What is a brain-based approach to healing? brain-based coach, Alyssa Chang, describes it as the following:
“A brain-based approach to healing looks at everything from a nervous system perspective with the understanding that our brain and body are always trying to orient us more toward safety and survival.”
The best way to describe a brain-based approach and specifically how Alyssa applies this to her practice is compassion. It’s meeting your body where she is at and figuring out what needs are not being met then adjusting accordingly. At least this is what I have gathered from Alyssa’s work and everything I’ve learned from working with her so far.
Another big focus for a brain-based approach is to look at your symptoms and behaviors and let those guide you on your healing journey. So often our bodies are communicating with us and trying to tell us what we need and we look at them as a negative. What if instead of trying to fix or cover up, we got curious?
Threat is the neurological word for stress. We all have a threat bucket that gets filled up throughout the day.
Different threats that fill our bucket:
How does the threat bucket impact our symptoms and how we feel? Here’s how Alyssa breaks down this concept:
“The common output when our threat bucket gets too heavy is pain. The nervous system’s main behavior change tool is pain. It’s the loudest output and is the biggest thing to get us to pause and change some sort of behavior. When our threat bucket gets heavy we have pain. Pain is personal. Someone might have a headache, low back pain, digestive discomfort, or anxiety. We all have our unique pain expression. Pain lives in the brain. When we carry too many threats our brain will try to grab our attention and it will signal some sort of pain symptom. Our goal is to stay curious and explore what about our threat bucket might have contributed to this pain pattern. It then gives us many different options to figure out that pain symptom.”
Taking time to slow down and see what your personal pain expression could be and then assessing what went into your threat bucket that day is a great way to start taking a brain-based approach to your health.
Now that you understand the concept of the threat bucket and each of us having our threat bucket that gets filled each day let’s talk about brain maps. Alyssa breaks down this concept in a way that is so easy to understand and really allowed me to better grasp just how our previous threats/injuries can impact our nervous system and how we show up today.
Our brain has a map of every single part of our body. Pretty cool, huh? These maps tell us what the body part does, how we can move it, and where we are in our bodies. They are either clear or blurry. A nice clear brain map tells our bodies that we are safe, whereas a blurry map can create instability and unsafe feelings in our bodies
What causes blurry brain maps vs. clear ones? Past trauma, whether physical like an injury, tattoo, scar, etc., or mental/emotional, can lead to blurry brain maps. I’m covered in tattoos, so let’s use me as an example! The tattoos on my chest, arm, or leg are like a scar. They reduce sensation to that area and lead to a blurry brain map. This blurry brain map can lead to symptoms showing up in other areas of my body. Remember, blurry brain maps can lead to our nervous system not feeling safe. This unsafe feeling puts us on alert and can impact how we show up in the world. For tattoos, these are permanent, but it doesn’t mean you can’t help improve those brain maps. Through working with Alyssa, I have developed sensations and exercises I can do to clear up those brain maps and reduce symptoms. The same can be applied to a physical or mental/emotional injury. Using a combination of brain and physical exercises, you can clear up those maps
Our nervous system is constantly scanning our environment to learn how safe am I? This means they pick up on A LOT and are constantly taking in information. It’s no wonder we are getting feedback from our bodies all the time through things like having energy or the opposite–dealing with fatigue, hunger, anxiety, pain, etc. Our bodies have a lot to tell us. Alyssa covered two common symptoms that I think will resonate and what they can mean from our brain.
Are you concerned with weight gain on the healing journey or struggling with not being able to lose weight no matter what you do? This could be a line of communication from your brain about its current safety status. Alyssa explains this beautifully:
“The brain is highly resistant to weight loss. It likes internal body fat to support our metabolism, insulate, regulate body temperature, and be in a space of reproductivity. The insulation or weight gain is a survival tool. Calorie restriction can make your body feel unsafe and spark anxiety, food obsessive thoughts, and even make our digestive system go a little haywire. Our bodies perceive the threat and will react differently depending on the person. If safety is not threaded through your entire experience and journey, you could be doing all of the “right” things but your body and brain will still resist weight loss. “
Next time you think weight gain is your fault, think about what your body is trying to do for you by gaining that weight. It’s trying to make you feel safe. Is there anything you could do in your day to day to support that?
Fatigue that is not relieved by sleep, rest, and rejuvenation is often the result of being stuck in the freeze nervous system response. According to Alyssa, this type of fatigue means your body is “conserving energy by means of shutting down or disengaging when threat is registered by the brain.” A person stuck in this freeze state can have a hard time understanding their needs because they tend to disassociate. This leads to awareness shutting down and can take you further away from knowing what you need. The digestive system can also tend to take a hit when in this state and lead to less emptying and further drive hormonal imbalances. Instead of trying to push harder and get through this fatigue, slowing down to tune into your body and create a relationship to meet those needs can help you get out of this state.
Fatigue can be frustrating, but it is a type of communication from your body. What could your body need right now? A season of rest?
Listen to the interesting podcast episode I did with Alyssa chang on a brain based approach to healing on the are you menstrual? podcast.
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