Moderator’s Notes by Stan Rodabaugh
Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
Romans 8:5-8 (NIV)
5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.
Philippians 4:4-9 (NIV)
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
Hebrews 12:1-3 (NIV)
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
DEFINITION
(“Neuroplasticity: The brain’s ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections throughout life. Neuroplasticity allows the neurons (nerve cells) in the brain to compensate for injury and disease and to adjust their activities in response to new situations or to changes in their environment. Brain reorganization takes place by mechanisms such as “axonal sprouting” in which undamaged axons grow new nerve endings to reconnect neurons whose links were injured or severed. Undamaged axons can also sprout nerve endings and connect with other undamaged nerve cells, forming new neural pathways to accomplish a needed function.
For example, if one hemisphere of the brain is damaged, the intact hemisphere may take over some of its functions. The brain compensates for damage in effect by reorganizing and forming new connections between intact neurons. In order to reconnect, the neurons need to be stimulated through activity.
For example, if one hemisphere of the brain is damaged, the intact hemisphere may take over some of its functions. The brain compensates for damage in effect by reorganizing and forming new connections between intact neurons. In order to reconnect, the neurons need to be stimulated through activity.
Neuroplasticity may also contribute to impairment. For example, people who are deaf may suffer from a continual ringing in their ears (tinnitus), the result of the rewiring of brain cells starved for sound. For neurons to form beneficial connections, they must be correctly stimulated. Neuroplasticity is also called brain plasticity or brain malleability.” MEDICINE.NET.COM)
(The following is quoted from the book, Pocket Guide to Interpersonal Neurobiology, Author Daniel J. Siegle. Co-Director of the UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center, and Executive Director of the Mindsight Institute. Quoted from pages 8-8 & 8-9.) “Neuroplasticity has an up side and a down side. The challenge is that negative experiences can alter brain structure in long-lasting ways that make life difficult. The positive opportunity that neuroplasticity affords is that it is never too late to use the focus of attention to alter the brain’s architecture. What we need to know is how we can optimize the brain’s integrative functioning by learning to focus our attention in integrative ways. The basics of neuroplacticity also point to several elements that support how experience –including the focus of attention—can alter neural connections in lasting ways.
“Seven—or possibly eight—aspects of our life support neuroplasticity. These include the following:
1. Aerobic exercise—when medically possible, voluntary exercise can support continued brain growth.
2. Good sleep—we consolidate our learning from the day when we get a good period of sleep with plenty of REM (rapid eye movement) states for dreaming.
3. Good nutrition—the ‘soil’ of the brain’s structures requires good food and water, including safe sources of omega-3’s, in order to function properly and allow the ‘seed’ of good attentional focus to work well.
4. Relationships—our (joyful, my addition SER) connections with others support a vibrant and plastic brain.
5. Novelty—when we get out of a rut and expose the brain to new stimuli, when we are playful and spontaneous, we keep the brain growing and young.
6. The close paying of attention—when we avoid multitasking and distractions and care about what we are focusing on, we can actually stimulate the release of chemicals locally and widely that support neuroplasticity.
7. Time-in: When we focus on our inner sensations, images, feeling, and thoughts, reflecting inwardly, we encourage the growth of regulatory, integrative neural circuits.
8. And, possibly –some preliminary studies suggest that when we laugh, we promote the healthy growth of the brain. Neuroplasticity, it seems, is in fact a laughing matter.
“In interpersonal neurobiology we seek to find direct applications of science for practical use in the world. One way of applying the basic priniciples of neuroplacticity is to suggest a “daily diet” of mental activities that promote the healthy growth of the mind, brain, and relationships. A colleague, David Rock, and I created a healthy mind platter to parallel a suggestion for a daily intake of food. Our suggestion is that people find a way to embed the activities from the platter within a regular routine. Regularity appears to be the key in habit creation and maintenance, as well as in the promotion of neuroplastic changes.”
Romans 12:1-2 (NIV)
1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Why am I lifting up the importance of focusing our minds? Reflect with me about the role focus plays in our lives. Some of us live day to day on automatic pilot. We continue to go about our day’s activities with little or no reflection or intention. The patterns Why am I lifting up the importance of focusing our minds? Reflect with me about the role focus plays in our lives. Some of us live day to day on automatic pilot. We continue to go about our day’s activities with little or no reflection or intention. The patterns we grew up with and are familiar with continue to guide us. I call this unconscious living or unintentional living. We can see from the scriptures I have shared, a lifestyle of following Jesus assumes that we accept responsibility for focusing our minds. Romans 12:1&2 urges us “to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice” and in the second verse it becomes clear that Paul is primarily referring to our mind when he states, “be transformed by the renewing of your mind”. In Romans 8:5b Paul writes “but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires”. Later in chapter 8 it becomes clear that we alone will not be able to transform ourselves. For the Spirit to have access to bring about transformation, our part is to focus our attention on what the Spirit desires. In Proverbs 3:6, Solomon says “in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight”. Our part is to acknowledge Him (focus on Him) His part is to make our paths straight. He does the transforming, the renewing of our mind. We focus on Him, trust in Him–not ourselves, not our old patterns or the pattern of this world. The Apostle Paul in Philippians 4:4 writing from prison suggests that it is possible for us to “Rejoice in the Lord always”. Apparently he is able to do this even in prison. He goes on to suggest that we can focus on the truth that “the Lord is near.” In verse 8 he encourages believers to think about (focus on) “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable,” “excellent or praiseworthy”. Finally, in Hebrews 12:2 we are instructed to “fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.” Yes, focus on Jesus! Not only is He the author of our faith, he is the perfecter. That sounds like, if we do our part, focus on Jesus, Jesus will perfect our faith, His part. It reminds me of Romans 12:2 “ 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is, his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Making our bodies living sacrifices implies that our lives are focused on God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
This certainly is not an exhaustive survey of the scriptures, but I do believe it is representative. Our part is clearly to focus our attention on the Lord Jesus and His Kingdom in all we do. Here I see a connection between the good information we are able to gain from relational neurobiology and being a faithful follower of Jesus Christ. We need to have a healthy brain to have the ability to think clearly and be alert and responsible, to be aware and engaged in focusing our attention moment by moment. In the world we live in, there are people trained and skilled in trying to control what we focus on. Mostly, they have motives of making profit or being elected to a particular office. We are literally inundated with hype and gimmicks to keep us focused on issues and subjects that have nothing to do with where our true hearts would lead us. Are we really living our own lives, or is someone else is in charge of where we place our focus? This is the primary, fundamental power or responsibility we have in this life—to focus our attention. If we don’t take charge of where our attention is focused, we are living mindlessly and we are surely just puppets for someone who is focusing their attention on manipulating us.
Daniel J. Siegel has developed an exercise to help people improve their ability to focus their attention. It is a form of meditation that exercises your brain and helps you develop more and more capacity to focus your attention. It is not difficult but it can help you become much more aware of yourself, inside and out, and can help you learn to be the one to focus your attention. How about that; you living your own life! Not everyone who learns to focus attention will make Godly choices; some people will focus their attention, but it will be on what the sinful nature desires. I am suggesting you use Daniel J. Siegel’s “Wheel of Awareness” exercise to strengthen your own ability to focus your attention, and when he leads you to focus on mental activity, you use that time to focus on Scripture; when he leads you to relationships, make sure you include Jesus, Father God and the Holy Spirit in that time and “fix your (spiritual) eyes on Jesus, beginning to dialogue with Him. Be focused on your relationship with the Lord. Yes, we can choose to develop habits that are consistent with our heart. I encourage you to give it a try.
HOW TO GET TO THE EXERCISE: Google: Everyday Mindsight Tools
You will find “Breath Awareness”, “reflective practice” and “Breath Discussion and its connection to the wheel of Awareness Practice”. At the top of the web page click on Resources, then click on “Wheel of Awareness”. You will find three guided exercises that Daniel will talk you through. After he leads you through the exercises a few times you will be able to do it on your own.
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