6

Balance Your Brain

Without brain balance, life will feel like a struggle.  You won’t stick to your goals and you won’t follow through on your own intentions.  Without it, other therapies just don’t work well, even natural ones, like acupuncture or chiropractic. Once I am able to restore brain balance in a patient, the trick is to maintain it, so that he continues to self-heal.  The problem lies in the malleability of our nervous systems in response to negative or harmful energy.  Just like we can initiate and support healing through exposure to positive energy (such as music therapy); we can destroy it through exposure to negative energy.

Brain imbalance can be viewed as a “short-circuit” in the brain.  Here’s the bad news.  Approximately 95% of people (even so-called healthy people) are not brain balanced according to John Diamond, MD, innovator of Behavioral Kinesiology and the author of the book, Your Body Doesn’t Lie.  Before I tell you why we are all at risk of being out of balance, here is an analogy that might help you understand in simpler terms.  Imagine old-fashioned circuit boards with wires coming out of one spot and plugging into another.   Your brain and nervous system are similar to this circuit board but with thousands of wires.   What would happen if a circuit board was shaken so hard that some of the wires got loose?  The circuit board wouldn’t work as well, would it?  No matter how much electricity, or Qi, you deliver to the circuit board, communication would still be “lost” in some areas.  Right?

Every single one of my patients who couldn’t heal had, in a sense, short-circuited their nervous systems in two ways: their right-left hemispheric balance and their ability to regulate the stress response.  Right-left brain imbalance occurs when under repeated stress; the brain hemispheres become desynchronized.   Most often, the left, logical side of the brain becomes dominant and the right, intuitive side of the brain becomes passive.

The other type of short circuit occurs when the nervous system gets locked into a stress (fight or flight) response and can’t manage to get back into the relaxation response.  This imbalance can manifest if someone has been under severe stress for a significant period of time.  Both short-circuits can also occur with any repeated or significant stress to the brain such as trauma, toxins or radiation. 

The stress-relaxation responses in the body are governed by what’s called the autonomic nervous system.  The autonomic nervous system regulates all the non-voluntary functions of the body like breathing, circulation, sweating, intestinal function and salivation.  You don’t have to think about breathing.  It’s automatic.  You also don’t have to tell your stomach to digest your food.  It is also automatic.  The autonomic nervous system is of vital importance and when not regulating properly, can prevent the body from going into “healing” mode.

There are two parts to the autonomic nervous system: the sympathetic and the parasympathetic.  The sympathetic nervous system, when turned “on” is best known for the stress response, also known as the fight or flight response.  The parasympathetic nervous system promotes the relaxation response.  In my patients with the most severe symptoms of chronic pain, insomnia, anxiety and stress, the autonomic nervous system is no longer regulating properly and in fact, is stuck on “stress mode”.  My patient Kate, who had this condition, explained it best: “It’s like being in a car and you’ve got the accelerator to the floor, but the gear is in neutral, so you’re expending a lot of energy but not going anywhere!”

The nervous system uses electronic signals and messenger chemicals to communicate with the rest of the body and thus is susceptible to particular stressors.  In addition, some of the cells in our brain contain magnetite, which are crystals that can be affected by magnetic energy, which explains why some people (myself included) can feel when a severe storm or an earthquake is imminent.  So, in my humble opinion, the brain’s energetic imbalances seem to be the crux of all the other energetic imbalances in the body.

In this chapter, I’ll be teaching you how to treat brain imbalances using energy tools.  Most people associate the mind with brain functioning, which is mostly what we’re going to be talking about in this chapter.  The remainder of the Mind section, however, will focus on shifting your thoughts, beliefs, and emotions from negative to positive.  By the way, when I refer to the word “negative”, I really mean non-supportive, rather than bad.  Same goes for the word “positive”.  Positive means supportive, rather than good.  I prefer, whenever I can, to refrain from making judgments such as good or bad. Judgments themselves can thwart the healing process.

The reason I’m providing you with energy tools to balance your brain is because I have found that without balancing the brain first, people can’t easily change their thoughts, beliefs, and emotions!  If you cannot shift your thoughts, beliefs and emotions, you will not take actions toward your goals.  As I mentioned in Section A, there is not a single thing that is more important in your healing than balancing your nervous system. 

Opening up the communication between both hemispheres of the brain gives you the ability to creatively solve problems. This is called brain synchronization.  In life, it is the feeling when you get a wonderful “Ah-ha!” about something.  It is also the feeling of being in the “zone” as you do what you love with grace and ease.  When I won my first Adult National gold medal in figure skating, I felt like I was in the zone.

Restoring a healthy autonomic nervous system is foundational to all holistic healing strategies.  Without first attaining brain balance, other holistic therapies won’t “stick”.  In other words, the improvements, if any, will not hold no matter how much work you do to help yourself.

 

How to Know if You’re Brain Balanced

Sadly, most people aren’t.  To determine brain balance, I do a simple muscle test in my office on every new patient that comes to see me.  Approximately 95% percent of new patients fail this test.   You can learn this simple test too, but you’ll need to practice it on quite a few people to become consistent at it.  I have videos on my YouTube channel that will show you how to check your own brain balance as well as that of others. 

Don’t worry if you aren’t comfortable with self-testing brain balance. By examining the list below, you’ll have a pretty good idea if you are brain balanced or not. If you have all or most of the symptoms, it is likely that you need to balance your brain:

         You can’t sleep through the night without waking
         You trip or bump into things by accident
         You have dyslexia or right/left disorientation etc.
         You have ADD/ADHD (attention deficit disorder)
         You are addicted to drugs, sugar, alcohol, caffeine, or wheat
         You don’t remember your dreams
         You feel stressed or panicky all the time
         You can’t relieve chronic pain
         You have tried all sorts of therapies but nothing seems to work
         You feel better with treatment but the results don’t last
         You experience chronic tiredness or brain fog
         You tend to be edgy, irritable, quick to anger, or sad
         You can’t easily let go of negative thoughts
         You have mood swings or symptoms of depression
         You have difficulty with decision making and remembering things
         You feel chaotic and disorganized much of the time
         You feel overwhelmed, lost or unmotivated
         You get migraines easily, especially when the weather changes
         You feel sick whenever there are significant shifts in earth energy such as electromagnetic storms, earthquakes, hurricanes etc.

 

Causes of Brain Imbalance

There are many things that can cause brain imbalances.  The most common include head injuries and exposure to electromagnetic radiation including those emanating from popular wireless devices (microwaves).  The greatest threat to health in this millennium is electropollution from wireless technology according to Dr. Steven Sinatra of the HeartMD Institute.  Many experts and scientists now understand that the outer membrane of our cells (cellular membrane) is the location where chemical and energetic signals are processed to establish important cellular functions. 

Communication via receptors on the cellular membrane tells the genetic code of our cells, the DNA in the nucleus, what proteins to make to accomplish each important task of keeping the body alive and healthy.  According to Dr. Sinatra, these receptor sites on the outer membrane of our cells are responsible for keeping bacteria, viruses and microwaves out.  When the microwaves start coming into the cells, the receptor sites shut down.  Because we are exposed to microwaves via wireless devices on a constant basis, cellular function can also shut down.  The cell membranes block microwaves from entering the cell, but also block the assimilation of vitamins, minerals and hormones!  Furthermore, waste products produced by the cell cannot escape.  The cell then rapidly ages, the cell voltage diminishes, and the cells become sick. 

Food additives such as monosodium glutamate (MSG), artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, can cause cell death in the brain and predispose you to brain imbalances as well.  Mercury and lead are heavy metals that are extremely toxic, particularly to the nervous system.  Heavy metal toxicity causes chronic inflammation in the body which can lead to hardening of the arteries and heart disease in addition to contributing to pain.  Most holistic experts agree that the number one risk of heavy metal toxicity is having mercury fillings in your teeth (often called “silver” fillings). 

The American Dental Association has yet to admit that using mercury for fillings is toxic despite ample evidence that mercury volatilizes easily from the tooth when it is exposed to heat or pressure, and can then lodge in other areas of the body.  Instead, they blame eating fish for the majority of mercury exposure.  Go to the International Academy of Oral Medicine & Toxicology for more information on this topic.

I remember vividly years ago at a holistic health conference seeing slides of mercury vapor escaping from a mercury-filled tooth.  Most disturbing was seeing sequential photographs of radioactive-labeled mercury fillings in a sheep.  Within thirty days of inserting the amalgam, the mercury had volatilized (became gaseous) and lodged in the jaw, stomach, liver and kidney.  A similar experiment with monkeys found mercury lodged in their jaw, kidneys, liver, intestines and heart.  After that conference I tested myself for mercury toxicity and found that I had excessive levels of mercury in my body, even though I only had two small fillings in my mouth!  Today, you can easily view videos online and watch mercury gas escaping from dental amalgam

However, if you have mercury fillings don’t run out and get them removed right away.  It can be more dangerous to have them removed by a regular dentist.  Instead, you need to consult with a holistic dentist.  There are special precautions dentists need to take when removing mercury fillings.  Only holistic dentists routinely use all of these necessary precautions to protect the patient as well as the staff from mercury exposure.  Regular dental offices do not have elaborate venting systems for preventing the mercury from vaporizing and contaminating patients and staff.  Just working in a dental office can be dangerous. 

My uncle, a dentist, had a good diet and swam competitively.  His cholesterol wasn’t high and neither was his blood pressure.  Despite having no family history for early heart attacks, he suffered two.  “It’s not fair!” said my mother.  “Uncle Kenneth is so healthy.  He shouldn’t have had a heart attack”.  But I think I deduced what the cause was.  His regular exposure to mercury most likely set him up for having chronic inflammation, the real cause of heart disease.

Aside from electropollution, food toxins and mercury, there are natural causes of brain imbalance in the form of geomagnetic disturbances.  Examples in this category include severe storms, earthquakes, typhoons, solar activity, eclipses and hurricanes.  Here is a checklist you can use to evaluate your brain balance risk factors:

         I or someone living in my home uses a cell phone or Bluetooth device
         I use a baby monitor, or walkie talkie
         I talk on my cell phone/Bluetooth while driving in my car
         I or someone living in my home uses a cordless phone
         I have a cordless phone next to my bed while I sleep
         I use a laptop or desktop computer on a regular basis
         I have a clock radio or transformer beside my bed
         I use a wireless-enabled tablet device such as an iPad
         I carry a wireless device on my body such as a cell phone
         I use or am exposed to wireless internet (Wi-Fi)
         I am exposed to fumes or volatile organic chemicals
         I use artificial sweeteners such as sucralose or aspartame (diet soda)
         I eat a lot of processed salty snack food (that might have MSG or flavor enhancers like autolyzed yeast extract or yeast extract)
         I have had a concussion, whiplash, or a severe fall at some point in my life
         I have been in a car accident
         I live in an urban area (where there are many cell towers)
         I eat a lot of large fish like tuna or swordfish (mercury risk)
         I have or have had “silver” amalgam fillings (mercury risk)
         My mother had amalgam fillings before I was born
         I work in a dental office or a salon (toxin risk)
         I am extremely stressed or have a very stressful life
         I drink fluoridated water
         I do not get enough quality sleep
         I have a neurological diagnosis such as multiple sclerosis, stroke, epilepsy

 

I don’t know about you, but I’ve had a few concussions in my life.  I wasn’t very athletic until I became a figure skater.  But before that, I experienced several episodes of head trauma while downhill skiing, cross-country skiing, bicycling and even playing tennis!  The latter was caused by my former husband hitting the tennis ball into the back of my head by mistake.  In 1995 I also had a head-on motor vehicle collision and lost consciousness.  Stubbornly, I didn’t take any time off work to rest.  After a CT scan of my head and a night’s stay in the hospital, I promptly went back to work.  I now realize that I suffered from post-concussion syndrome that could have been avoided if I had taken some time off to rest.

One Christmas, I made the mistake of accompanying my partner and my brother, to an electronics store.  It was during Canadian Boxing Day, so the place was jam packed with customers, all carrying cell phones, of course!  The store was alive with wireless devices, security systems, computers and televisions.  Within ten minutes of entering the store, I developed a severe migraine headache.  I rarely get migraine headaches, but that day, I felt as if my head was going to explode.  I had not yet discovered the importance of brain balancing at that point, but now it all makes sense to me. 

Needless to say, given my traumatic history, my nervous system is rather sensitive to “bad” energy.  I don’t like handling a cell phone without a protective device on it, because within minutes I’ll start feeling tired and headachy.  I also wear a necklace that helps protect me from harmful electromagnetic frequencies when I’m away from home.  Sleeping in a hotel with wireless internet is a recipe for morning stiffness and achy joints, so I make sure I use every single energy tool at my disposal to protect myself.  I’ll be sharing many of my tools with you in the Body section of this book.

Maybe you aren’t as sensitive to electropollution as I am, or maybe you are, but just don’t realize it.  Maybe your chronic pain or fatigue stems from chronic brain imbalances due to exposure to electropollution.  An unfortunate myth exists in our society: people erroneously believe that any product that is available for sale must be safe.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  The United States government does not require independent safety testing of cellular phones or other wireless devices.  In Switzerland, on the other hand, the government was so concerned about the negative effects of wireless technology on children that they banned wireless use in schools.  Instead, SwissCom, inventors of the World Wide Web, opted to install fiber optic internet cable free of charge in all Swiss schools.  Here in America, the opposite is true.  More schools than ever are incorporating wireless computing into their classrooms.  It is no co-incidence that the incidence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADD/ADHD) is on a sharp rise and that wireless technology may be partially to blame. 

 

Achieving Brain Balance

There are several methods that I know of and have used to achieve brain balance.  By far, the fastest and easiest to use is an energy tool called the LifeWave Y-Age Aeon anti-stress patch.  I’ll call it the Aeon patch for short.  This patch was released on the market in January 2011 and has fast become LifeWave’s biggest seller.  Not only does this patch balance and calm the nervous system of the body, it has a dual action of also decreasing inflammation.  Thus I’ve used this patch, as well as the LifeWave IceWave pain patches (which I’ll show you how to use in an upcoming chapter) to reduce or eliminate pain in well over ninety percent of people who are willing to try them.  Allow me to give you a little background on LifeWave patches, which I consider one of the greatest breakthroughs in the history of energy therapies.

LifeWave patches are the brainchild of inventor, David Schmidt, who was working on natural ways to safely increase the energy of Marine soldiers in the Navy.   The Marines were confined in mini-submarines for months at a time.  Because these ships were so small, storing caffeinated energy drinks were not an option.  David developed a prototype acupuncture energy patch, which finally came onto the market as the Energy Enhancer patches in 2004. 

In 2005, I was introduced to these patches by a chiropractor.  At first I was skeptical that a patch could work as well as acupuncture, but after doing some research I was willing to try them.  The only patch LifeWave had available at the time was the Energy Enhancer patches, so I used them for my figure skating.  I wore them on my Stomach 36 acupuncture point during my first-ever Adult International Figure Skating Championship in Oberstdorf, Germany, and won a gold medal for the United States!  After that experience, I was hooked.  Recovering from the fatigue of having fibromyalgia took months rather than years, thanks to these patches, and today I’m as productive as ever.  Then with the advent of the IceWave pain relief patches, and the Aeon anti-stress patches, I am now able to return to doing things I couldn’t do when I was sick - like back bends.

LifeWave patches contain nano-sized organic crystals in a homeopathic solution that reflect a specific spectrum of infra-red light frequencies in our bodies.  Because the patches communicate to our bodies via light, nothing transfers through the skin into the body.  In fact, they are just as effective when taped onto clothing.  The organic crystals inside the patches are activated by your body’s warm electromagnetic field.  Once the patches come within close proximity to your body, they “turn on”.  If they are removed from the body, they “turn off”.  Each patch stays active approximately 12 hours.  The patches can become ineffective if exposed to heat, so make sure you don’t leave the package on the dash of a car in the middle of the summer or wear them in a hot tub!

 

Brain Balance Protocol Using Acupuncture Patches

To balance the brain, you will need to purchase a package of LifeWave Y-Age Aeon patches.  You can also download a free PDF version of the protocol below from my LifeWave team’s website: www.patchtrainingteam.com

 

General Guidelines:

         Use one patch per day, maximum 12 hours a day, daytime or nighttime, whichever feels better to you
         Hydrate with plenty of water, about ½ oz per lb. of body weight per day or approximately 2 Liters
         Choose any one of the acupuncture points below to use daily or rotate through the points to see which feels the best to you
         You may wear the patch stuck to a hat, headband or scarf to hide it if you like.  It doesn’t have to be stuck onto your head in order for it to work.
         When not in use, keep patches away from heat and your body
         Keep in mind that you do not have to place the patch exactly over the acupuncture point.  Approximate location will work just fine.

What to Expect:

         You may feel more relaxed, calmer, happier, or have less “brain fog”
         You may feel you have more energy.  But if your life has been stuck in “stress-mode” for a long time, you may actually feel relaxed or sleepy
         With continued use, you may experience deeper sleep, less awakenings, more vivid dreams
         You may feel more refreshed on awakening in the morning
         The patches are powerful activators of acupuncture points.  If you feel unwell, headachy, flu-like, it means your body is detoxifying (healing response).  If it is mild, drinking more water or taking some Vitamin C may ease the symptoms.  If it is moderate or severe, simply remove the patch and try again the next day for a shorter period of time

 

Four Options for Placing the Aeon Patch

Option 1: You can place the patch on the hairless area of the skull behind the right ear.  The approximate acupuncture point is Triple Burner 17.  This area is close to the brainstem of the nervous system, the part of the brain controlling many automatic nervous system functions such as breathing.  People who have a lot of fear or anxiety tend to like using this acupuncture point.

Option 2: You can place the patch over the “third eye” which is just above and between the eyebrows.  This acupuncture point, Governing Vessel 24.5, stimulates the pineal gland.  Many women in my practice like to sleep with the patch on this point to encourage deep sleep and hormonal balance.

Option 3: You can place the patch on top of the head at Governing Vessel 20.  This point can be found by drawing an imaginary line from the tips of your ears intersecting the midpoint of the top of your head.  This acupuncture point is used to lift the energy into the head and is good for people with foggy thinking or low mood.

Option 4: You can place the patch over the thymus area, which is on the breast bone, about one third of the way down from the notch in the front of the neck.  Although the image is shown with the patch on top of clothing, you may place it directly on the skin for optimal effect.

 

 

Option 1: Triple Burner 17 (TB17)