Posted by Penny Meyer on Aug 13, 2018 in Body Talk | 0 comments
Touch is the first sense to develop in humans and the brain devotes a large part of its senses to touch. There are approximately 5 million touch receptors on our skin and 3 million on our fingertips, making touch one of the most powerful sensations in the body. Touch releases certain hormones, namely oxytocin and endorphins, which is why a mother’s hug can literally make everything feel better.
Oxytocin is known as the ‘cuddle drug’ and actually binds opiate receptors for pain relief and it’s involved in the healing of pain. One of its other functions involves social bonding and oxytocin encourages you to share your feelings.
It seems we have seven primal emotions, and they are either positive or negative, as you will see in the chart below.
Our brains make use of vital neurochemicals. One of these is neuropeptides. Mood, energy, pleasure, pain, weight gain, cognitive reasoning, ability to form memories, and immune system regulation are all tied in with neuropeptides.
What makes peptides so interesting are not only their chemical properties, but also their ability to carry an electrical charge which can change a cell’s chemical composition. It seems, “our experience of feelings is the ‘vibrational dance’ that occurs as peptides bind to their receptors; the brain interprets different vibrations as different feelings.”
(Taken from a workshop on “Emotions & The Body” given in Johannesburg).
Anger is an interesting emotion to examine, and if we have been angry for a long time, cellular receptors learn to accept only the ‘anger vibrations’ and reject those receptors that cause us to be happy. It seems that even on a cellular level our emotions can negatively affect our health in the long-term.
IMPORTANT PARTS OF THE BRAIN
Frontal Lobe: The frontal lobe is the area of our brains responsible for higher cognitive functions. These include:
Problem solving;
Spontaneity;
Memory;
Language;
Motivation;
Judgement;
Impulse control;
Social & sexual behavior
Prefrontal Cortex: Controls personality, concentration & higher cognitive function (behavior & emotions)
Left & Right: The different sides of our brains also perform different functions.
The Left brain is involved language and related movement, helps convert thoughts into words; and is involved with positive thoughts.
The Right brain is concerned with order and planning, non-verbal abilities and negative thoughts.
What is interesting is the role fascia plays in response to stress. It becomes thicker in response to real or perceived threats, as well as any other activation of the sympathetic autonomic nervous system.
Given the complexity of our emotions and how they affect us all at a cellular level it’s important to encourage your clients to train themselves to veer away from angry and negative thoughts. This includes high levels of stress, which as you know floods our bodies with cortisol.
By doing a thorough body reading on your clients, you will be able to deduct the extent to which their bodies hold.
