We have three parts to our brains.  They play different roles.  One part of the brain is a new structure in the human brain and enables us to do things that our closet cousins in the animal kingdom can’t do.  Another part is the emotional center that receives messages and sends them to other parts of the brain to make decisions about what to do about what’s happened.  A third part of the brain is called the reptilian, the part of the brain in charge of automatic functions.  All three parts are hugely important.  What each one of us needs to do is to understand the three parts and their functions and how we want to manage them.

Let’s start with the mid brain.  The midbrain is the emotional brain called the limbic system.  It sits in the middle of the brain bordered by the other two parts of the brain.  In the center of the limbic system, is the amygdala.  This part of the brain is the emotional switching station of the brain.  It receives emotional signals from the body and sends them to the other parts of the brain. 

If the amygdala receives a signal that is a highly emotionally charged signal, it may light up the reptile brain.  The reptile brain sits in the back of the brain.  It’s referred to as the reptile brain because it dates back to the time when we were reptiles and needed to respond to the world as animals.    It holds all our automatic functions related to danger.  In times of danger, it automatically shuts down digestion and thinking in preparation to respond.  It speeds up the heartbeat, speeds up breathing and readies the muscles to react.  If there has been abuse in the past of a person’s life, it will interpret most highly charged issues as danger and will get the reptile brain on line and ready for action.   So what does that mean?  It means that if the brain thinks something threatening has happened the reptile brain gets the body ready for a huge reaction to what happened.  When we were animals, we needed to quickly respond this way.  After all, if there were a tiger stalking us, we would need to have this fast automatic preparation for defense.  However, in the modern world we don’t have many tigers hiding behind bushes.  In the modern word, there aren’t very many dangers, But our brains have only been human brains for about 5 minutes of the time that animals have been on this earth.  Because of this, we have a tendency to have this automatic reaction to an emotional situation, not interpreting the situation as something that does not need us to go into such a defensive position. 

This is where the third part of the brain comes in.  The third part of the brain is the Prefrontal cortex.  Humans have it and animals don’t.  It’s in the front of the head just behind the forehead.  It has many functions, but the function we’re talking about in this instance, is the executive function that happens in the mid left prefrontal lobe of the cortex.  This is the part of the brain that sits back and says, “This is what is going on here and it is not dangerous and I do not need to respond to it with hypervigilance.”  With that thought, the body calms down, stops preparing for danger and the left frontal lobe is able to make a sensible decision about a reasonable response. 

All of us have a tendency to react at times with the reptile brain in control.  We do this subconsciously, and it takes time to learn to use the left prefrontal lobe to make executive decisions about what is called for under the circumstances.  That’s a lot of what therapy is about.  In therapy we’re spending time learning how our past has created certain automatic reactions that don’t fit the current situation, and how to engage the executive function to change our reactions.  

Here is a small piece of important information that you can use in your everyday life that will help you terrifically.  When you get angry, the anger is sensed in your body, and then moves to the adrenalin gland which sits right on top of your stomach.  It sends a signal through the spinal cord to the amygdala which is a part of the brain that is in the middle of the brain.  The amygdala then sends a message to the hypothalamus, which is also in the middle part of the brain.  The message the amygdala sends to the hypothalamus then floods the brain with anger hormone.   No matter what the cause of that anger, the process between the adrenalin gland, the spinal cord, the amygdala and the hypothalamus and then the constant anger surging through the body, will only last 90 seconds unless you continue to feed the anger. 

So what does that mean.  Let me give you an example.  Let’s say you’re driving down the street and someone cuts you off in traffic.  This  really makes you mad.  So the process begins.  The adrenalin gland sends the message to the amygdala, which sends the message to the hypothalamus which floods the brain with anger.  So you keep the anger alive.  You drive down the street cursing the guy in the car that has cut you off.  Every time you repeat in your brain and heat how angry you are at the guy that cut you off, you repeat the cycle starting with the adrenalin gland, amygdala and hypothalamus.  Half an hour later, you’re still driving down the street anger at that stranger who is now on his way to wherever he was going.  He knows nothing about you or that he cut you off and even if he does, it’s out of his mind.  He’s onto other things.  His life has gone on.  You on the other hand are still in your car upsetting your entire day over something that you cannot effect, that is finished and nothing bad happened.   So what could you do instead?  If you stop feeding the anger by not thinking about it over and over and cursing the guy out in your head, the anger will die after 90 seconds.  If you don’t feed the anger, you can go on your way having a perfectly fine day having forgotten that this guy cut you off.  It will make your day much better.

So how else might you use this information?  Let’s say you have a fight with a loved one.  Let’s say your anger is justified and needs to be attended to.  If you say to yourself that you are angry and the anger is important, and you need to do something about it and stop feeding the anger, you can make a level headed decision about what needs to be done.  Then in a calm fashion you can execute your decision.  If you keep feeding the anger, what you’re probably just going to have a fight with the loved one.   Fighting is healthy, but only to the point of getting a resolution.  This will give you the chance for resolution.

Many of us live with our heads cut off from the rest of our bodies. We think our feelings are in our heads and our bodies are separate from those emotions.  Actually, it’s quite the opposite.  Feelings come into our bodies and register in one or even two of our organs.  Sometimes our stomachs are tied it knots, or we feel pain in our hearts, or it hurts to breathe.  These physical sensations are frequently feelings registering  in our bodies.  They then send messages through the nervous system to the brain for the brain to interpret.  Because the brain interprets the emotions, we think we feel  in our heads.  We do.   But we also feel in our bodies.  Our brain interprets and feels those emotions.   But our bodies are the container of our feelings. 

So next time you feel a funny feeling in your tummy, ask yourself, what that is.  Ask yourself if it’s sadness, nervousness or maybe even anger.  When you’re angry, begin to be aware of where you feel it in your body.  Ask yourself how strong it is.  And then begin to think about what just happened to cause this feeling.  Begin to be aware of the connection between your body and your mind.  Nourish this connection.  The understanding of the mind body connection is one of the first steps in sorting out your feelings.  It will put you in good stead for beginning to understand yourself and creating changes in your life.