.
EDUCATION
"Wonderfully Made"
Part 3
"EDUCATION" pages are full of thought-provoking information designed to appeal to all of your rational, thinking brain. These pages are primarily for learning, as opposed to some other types of Comfort.Guide pages which are written more for motivation and consolation. Let these teachings help guide you to the truth that you are noticed, loved and cared for, even though you might not always feel so!
Current Research and Scripture
(Part 1) Introduction and “We Are Designed for Love!”
(Part 2) Introduction and “We Are Designed for Protection and Survival!”
(Part 3) Introduction and “We Are Designed for Healing and Renewal of the Mind - The Neuroscience behind PAUSE, REFLECT, RECEIVE!” (Starts Below)
(Part 4) Introduction and “Making God’s Design Personal - Identifying our own Personal Triggers and Healing the Memories that Cause Them!"
In Part #1, we discussed the truth that we are designed for love. We also considered that when our core need for love is not met, we will experience trouble within our bodies, in our thoughts and emotions, as well as in our relationships. In Part #2 we discussed the truth that we are designed for protection and survival because we live in a world of darkness, unable to see the light of God’s perfect love. Now, in Part #3, we will look at the hope God has given to us and His plan to heal us. As we seek Him, believe in Him and put our Hope in Him, those areas of our lives that are wounded by loss of our core needs are repaired, and then made new. We receive “beauty for ashes” as He transforms our lives. (Isiah 61:3 AMPC)
If you have been feeling numb and believe that God is some distant, unapproachable higher power, far removed from daily life and far removed from daily decisions, emotions, thoughts and needs, you could not be more mistaken. He asks us to let Him live within us so that we can personally hear His voice speaking to us and receive all He has for us! He invites us to realize He wants to be here for us 24/7 with His loving presence and wisdom.
Sarah Young in her devotional entitled, “Jesus Lives”, beautifully states His invitation to come into his presence.
"Come to Me just as you are. Let Me enfold you in My compassionate embrace. I know the depth and breadth of your weariness. I see you from the inside out, as well as from the outside in. Nothing about you escapes My attention - or My tender concern. I offer you rest, My child, but in order to receive it you must stop for a time and simply wait with Me." (“Jesus Lives: Seeing His Love in your Life”, by Sarah Young, p. 266)
Let’s begin to look at how implementing the practice of PAUSE, REFLECT and RECEIVE (which you will see in many areas of Comfort.Guide) taps into the neurological design God has given us for healing and renewal of the mind.
PAUSE
FIRST, why is it so important to choose to PAUSE when we are in distress?
It is important to PAUSE to calm our body and brain as we react to loss of safety, stress and danger. Pausing when in distress, and then crying out to Jesus, is mentioned in the Scriptures: “Be still and know that I am God…” (Psalm 46:10)
If we are listening, our body reactivity will be the first to tell us we have moved from the place of functioning in safety to an alarm of danger. God has designed “neuroceptors” in our body that are activated in response to perceived danger. We need to pause and listen. We need to be more aware of what our body is telling us!
When the body is activated in fight or flight the language of logic is not effective. The tools for quieting our bodies are activated by the language the body will understand. This is a combination of slowing our breathing which is designed to be a chosen and voluntary action that activates the return to calm. Another voluntary action as a means of calming the body is bilateral stimulation. One example of this is tapping on our arms from right to left to activate the left brain logical structures, and mental activities for orientating our focus and establishing safety. These activities are mentioned in more detail in the on-line “Tool Kit” section; see the tab at the top of this page.
SECOND, why is it so important to cry out to a person, rather than just crying out as a release in response to pain?
Remember the Polyvagal Theory discussed earlier? We learned that our first need is the need for safety, particularly safety in and through social-engagements. If we experience danger, perceived or actual, we are designed to call out for help from our social connections. Absent this, the fight/fight system is activated, potentially leading to a catastrophic “shut down” of body systems. In particular, when we are trapped in pain and feel powerless to escape, our emotions will shut down, our rational mind will shut down, and we will lose the hope of survival and freedom. If we are in distress and we believe we are alone, with no help and no escape, we will often move to protect ourselves in irrational and ultimately harmful choices.
In addition, the role of those structures that allow for experiences to be stored as long-term memories in the left hemisphere of the brain, are being disrupted and de-activated. Experiences that are successfully processed can be recalled as a narrative, are given meaning and understanding and context in time, and become associated with other similar memories. That is why highly emotionally charged experiences are often trapped in the right hemisphere, and when “triggered” by similar situations today we will experience emotional flashbacks with all the intensity of the initial experience in the past, as if the experience is occurring in the present moment. So … we can have a different experience today than in the past, but our brain will tell us both today’s experience and the past experience are similar and we will react accordingly. Our judgement is clouded at best!
Knowing how the mechanism of flight-fight-freeze works can help us stay balanced. As the body moves into flight or fight, if we can pause and listen to our bodies, we will realize that the logical brain has begun to shut down and has stopped processing. We can pause in our distress, calm our body and cry out Jesus, and as we come to know Him personally, we begin to hope rather than begin to shut down. Then we can make wise choices for survival and safety directed by His wisdom and presence in us.
Think of the “Still Face Experiment”, discussed in part #1. Pause to realize that the face of Jesus is always turned towards us with attunement (meaning He knows every part of us), and with love, care and protection. It is from that position that you “bring” the neurological processing of the left brain “on line” in the midst of trouble, and you bring your body into neurochemical balance.
Often, when neglect or abuse occur in our early development stages of childhood, not being loved becomes normal, and conversely being loved becomes the unexpected and abnormal. We can also be oblivious when we are being loved, causing confusion and an inability to receive a sense of safety and love. Yet our Father God sees it all and longs to comfort us and free us. It is in this trouble, our being powerless and alone, in the darkness, that Jesus longs to free us with His! power to bring light of His love into our hearts.
REFLECT
The word “REFLECT” involves two concepts or actions: the first is to CONTEMPLATE, and the second is to MIRROR an image. Let’s look at both of these meanings.
Reflect - To Contemplate
As we pause to cry out to Jesus and then contemplate what we are really thinking and feeling, we move FROM remaining in a place of reactivity and unawareness and overall numbness, TO a place of openness to learning and considering new thoughts and perspectives. We seek out what God is inviting us to understand through His perspective. We need to distinguish thoughts, emotions and images that we and the voices of others have imprinted in our belief system, many of which can tempt us to see our lives through the twisted perspective of darkness rather than through light. Receiving comfort from the God of all comfort comes as we distinguish His voice from our own belief system.
We often cry out just in pain and not to others because somewhere along the way we have come to believe that we are alone and there is no real hope for us to be deeply loved and cared for. We have come to believe the devil’s lie that God is not for us but rather is against us, causing us to live our lives apart from Him, assessing and choosing on or own what seems to be best for us.
Scriptures tell us that “In quietness and trust is your strength.” (Isaiah: 30:15). It is when we are quiet inside, when we have PAUSED to cry out to Him personally, that the Holy Spirit can reveal the true heart and mind of Jesus towards us. He gives us a new perspective for our circumstances. He can inspire us to understand and become AWARE OF HOW OUR PAST HAS AFFECTED OUR LIVES.
The Scriptures have been given to us so that we can begin to meet Jesus, our healer, personally, face to face. As we meet Him, our story becomes re-written, giving us new life-giving thoughts of love and safety. As this is occurring, a new filter is being established of safety and peace that will free our minds and change the neurological reaction in our bodies from danger to safety. Imagine the comfort when our filter is formed from the heart and mind of Jesus, rather than our own “understanding”! The peace that surpasses understanding can indeed be established within us!
Reflect - To Mirror
A mirror shows us the image of something. Mirroring involves receiving light and projecting that light back and forth between the source of the light and the source of the reflection. For example, consider how the word “reflected” is used in this sentence: “The shop window reflected his image as he walked past.” Remember the radiance of Moses’ face, as God “passed” by, reflecting the light of His nature.
The purpose of REFLECTION is to pause and contemplate the inspirations that the Holy Spirit is working with us until we begin to reflect His image within us. He can see Himself in us and we can “see” ourselves in Him. The mirror imaging process is being established by spending time in His presence. In this place we can be calm enough to consider new thoughts and perspectives. We are safe enough to become aware of the discrepancies between His heart and mind and our own. In addition, the more time we spend with Him, the more His light and love reflects into our heart and His image begins to reflect through us.
In summary … as we invite the Holy Spirit to be in our hearts, our thoughts, emotions, perceptions and choices will begin to reflect the thoughts, emotions and perceptions of Jesus Himself! Crying out to Jesus, we can sense His voice as we seek Him for truth and then transformation. Scripture speaks of the Holy Spirit as a “treasure” within us:
“For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness’, made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all surpassing power is from God and not from us.” (2 Corinthians 4-7).
We may well be “jars of clay”, but the Spirit turns us into the finest crystal vessels as we grow in knowledge!
RECEIVE
After we are aware of the heart and mind of Jesus the next step is to realize we can choose to agree with His heart and mind, as opposed to just considering it as a nice thought. Every time we choose to agree with His mind and heart we are moving our relationship with the Lord from just head knowledge to a belief in our hearts. Think of a young person falling in love: they can perhaps explain the reasons logically, but it still comes down to a powerful reaction in their emotions, their feelings, their heart!
However, in everyday life, our own personal filters that form our beliefs and also the devil’s lies will discourage us, and “argue” with what our loving Father God is saying to us through the Holy Spirit. The flesh of our own mind will be at war with the voice of the Holy Spirit. Awareness of this battle gives us even more reason to quiet ourselves and reflect and contemplate on the voice of the God we have come to know. We can ask the Holy Spirit to show us if this thought is consistent with the mind and heart of God.
The good news is that His work can wash away anything and everything erroneous, and in its place imprint the ability to see clearly and understand fully the events in our life, but now through God's eyes!
And more good news, research has indicated that a free-will choice is easily seen in brain activity tests. As we choose over and over new perspectives in line with God’s view of us, we strengthen the neural connections consistent with that choice. This means that the choice to discern correctly will get easier as we ask for His perspective each day!
“God builds into the science of thought this amazing ability to renew our minds. This means when you think about a thought, each time the thought is dominating your conscious mind, you can do something about it. You can choose to keep it the same or change it. Either way, protein synthesis happens. Toxic memory will either be changed or strengthened.” (Leaf, pg.69)
“Scientifically this process is called ‘retranscribing neuroplastically’; spiritually this process is called ‘renewing the mind’” (see Romans 12:2).” (Leaf, pg.70).
As we conclude this discussion, just realize the PAUSE, REFLECT, RECEIVE is a pattern God will use to help us live life to the fullest, because we are inviting Him to teach and guide us!
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your path straight." (Proverbs 3, NIV)
Click below to go to the 4th (and last) part of this series.
Click HERE to read "Wonderfully Made" - 4
EDUCATION
"Wonderfully Made"
Part 3
"EDUCATION" pages are full of thought-provoking information designed to appeal to all of your rational, thinking brain. These pages are primarily for learning, as opposed to some other types of Comfort.Guide pages which are written more for motivation and consolation. Let these teachings help guide you to the truth that you are noticed, loved and cared for, even though you might not always feel so!
Current Research and Scripture
(Part 1) Introduction and “We Are Designed for Love!”
(Part 2) Introduction and “We Are Designed for Protection and Survival!”
(Part 3) Introduction and “We Are Designed for Healing and Renewal of the Mind - The Neuroscience behind PAUSE, REFLECT, RECEIVE!” (Starts Below)
(Part 4) Introduction and “Making God’s Design Personal - Identifying our own Personal Triggers and Healing the Memories that Cause Them!"
In Part #1, we discussed the truth that we are designed for love. We also considered that when our core need for love is not met, we will experience trouble within our bodies, in our thoughts and emotions, as well as in our relationships. In Part #2 we discussed the truth that we are designed for protection and survival because we live in a world of darkness, unable to see the light of God’s perfect love. Now, in Part #3, we will look at the hope God has given to us and His plan to heal us. As we seek Him, believe in Him and put our Hope in Him, those areas of our lives that are wounded by loss of our core needs are repaired, and then made new. We receive “beauty for ashes” as He transforms our lives. (Isiah 61:3 AMPC)
If you have been feeling numb and believe that God is some distant, unapproachable higher power, far removed from daily life and far removed from daily decisions, emotions, thoughts and needs, you could not be more mistaken. He asks us to let Him live within us so that we can personally hear His voice speaking to us and receive all He has for us! He invites us to realize He wants to be here for us 24/7 with His loving presence and wisdom.
Sarah Young in her devotional entitled, “Jesus Lives”, beautifully states His invitation to come into his presence.
"Come to Me just as you are. Let Me enfold you in My compassionate embrace. I know the depth and breadth of your weariness. I see you from the inside out, as well as from the outside in. Nothing about you escapes My attention - or My tender concern. I offer you rest, My child, but in order to receive it you must stop for a time and simply wait with Me." (“Jesus Lives: Seeing His Love in your Life”, by Sarah Young, p. 266)
Let’s begin to look at how implementing the practice of PAUSE, REFLECT and RECEIVE (which you will see in many areas of Comfort.Guide) taps into the neurological design God has given us for healing and renewal of the mind.
PAUSE
FIRST, why is it so important to choose to PAUSE when we are in distress?
It is important to PAUSE to calm our body and brain as we react to loss of safety, stress and danger. Pausing when in distress, and then crying out to Jesus, is mentioned in the Scriptures: “Be still and know that I am God…” (Psalm 46:10)
If we are listening, our body reactivity will be the first to tell us we have moved from the place of functioning in safety to an alarm of danger. God has designed “neuroceptors” in our body that are activated in response to perceived danger. We need to pause and listen. We need to be more aware of what our body is telling us!
When the body is activated in fight or flight the language of logic is not effective. The tools for quieting our bodies are activated by the language the body will understand. This is a combination of slowing our breathing which is designed to be a chosen and voluntary action that activates the return to calm. Another voluntary action as a means of calming the body is bilateral stimulation. One example of this is tapping on our arms from right to left to activate the left brain logical structures, and mental activities for orientating our focus and establishing safety. These activities are mentioned in more detail in the on-line “Tool Kit” section; see the tab at the top of this page.
SECOND, why is it so important to cry out to a person, rather than just crying out as a release in response to pain?
Remember the Polyvagal Theory discussed earlier? We learned that our first need is the need for safety, particularly safety in and through social-engagements. If we experience danger, perceived or actual, we are designed to call out for help from our social connections. Absent this, the fight/fight system is activated, potentially leading to a catastrophic “shut down” of body systems. In particular, when we are trapped in pain and feel powerless to escape, our emotions will shut down, our rational mind will shut down, and we will lose the hope of survival and freedom. If we are in distress and we believe we are alone, with no help and no escape, we will often move to protect ourselves in irrational and ultimately harmful choices.
In addition, the role of those structures that allow for experiences to be stored as long-term memories in the left hemisphere of the brain, are being disrupted and de-activated. Experiences that are successfully processed can be recalled as a narrative, are given meaning and understanding and context in time, and become associated with other similar memories. That is why highly emotionally charged experiences are often trapped in the right hemisphere, and when “triggered” by similar situations today we will experience emotional flashbacks with all the intensity of the initial experience in the past, as if the experience is occurring in the present moment. So … we can have a different experience today than in the past, but our brain will tell us both today’s experience and the past experience are similar and we will react accordingly. Our judgement is clouded at best!
Knowing how the mechanism of flight-fight-freeze works can help us stay balanced. As the body moves into flight or fight, if we can pause and listen to our bodies, we will realize that the logical brain has begun to shut down and has stopped processing. We can pause in our distress, calm our body and cry out Jesus, and as we come to know Him personally, we begin to hope rather than begin to shut down. Then we can make wise choices for survival and safety directed by His wisdom and presence in us.
Think of the “Still Face Experiment”, discussed in part #1. Pause to realize that the face of Jesus is always turned towards us with attunement (meaning He knows every part of us), and with love, care and protection. It is from that position that you “bring” the neurological processing of the left brain “on line” in the midst of trouble, and you bring your body into neurochemical balance.
Often, when neglect or abuse occur in our early development stages of childhood, not being loved becomes normal, and conversely being loved becomes the unexpected and abnormal. We can also be oblivious when we are being loved, causing confusion and an inability to receive a sense of safety and love. Yet our Father God sees it all and longs to comfort us and free us. It is in this trouble, our being powerless and alone, in the darkness, that Jesus longs to free us with His! power to bring light of His love into our hearts.
REFLECT
The word “REFLECT” involves two concepts or actions: the first is to CONTEMPLATE, and the second is to MIRROR an image. Let’s look at both of these meanings.
Reflect - To Contemplate
As we pause to cry out to Jesus and then contemplate what we are really thinking and feeling, we move FROM remaining in a place of reactivity and unawareness and overall numbness, TO a place of openness to learning and considering new thoughts and perspectives. We seek out what God is inviting us to understand through His perspective. We need to distinguish thoughts, emotions and images that we and the voices of others have imprinted in our belief system, many of which can tempt us to see our lives through the twisted perspective of darkness rather than through light. Receiving comfort from the God of all comfort comes as we distinguish His voice from our own belief system.
We often cry out just in pain and not to others because somewhere along the way we have come to believe that we are alone and there is no real hope for us to be deeply loved and cared for. We have come to believe the devil’s lie that God is not for us but rather is against us, causing us to live our lives apart from Him, assessing and choosing on or own what seems to be best for us.
Scriptures tell us that “In quietness and trust is your strength.” (Isaiah: 30:15). It is when we are quiet inside, when we have PAUSED to cry out to Him personally, that the Holy Spirit can reveal the true heart and mind of Jesus towards us. He gives us a new perspective for our circumstances. He can inspire us to understand and become AWARE OF HOW OUR PAST HAS AFFECTED OUR LIVES.
The Scriptures have been given to us so that we can begin to meet Jesus, our healer, personally, face to face. As we meet Him, our story becomes re-written, giving us new life-giving thoughts of love and safety. As this is occurring, a new filter is being established of safety and peace that will free our minds and change the neurological reaction in our bodies from danger to safety. Imagine the comfort when our filter is formed from the heart and mind of Jesus, rather than our own “understanding”! The peace that surpasses understanding can indeed be established within us!
Reflect - To Mirror
A mirror shows us the image of something. Mirroring involves receiving light and projecting that light back and forth between the source of the light and the source of the reflection. For example, consider how the word “reflected” is used in this sentence: “The shop window reflected his image as he walked past.” Remember the radiance of Moses’ face, as God “passed” by, reflecting the light of His nature.
The purpose of REFLECTION is to pause and contemplate the inspirations that the Holy Spirit is working with us until we begin to reflect His image within us. He can see Himself in us and we can “see” ourselves in Him. The mirror imaging process is being established by spending time in His presence. In this place we can be calm enough to consider new thoughts and perspectives. We are safe enough to become aware of the discrepancies between His heart and mind and our own. In addition, the more time we spend with Him, the more His light and love reflects into our heart and His image begins to reflect through us.
In summary … as we invite the Holy Spirit to be in our hearts, our thoughts, emotions, perceptions and choices will begin to reflect the thoughts, emotions and perceptions of Jesus Himself! Crying out to Jesus, we can sense His voice as we seek Him for truth and then transformation. Scripture speaks of the Holy Spirit as a “treasure” within us:
“For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness’, made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all surpassing power is from God and not from us.” (2 Corinthians 4-7).
We may well be “jars of clay”, but the Spirit turns us into the finest crystal vessels as we grow in knowledge!
RECEIVE
After we are aware of the heart and mind of Jesus the next step is to realize we can choose to agree with His heart and mind, as opposed to just considering it as a nice thought. Every time we choose to agree with His mind and heart we are moving our relationship with the Lord from just head knowledge to a belief in our hearts. Think of a young person falling in love: they can perhaps explain the reasons logically, but it still comes down to a powerful reaction in their emotions, their feelings, their heart!
However, in everyday life, our own personal filters that form our beliefs and also the devil’s lies will discourage us, and “argue” with what our loving Father God is saying to us through the Holy Spirit. The flesh of our own mind will be at war with the voice of the Holy Spirit. Awareness of this battle gives us even more reason to quiet ourselves and reflect and contemplate on the voice of the God we have come to know. We can ask the Holy Spirit to show us if this thought is consistent with the mind and heart of God.
The good news is that His work can wash away anything and everything erroneous, and in its place imprint the ability to see clearly and understand fully the events in our life, but now through God's eyes!
And more good news, research has indicated that a free-will choice is easily seen in brain activity tests. As we choose over and over new perspectives in line with God’s view of us, we strengthen the neural connections consistent with that choice. This means that the choice to discern correctly will get easier as we ask for His perspective each day!
“God builds into the science of thought this amazing ability to renew our minds. This means when you think about a thought, each time the thought is dominating your conscious mind, you can do something about it. You can choose to keep it the same or change it. Either way, protein synthesis happens. Toxic memory will either be changed or strengthened.” (Leaf, pg.69)
“Scientifically this process is called ‘retranscribing neuroplastically’; spiritually this process is called ‘renewing the mind’” (see Romans 12:2).” (Leaf, pg.70).
As we conclude this discussion, just realize the PAUSE, REFLECT, RECEIVE is a pattern God will use to help us live life to the fullest, because we are inviting Him to teach and guide us!
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your path straight." (Proverbs 3, NIV)
Click below to go to the 4th (and last) part of this series.
Click HERE to read "Wonderfully Made" - 4