It’s almost a cliché at the point to say that we are living in uncertain and uncharted times, but it is true.  As a result, many, if not most of us, live through days of stress, anxiety, worry, depression, fear, boredom, and just plain discombobulation. A day or two of that as part of the ups and downs of living with a new virus that we’re still trying to understand is fine. We can roll with it.  But, what if almost every day is a rough day? What if you’re not rolling with things well?

There are many little tools that can help, and I’ll write another post in a few days with a list of things you can do to cope better with the new normal of ups and downs.

For now, let’s focus on a big, long-term solution:  neurofeedback and its ability to calm the nervous system.

Back in the late 1960s, before we used the term neurofeedback, a UCLA neuroscientist named Barry Sterman was experimenting with brain-based biofeedback training on his laboratory cats. He found that he could get the cats to relax using his biofeedback technique.

Shortly thereafter, NASA approached him and asked for toxicity testing on rocket fuel, because some of the astronauts in the Apollo program were having what they thought might be reactions to the fuel. Dr. Sterman agreed to help and injected his cats with rocket fuel (I know!). All the cats had seizures as a result, and many died. However, some cats survived, and those lived didn’t have seizure onset nearly as fast as the ones who died did. Dr. Sterman quickly realized that the cats he’d done brain training on were the ones that survived and had delayed seizures.

The realization that brain training led to relaxation and survival resulted in Dr. Sterman experimenting with one of his graduate students who suffered from epilepsy and was willing to see if brain training could help. It did.  From that, neurofeedback for humans was born.

Think about the lesson from this:  brain-training on cats led to such a huge relaxation response that they survived being injected with rocket fuel.

Imagine what can be achieved with humans, especially after over 50 additional years of research and experimentation.

Neurofeedback calms the nervous system and helps create a relaxation response. Relaxation, in turn, creates a cascade that results in less worry and a greater sense of well-being.

Right now in particular, if you are feeling miserable and want to change your response to the world around you, neurofeedback is an excellent option.  Relaxation happens within a few visits, and long-lasting results are achieved within a few months.

I’m doing my best to keep coming to my office a safe and low-stress experience.

Only a few people throughout the entire day are here, and I have my appointment times spaced so that you and I would be the only ones in the office. I’m sanitizing all door handles and surfaces people touch after each client leaves. I’m using air purifiers that cycle through the office air pretty quickly. I’m not accepting clients who are cavalier about physical safety.

Obviously, no place is perfect, but I had someone who is medically fragile tell me last week that he thought my office was the cleanest space he goes. I took that as a high compliment.

If you want and need to relax, give me a call or email tamera@brainshapellc.com, and we can chat about whether neurofeedback makes sense for you.