuroscience that I offer to my own students to help improve focus, enhance memory and, more importantly, make learning fun!
Tip # 1 - Take A Breather
My mantra for the past decade that I’ve been telling to my students and clients is that “how you choose to breathe determines how you choose to live, heal and be.” I’m now going to add to that how you choose to breathe determines how you choose to learn! We’ve all heard the phrase “Take a Breather” when we need to calm down when feeling stressed, frustrated or overwhelmed, but it turns out that the phrase can now be backed up by neuroscience.
The latest research into mind-body medicine consistently shows that slow, deep, focused breathing into the lower belly activates the body’s natural relaxation-response, a mechanism that is wired into the human nervous system and triggered by consciously shifting the quality of the breath. It now appears that the body's relaxation-response is not only an evolutionary tool for survival, but a vital mechanism to improve focus, maintain calm and boost memory.
Centering and focusing on your breath is such an effective technique in the learning process that I’ve recently decided to begin every university class that I teach by leading my students in a 5-minute breathing exercise. We now know that when your brain and body come into alignment through the breath, it creates the important 4 C’s for learning: Calmness, Centeredness, Concentration, and Creativity! Watch this simple 5-minute guided video and breathing-exercise to teach help you get on track.
Tip # 2 - Before You Achieve It, You First Have To Visualize & Believe It!
Memory is one of the key components in learning. The traditional model of education focused on rote memorization of facts and figures with the expectation to recall such details for an exam. While this type of learning might be good for short-term memorization, true and effective learning is a multi-sensory skill that that requires long-term memory and multiple intelligences. Recent advances in brain-imaging now show that, in fact, different parts of the brain activate in short versus long-term memory.
The pre-frontal lobe, the outer and more recently developed region of the brain close to the skull, appears to be the predominant area responsible in short-term memory, also known as working-memory. Long-term memory involves more complex and integrated brain regions that employ the older evolutionary and more interior regions of the human brain, specifically the hippocampus and the limbic system. So why is this so important? It turns out these regions of the brain, connected to long-term memory, are where your brain makes cognitive associations and synthesizes incoming data from all your five senses. More importantly, these regions are intimately linked to other areas of the brain that govern emotions and visualization, which utilize other vital forms of intelligence, such as emotional, kinesthetic, visual, and spatial learning.
All the studies in neuroscience now indicate that the brain, like the body, is a muscle that you can strengthen and harness for your advantage to accomplish your goals in life. A technique I use myself and with my own students, which has been recognized to enhance memory, performance and confidence in leaning is cognitive visualization.
A quote I often use to explain cognitive visualization is: “Before you can achieve it, you first have to visualize and believe it!” Whether you want to call it “creative imagery,” “emotional learning,” or “muscle memory,” neuroscience now validates the long-held believe that in order to accomplish a task, your chance of success increases when you use multiple forms of intelligence, such as emotional, visual and kinesthetic. The technique of cognitive visualization starts by having you first visualize in your mind what you want to accomplish and then feel the emotional quality of successfully achieving that goal.
Let’s take an example where you have to give a report in front of the class. While you will have to prepare for the actual presentation by doing your research, writing your notes, and memorizing your speech, you can also do a cognitive visualization technique on a daily basis before the actual task. Perhaps, you can visualize yourself delivering the presentation to your audience, picture the actual room and even repeat the speech in your mind, while at the same time feeling the emotions of confidence and enthusiasm.
What you’re doing is actually training a part of your brain known as the premotor cortex to help your body, brain and being prepare for the activity well before the actual event occurs. In a recent article published in the journal Science, years of research into the premotor cortex reveal that this region is what accounts for us effectively planning and strategizing in order to accomplish a goal, whether that is an athletic performance, playing a musical instrument or taking an exam. It is as if your brain is already doing the action even before the body moves a muscle! Learn how cognitive visualization allows Olympic athletes, CEOs and even students gain a considerable advantage when it comes to achieving their goals in my article here.
Tip # 3 - Shake It Out: Move, Play, & Have Fun
We all know that movement and exercise are important for the body and for optimal health. Recently, more evidence from educational neuroscience supports the conclusion that movement of any kind, whether it’s recess, sports, dance, yoga, or just plain fun and play, stimulates the brain and improves learning! With advances in brain-mapping, we observe that there is a direct correlation between movement and cognitive function, specifically in an area of the brain called the cerebellum, a region located at the base of the brain in the back of the head. While the cerebellum is only about the size of a fist and constitutes about ten percent of the brain’s volume, it contains almost half of all the neurons of the human brain. One reason why the cerebellum is so densely packed with neurons and recognized as the most complex part of your brain is due to the fact that its primary function is to govern motor control. Even more remarkable is that recent studies suggest that the cerebellum’s motor control functions send important signals to other parts of the brain responsible for attention, spatial perception and most importantly, for memory.
Why is this so important for educators, parents and students to know? What the latest medical research indicates is that the same region of your brain that involves movement, exercise, fun and play is the exact same area that governs cognition and learning! While there is a common bias that play and movement are acceptable for only younger children, the scientific evidence overwhelmingly suggests that the brain’s ability to increase cognitive function through movement, exercise and play is one that continues throughout life!
Not only do exercise, movement and play keep the body healthy, they also appear to stimulate brain activity, improve learning, enhance memory, promote motivation and instill confidence in the learning process. Now that’s one game I’ll gladly play! Read article explaining how movement and exercise improve cognition and learning.
Tip # 4 - Get Outside
Closely connected to the idea of how movement and exercise enhance learning is a corollary concept coming out of neuroscience that nature appears to promote a healthy brain conducive for learning. We all know how peaceful and relaxing it is to sit on the beach, hike in the mountains or enjoy a beautiful sunset, but there appears to be something more profound happening in your brain whenever you’re immersed in nature. In a ground-breaking study published in Psychological Study, a direct correlation was made between being in nature with increased cognitive attention. In 2002, a study was conducted in which 169 young girls living in public housing projects in urban Chicago were divided into two control groups: those living in units overlooking nature and greenery and those living in units void of natural views. The results were astounding. Factoring in all other criteria, the girls who had views of nature consistently performed better than those in the other control group in tests to measure focus, concentration and mental discipline. Similar tests have been conducted in the past few years with the same startling conclusion–nature makes us happy & healthy.
So how exactly does nature improve focus, enhance concentration, and perhaps even reduce anxiety and depression? The answer resides in your brain and relates again to the relaxation response, an evolutionary mechanism that appears to be “wired” into our neurobiology. The growing field of ecopsychology studies the affects of nature on the brain and reveals that your brain has two forms of attention: voluntary (direct) and involuntary (indirect). The voluntary/direct attention enables you to focus your thoughts and harness neural energy for tasks that require direct concentration, e.g. writing this article, taking an exam or listening to a lecture. The other type is an involuntary/indirect attention that your brain does with little or no effort, e.g. watching a sunset, meditating, having a casual conversation, dancing or being in nature.
In our current non-stop technologically driven world, a student's brain is not only bombarded with academic information, but a barrage of texts, emails and other virtual data on a daily basis. The brain is overwhelmed with all this sensory data, as it requires an unimaginable amount of forced and focused attention to be in this voluntary/direct mode. As a result, your brain functions in a constant stressful beta-wave state for the majority of your waking day. Rarely, do we take the time in our awake state for the brain to go into the involuntary/indirect attention state that correlates to the calming, soothing alpha-waves.
It appears that when we are immersed in nature, our brains automatically drop into the involuntary, indirect attention-mode that is connected with the healing alpha-wave brain state. Research suggests that even a short walk in the park during your lunch break, touching a tree on your way to school, or literally “stopping to smell the roses” once in a while is beneficial, as it is an evolutionary trait that your brain evolved to do. So while it turns out that certainly being in nature has tremendous benefits on the mind, brain and learning, it appears that just having a view of nature from your home or in school can increase cognitive focus and attention in the classroom.
Tip # 5 - Relax & Sleep: More ZZZZ's Make for More A's
Of all the neuroscience tips for better learning, the one by far that is the easiest and simplest to do is get more sleep. In order to get those A’s you might need to get more Zzzz’s! The reason that sleep is so important is that it has a significant impact on memory and learning. A fascinating experiment conducted at the Harvard Medical School on sleep, memory and learning reveals that learning actually continues to occur while you are asleep and that getting a good night’s sleep after you learn something is just as important as getting rest before an exam.
Furthermore, it appears that the brain consolidates learning in sleep during the specific phase of Rapid Eye Movement (REM), better known as dream-state sleep. During this period important neural information is released from the hippocampus, the area responsible for memory, into specific areas of the cortex required for learning. Thus, the more sleep one gets the greater the duration of these important sleep phases to increase distribution of cognitive material into the appropriate neural networks.
So the day you study the American Civil War in school, during REM dream sleep that same night your brain appears to review and reenact all that information, eventually solidifying them into your brain’s memory banks. What all the research into sleep, memory and learning observes is very simple–the more sleep you get in the bedroom, the better chance of success in the classroom!
While I can't wave a magic wand and give everyone A's this year, I hope these five tips allow you to make learning fun, engaging and exciting.
Here's to a successful school year!
Dr. Jay Kumar
www.drjaykumar.com
Facebook – Dr. Jay Kumar
Twitter - docjaykumar
Life got you feeling stressed out and overwhelmed? If so, you might be suffering from nature-deficit disorder! Never heard of it? You can learn more in my latest podcast on the Doug Stephan Good Day Show.
Enjoy reading more great articles in the "NATURE & TRAVEL" issue of my monthly newsletter.
Dr. Jay Kumar
www.drjaykumar.com
Facebook – Dr. Jay Kumar
Twitter – docjaykumar
Ahhh, the relaxing and care-free days of summer are finally here! As we celebrate the joys of longer daylight, warmer weather and more time outdoors, did you know that sunshine and nature can actually make you happier and healthier? While we all feel more relaxed and rejuvenated from time being outside, some amazing research in neuroscience and mind-body medicine suggests that nature and sunlight are now shown to alleviate stress, improve concentration and build a stronger immune system. So how exactly do nature and sunshine heal us in both body and being? The answer resides in our brains and relates to a concept known as the relaxation response, a mechanism that appears to be “wired” into our biology, helping us cope with anxiety and making us feel more calm and centered.
Brain Waves and the Power of Attention
Studies in neuropsychology now believe that the human brain allows us to process two distinct types of attention. The first is a “voluntary or direct” attention that enables us to focus our thoughts and neural energy to tasks that require our direct concentration, e.g. writing this article, watching a movie, or reading a book. The other type is an “involuntary or indirect” attention that our brain does with little or no effort, e.g. watching a sunset, meditating, having a casual conversation, or dancing.
Additionally, there are corresponding brain waves associated with these two types of attention. When we are in the waking state and our brains are engaged in voluntary, direct attention that require focused concentration, beta waves tend to be predominant. On the contrary, our brains produce alpha waves when we experience involuntary, indirect attention. Having our brains in beta-wave state is important, as it helps us to focus on daily tasks that necessitate sharpness and clarity. Unfortunately, many of us now live a typical day with our brains disproportionately in the highly-attuned beta-wave state and barely enough time in the healing and regenerative alpha-wave state.
In our current 24/7 technologically driven world, the human brain on average is bombarded with the equivalent of 174 newspapers of data every day! That's about five times the amount the human brain received just 30 years ago. No wonder we are overwhelmed with stress, have children with ADD and are constantly overwhelmed with anxiety–our poor brains are running in overdrive. All this sensory overload requires our brain to function in a constantly vigilant beta-wave state for the majority of our waking day. If that wasn't bad enough, studies indicate the human brain continues to experience these super-charged beta-waves when we try to go to sleep, leading to insomnia and chronic sleep-deprivation. Rarely, in our technologically-driven society do we take the necessary time for our brain to go into the calming, soothing alpha-wave state.
Mind-Body Connection
In the growing medical field of psycho-neuro-immunology (PNI), there appears to be a correlation between the various brain waves with our health and happiness. When our brains are highly amped up from information overload and are in constant beta-wave state, the stress-hormone cortisol is pumped in large amounts into the bloodstream. We now know that high levels of cortisol in the body lead to chronic anxiety, insomnia and disease. The good news is that when the brain is in the relaxed alpha-wave state, the brain releases endorphins, dopamine, and serotonin into the body. These neurotransmitters almost instantly enable us to become more relaxed and calm throughout our day. In addition to the brain's stress-response system, we also have a built-in relaxation response mechanism that our nervous systems evolved in order to help us return to a state of calm and relaxation in moments of stress and anxiety.
Nature Relatedness
So by now, I bet can you can guess what’s one of the easiest ways for us to trigger our brain's relaxation response and to enhance the alpha-wave state for greater harmony and happiness? The answer, of course, is NATURE! In another emerging field of study, known as ecopsychology, research indicates that even though the human brain has currently adapted for our modern and technologically-driven environment, its original function was to interact with and respond to the natural world. In essence, the human brain is literally “hard-wired” to BE IN NATURE, as being in nature is natural for the brain.
According to this field of study, human beings have an instinctual biological need to connect with nature, something known as the biophilic instinct or nature relatedness, a concept advanced by the Harvard biologist Edward Wilson. The idea is that the human brain evolved over millennia as a structure deeply enmeshed with and inexorably linked to the intricacies of nature. Even though our human brain has recently adapted to an environment of technology and sensory stimulation, we each still have this affinity for nature ingrained in both our brains and DNA. This evolutionary connection to nature activates the part of the brain known as the insula, the area that governs 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.
How Nature Heals
This ability to tap into the relaxation response through nature appears also to have a tremendous impact on our health and wellbeing. Scientific studies have already begun and continue to demonstrate the powerful healing aspects of nature. Dr. Ulrich published one of the earliest studies in 1984 Science, in which he noticed that patients who were recovering from surgery healed more quickly and required less pain medication when placed in hospital rooms that had views of nature, versus patients placed in rooms facing brick walls. Ulrich conjectured that this acceleration in healing was perhaps a result of the brain connecting to nature. It appears that when we are immersed in nature, our brains go automatically into the involuntary, indirect attention-mode that is connected with the healing alpha-wave brain state.
Let The Sun Shine In
Another remarkable piece of research suggests that 20-30 minutes of healthy and safe doses of sunshine can enhance our body's immunity to disease, improve our sleep and even elevate our happiness. It again has to do with the way natural sunlight stimulates our brain and body. It's important to mention that exposure to the sun should be limited to the early morning or late afternoon, when the UV rays are less harmful. It appears that sunlight stimulates the brain's production of serotonin, a neuro-chemical responsible for elevating our levels of happiness and is shown to positively enhance our immune system. When sunlight also hits the skin, the body's largest organ, it produces greater levels of vitamin D in the bloodstream. Studies at the University of Copenhagen have shown Vitamin D can trigger white blood cells in the body, assisting in the prevention of certain forms of cancer and auto-immune diseases. While certain foods like egg yolks and oily types of fish naturally contain vitamin D, it appears that the highest levels of vitamin D are found in sunlight. You can learn more about the healing power of sunlight in my podcast "How Sunshine Makes You Smarter, Happier and Healthier!"
So even if you live in the middle of urban sprawl or in places where sunlight is more limited, there are still plenty of ways to benefit from the healing power of nature and the outdoors. Even just a short walk outside on your lunch break, gazing out at a tree on your commute to the office, or literally just “stopping to smell the roses” once in a while are all beneficial to your health and wellbeing. What all these activities do is trigger a primal evolutionary trait that the human brain evolved to do–be one with nature!
So what better time than the summer season to get out in nature, feel the sun on your skin and experience greater health and happiness! As the poet Thoreau beautifully states, “I believe that there is a subtle magnetism in Nature, which, if we unconsciously yield to it, will direct us aright.”
Read more on the healing power of nature in my "NATURE & TRAVEL" issue of my monthly e-newsletter.
Wishing everyone a joyous and beautiful summer!
Dr. Jay Kumar
www.drjaykumar.com
Facebook – Dr. Jay Kumar
Twitter – docjaykumar
Take A Breather
My mantra for the past decade that I’ve been telling to my students and clients is that “how you choose to breathe determines how you choose to live, heal, and be.” I’m now going to add to that how you choose to breathe determines how you learn! We’ve all heard the phrase “Take a Breather” when we need to calm down from stress, frustration, or overwhelm, but it turns out that the phrase can now be backed up by neuroscience. The latest research into mind-body medicine consistently shows that slow, deep, focused breathing into the lower belly activates the body’s natural relaxation-response, a mechanism that is wired into the human nervous system and triggered by consciously shifting the quality of the breath. It now appears that the body's relaxation-response is not only an evolutionary tool for survival, but a vital mechanism to improve focus, maintain calm, and boost memory. Centering and focusing on your breath is such an effective technique in the learning process that I’ve recently decided to begin every university class that I teach by leading my students in a 5-miunte breathing exercise. We now know that when your brain and body come into alignment through the breath, it creates the important 4 C’s for learning: Calmness, Centeredness, Concentration, and Creativity! Watch this simple 5-minute guided video and breathing-exercise to teach help you get on track.
Before You Achieve It, You First Have To Visualize & Believe It!
Memory is one of the key components in learning. The traditional model of education focused on rote memorization of facts and figures with the expectation to recall such details for an exam. While this type of learning might be good for short-term memorization, true and effective learning is a multi-sensory skill that that requires long-term memory and multiple intelligences. Recent advances in brain-imaging now show that, in fact, different parts of the brain activate in short versus long-term memory. The pre-frontal lobe, the outer and more recently developed region of the brain close to the skull, appears to be the predominant area responsible in short-term memory, also known as working-memory. Long-term memory involves more complex and integrated brain regions that employ the older evolutionary and more interior regions of the human brain, specifically the hippocampus and the limbic system. So why is this so important? It turns out these regions of the brain connected to long-term memory are where your brain makes cognitive associations and synthesizes incoming data from all your five senses. More importantly, these regions are intimately linked to other areas of the brain that govern emotions and visualization, which utilize other vital forms of intelligence, such as emotional, kinesthetic, visual, and spatial learning.
All the studies in neuroscience now indicate that the brain, like the body, is a muscle that you can strengthen and harness for your advantage to accomplish your goals in life. A technique I use myself and with my own students, which has been recognized to enhance memory, performance, and confidence in leaning is cognitive visualization. A quote I often use to explain cognitive visualization is: “Before you can achieve it, you first have to visualize and believe it!” Whether you want to call it “creative imagery,” “emotional learning,” or “muscle memory,” neuroscience now validates the long-held believe that in order to accomplish a task, your chance of success increases when you use multiple forms of intelligence such as emotional, visual, and kinesthetic. The technique of cognitive visualization starts by having you first visualize in your mind what you want to accomplish and then feel the emotional quality of successfully achieving that goal.
Let’s take an example where you have to give a report in front of the class. While you will have to prepare for the actual presentation by doing your research, writing your notes, and memorizing your speech, you can also do a cognitive visualization technique on a daily basis before the actual task. Perhaps, you can visualize yourself delivering the presentation to your audience, picture the actual room, and even repeat the speech in your mind, while at the same time feeling the emotions of confidence and enthusiasm. What you’re doing is actually training a part of your brain known as the premotor cortex to help your body, mind, and brain prepare for the activity well before the actual event occurs. In a recent article published in the journal Science, years of research into the premotor cortex reveal that this region is what accounts for us effectively planning and strategizing in order to accomplish a goal, whether that is an athletic performance, playing a musical instrument, or taking an exam. It is as if your brain is already doing the action even before the body moves a muscle! Learn how cognitive visualization allows Olympic athletes, CEOs, and even students gain a considerable advantage when it comes to achieving their goals in my article here.
Shake It Out: Move, Play, & Have Fun
We all know that movement and exercise are important for the body and for optimal health. Recently, more evidence from educational neuroscience supports the conclusion that movement of any kind, whether it’s recess, sports, dance, yoga, or just plain fun and play, stimulates the brain and improves learning! With advances in brain-mapping, we observe that there is a direct correlation between movement and cognitive function, specifically in an area of the brain called the cerebellum, a region located at the base of the brain in the back of the head. While the cerebellum is only about the size of a fist and constitutes about ten percent of the brain’s volume, it contains almost half of all the neurons of the human brain. One reason why the cerebellum is so densely packed with neurons and recognized as the most complex part of your brain is due to the fact that its primary function is to govern motor control. Even more remarkable is that recent studies now suggest that the cerebellum’s motor control functions send important signals to other parts of the brain responsible for attention, spatial perception, and most importantly, for memory.
Why is this so important for educators, parents, and students to know? What the latest medical research indicates is that the same region of your brain that involves movement, exercise, fun, and play is the exact same area that governs cognition and learning! While there is a common bias that play and movement are fine only for younger children, the scientific evidence overwhelmingly suggests that the brain’s ability to increase cognitive function through movement, exercise, and play is one that continues throughout life! Not only do exercise, movement, and play keep the body healthy, they also appear to stimulate brain activity, improve learning, enhance memory, and even promote motivation and instill confidence in the learning process. Now that’s one game I’ll gladly play! Read article explaining how movement and exercise improve cognition and learning.
Take a Hike, Literally!
Closely connected to the idea of how movement and exercise enhance learning is a corollary concept coming out of neuroscience that nature appears to promote a healthy brain conducive for learning. We all know how peaceful and relaxing it is to sit on the beach, hike in the mountains, or enjoy a beautiful sunset, but there appears to be something more profound happening in your brain whenever you’re immersed in nature. In a ground-breaking experiment published in Psychological Study a direct correlation was made between being in nature with increased cognitive attention. In 2002, a study was conducted in which 169 young girls living in public housing projects in urban Chicago were divided into two control groups: those living in units overlooking nature and greenery and those living in units void of views of nature. The results were astounding. The girls who had views of nature consistently performed better than those in the other control group in tests to measure focus, concentration, and mental discipline.
So how exactly does nature improve focus, enhance concentration, and perhaps even reduce anxiety and depression? The answer resides in your brain and relates again to the relaxation response, an evolutionary mechanism that appears to be “wired” into our neurobiology. The growing field of ecopsychology studies the affects of nature on the brain and reveals that your brain has two forms of attention: voluntary (direct) and involuntary (indirect). The voluntary/direct attention enables you to focus your thoughts and harness neural energy for tasks that require direct concentration, e.g. writing this article, taking an exam, or listening to a lecture. The other type is an involuntary/indirect attention that your brain does with little or no effort, e.g. watching a sunset, meditating, having a casual conversation, dancing, or being in nature.
In our current non-stop technologically driven world, a student's brain process on average 4 billion bits of information every second and about 700 ads every day, which doesn’t even include all the texts, emails, and other virtual data students receive on a daily basis. The brain is overwhelmed with all this sensory data, as it requires an unimaginable amount of forced and focused attention to be in this voluntary/direct mode. As a result, your brain functions in a constant stressful beta-wave state for the majority of your waking day. Rarely, do we take the time in our awake state for the brain to go into the involuntary/indirect attention state that correlates to the calming, soothing alpha-waves. (Learn about the different brain waves here) It appears that when we are immersed in nature, our brains automatically drop into the involuntary, indirect attention-mode that is connected with the healing alpha-wave brain state. Research suggests that even a short walk in the park during your lunch break, touching a tree on your way to school, or literally “stopping to smell the roses” once in a while is beneficial, as it is an evolutionary trait that your brain evolved to do. So while it turns out that certainly being in nature has tremendous benefits on the mind, brain, and learning, it appears that just having a view of nature from your home or in school can increase cognitive focus and attention in the classroom.
Relax & Sleep: More ZZZZ's Make for More A's
Of all the neuroscience tips for better learning, the one by far that is the easiest and simplest to do is sleep. In order to get those A’s you might need to get more Zzzz’s! Why sleep is so important is that scientific studies demonstrate it to have a significant impact on memory and learning. A fascinating experiment conducted at the Harvard Medical School on sleep, memory, and learning reveals that learning actually continues to occur while you are asleep and that getting a good night’s sleep after learning is just as important as getting rest before an exam.
Furthermore, it appears that the brain consolidates learning in sleep during the specific phase of Rapid Eye Movement (REM), better known as dream-state sleep. During this period important neural information is released from the hippocampus, the area responsible for memory, into specific areas of the cortex required for learning. Thus, the more sleep one gets the greater the duration of these important sleep phases to increase distribution of cognitive material into the appropriate neural networks. So the night after you learn about the American Civil War in school, during REM dream sleep your brain appears to review and reenact all that information, eventually solidifying them into your brain’s memory banks. What all the research into sleep, memory, and learning observes is very simple–the more sleep you get in the bedroom, the better chance of success in the classroom!
Dr. Jay Kumar
www.drjaykumar.com
Facebook – Dr. Jay Kumar
Twitter - docjaykumar
Brain Waves and the Power of Attention
Neuropsychology now believes that the human brain allows us to process two distinct types of attention. The first is a “voluntary or direct” attention that enables us to focus our thoughts and neural energy to tasks that require our direct concentration, e.g. writing this article, watching a movie, or reading a book. The other type is an “involuntary or indirect” attention that our brain does with little or no effort, e.g. watching a sunset, meditating, having a casual conversation, or dancing.
Additionally, there are corresponding brain waves associated with these two types of attention. When our brains are engaged in voluntary, direct attention requiring focused concentration, beta waves tend to be predominant. On the contrary, our brains produce alpha waves when we experience involuntary, indirect attention requiring no fixed awareness. The two other brain waves, theta and delta, are predominant during sleep with theta waves occurring in deep-sleep and delta waves during REM dream-sleep.
While having our brain in beta-wave state is important, as it helps us to focus on daily tasks, unfortunately, many of us live a typical life with our brains disproportionately in the stressful beta-wave state and barely enough time in the healing and regenerative alpha-wave state. Unlike theta and delta waves that occur predominantly in sleep, the healing and regenerative properties of alpha waves are produced only when we are conscious and awake.
In our current technologically driven world, we are on average bombarded with 4,000 bits of information/second and about 700 ads a day. The brain is overwhelmed with all this sensory data, as it requires our attention to be in “voluntary or direct” mode and our brains to reside in the constantly stressful beta-waves for the majority of our day while awake. Rarely, do we take the time in our waking state for the brain to go into the calming, soothing alpha-waves and into “involuntary and indirect” attention.
Mind-Body Connection
In the growing medical field of psycho-neuro-immunology (PNI), there appears to be a correlation between the various brain waves with our health and wellbeing. When our brains are highly amped up in focused direct attention for long hours at a time, we live our day predominantly in a beta-wave state accompanied with the release of cortisol, the stress-hormone that eventually may lead to chronic anxiety, illness and disease. The good news is that involuntary, indirect attention produces the alpha-waves that produce beta-endorphins, dopamine, and serotonin, neurotransmitters that enable us to become relaxed, calm, and centered when we’re in stress throughout our day. This evolutionary mechanism wired into our neurology is known as the relaxation response. This built-in relaxation response suggests that our brains and nervous systems enable us to experience a state of calm and relaxation in moments of stress and anxiety.
Natrue as Healer
So can you guess what’s one of the easiest ways for us to enhance the alpha-waves of calm and centeredness and to stimulate our natural relaxation response? The answer, of course, is NATURE! Another emerging field of study, known as ecopsychology, advocates that even though the human brain is currently shaped for our modern and technologically-driven environment, its original function was to interact with and respond to the natural world in which it evolved over the millennia. In essence, the human brain is literally “hard-wired” to BE IN NATURE, as being in nature is natural for the brain.
According to this field of study, human beings have an instinctual biological need to connect with nature, something known as the biophilic instinct, a concept advanced by the Harvard biologist Edward Wilson. The idea is that humans and the human brain evolved over millennia as beings deeply enmeshed with and inexorably linked to the intricacies of nature. Wilson describes biophilia as the "innate tendency to focus on life and lifelike processes." Even though our human brain has recently adapted to an environment of technology and sensory stimulation, we each still have this affinity for nature ingrained in our genotype and in our neurobiology. This evolutionary connection to nature activates in the part of the brain known as the insula, the area that governs 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.
Relaxation Response
This ability to tap into the relaxation response through nature appears also to have a tremendous impact on our health and wellbeing. Scientific studies have already begun and continue to demonstrate the powerful healing aspects of nature. Dr. Ulrich published one of the earliest studies in 1984 Science, in which he noticed that patients who were recovering from surgery healed more quickly and required less pain medication when placed in hospital rooms that had views of nature, versus patients placed in rooms facing brick walls. Ulrich conjectured that this acceleration in healing was perhaps a result of the brain connecting to nature. It appears that when we are immersed in nature, our brains go automatically into the involuntary, indirect attention-mode that is connected with the healing alpha-wave brain state. Research suggests that even a short walk in the park during your lunch break, touching a tree on your walk to the office, or literally “stopping to smell the roses” once in a while is beneficial, as it is an evolutionary trait that our brains evolved to do. Furthermore, even passive contact with nature such as viewing an open pasture in your car or hearing the sound of birds chirping from your window can have the same powerful benefits as an actual immersion in nature.
When the brain’s alpha and beta waves are equally in balance throughout our waking day, we experience psycho-physiological coherence, a deep and profound state of integration of the body, mind, and brain. The longer we can produce coherence, the stronger our immune system, our health, and wellbeing. Being in nature, again, is one of the easiest and most effective ways to cultivate this balance of the brain waves and to switch into our involuntary, calm mode of attention. So it appears that science is beginning to validate that nature truly has a profound calming and soothing effect on the mind and our neurobiology. So what better time than spring to get out in nature and experience its healing power! As the poet Thoreau beautifully states, “I believe that there is a subtle magnetism in Nature, which, if we unconsciously yield to it, will direct us aright.”
Have a joyous and beautiful spring as you continue Living Your Light®
Dr. Jay Kumar
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Check out the latest podcast from "Awake with Dr. Jay Kumar" on how to live life in flow!
As the wise Taoist philosopher, Lao Tzu, once famously declared, “Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.”
May you continue LIVING YOUR LIGHT® on your adventurous river of life with ease, fun, and flow!
AWAKE & ENJOY!
Dr. Jay Kumar
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“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
ALOHA FROM KAUAI! I hope that this article finds you all doing well and enjoying life as much as I am immersed in the majesty and beauty of Nature. Sitting on my lanai enjoying a balmy jasmine-scented evening while a stunning moon rises over the mountains and ocean, I’m intimately reminded of the powerful lessons that Nature offers us in our pursuit to heal and transform, both individually and collectively. So how exactly does Nature heal us?
To answer that question let’s look at the power of human attention and human brain waves. Neuropsychology now believes that the human brain allows us to process two distinct types of attention. The first is a “voluntary or direct” attention that enables us to focus our thoughts and neural energy to tasks that require our direct concentration, e.g. writing this article or driving a car. The other type is an “involuntary or indirect” attention that our brain does with little or no effort, e.g. watching a sunset or meditating. Additionally, there are corresponding brain waves associated with these two types of attention. When our brains are engaged in voluntary, direct attention, beta waves tend to be predominant, versus the alpha waves when we experience involuntary, indirect attention. The two other brain waves, theta and delta, are predominant in sleep with theta waves occurring in deep-sleep and delta waves in REM dream-sleep.
In the growing medical field of psycho-neuro-immunology (PNI), there appears to be a correlation between the various brain waves with our health and wellbeing. When our brains are highly amped up in focused direct attention for long hours at a time, we live our day predominantly in a beta-wave state accompanied with the release of cortisol, the stress-hormone that eventually may lead to chronic anxiety, illness and disease. The good news is that involuntary, indirect attention produces the alpha-waves that produce serotonin, the neurotransmitter that enables us to become relaxed, calm, and centered when we’re in stress.
While having our brain in beta-wave state is important, as it helps us to focus on daily tasks, unfortunately, many of us live a typical life with our brains disproportionately in the stressful beta-wave state and barely enough time in the healing and regenerative alpha-wave state. Unlike theta and delta waves that occur predominantly in sleep, the healing and regenerative properties of alpha waves are produced only when we are conscious and awake. When the alpha and beta waves are equally in balance throughout our waking day, we experience psycho-physiological coherence, a deep and profound state of integration of the body, mind, and brain. The longer we can remain in psycho-physiological coherence, the stronger our immune system becomes enabling us to be whole and healthy.
So how, then, can you cultivate more alpha-wave states throughout your day to help you maintain coherence? The answer is NATURE! Another emerging field of study, known as ecopsychology, advocates that even though the human brain is currently shaped for our modern and technologically-driven environment, its original function was to interact with and respond to the natural world in which it evolved over the millennia. In essence, the human brain is literally “hard-wired” to BE IN NATURE, and human beings have an instinctual biological need to connect with Nature, something known as the biophilic instinct.
Scientific studies have already begun and continue to demonstrate the powerful healing aspects of Nature. Dr. Ulrich, who published one of the earliest studies in 1984 Science, noticed that patients who were recovering from surgery healed more quickly and required less pain medication when placed in hospital rooms that had views of Nature, versus patients placed in rooms facing brick walls. Why is that? Perhaps it is due to when we are in Nature, our brain goes automatically into the involuntary, indirect attention-mode that is connected with the healing alpha-wave brain state. Research suggests that even a short walk in the park during your lunch break, touching a tree on your walk to the office, or literally “stopping to smell the roses” once in a while is beneficial, as it is an evolutionary trait that our brains evolved to do. Furthermore, even passive contact with Nature such as viewing an open pasture in your car or hearing the sound of birds chirping from your window can have the same powerful benefits as an actual immersion in Nature.
So even if you’re not on a tropical island like Kauai, know that a simple thing like having a plant in your office, a picture of a beautiful scenery on your desk, or simply staring out your window at the trees every couple of hours can connect you to Nature. The point is that Nature is a powerful teacher and healer offering us lessons in our pursuit for genuine peace, love, and abundance, and health. There is a wonderful proverb from ancient India that says, “Hope is Nature's way of enabling us to survive so that we can discover Nature itself.” It is with this intention that I hope you continue Living Your Lightâ as you revel in and benefit from the immense healing power of Nature.
Dr. Jay Kumar
www.drjaykumar.com
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The August newsletter is now available online here. This month's issue is dedicated to the lessons Nature offers us in our quest for health and wellbeing. Read a great article on how science is now discovering that just a few minutes in Nature can reduce stress and promote wellness. Check out a great video of how even animals in the wild are bound to Nature's laws. A really great issue now ready for viewing.
Keep on Living Your Light®,
Dr. Jay Kumar