Patheos

BuddhistCatholicContemplativeEvangelicalGeneral ChristianHinduJewishLatter-day SaintMuslimNew VisionsProgressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Patheos

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos Patheos on Facebook Patheos on YouTube

Living Tao with Ilchi Lee

Sensitize Your Brain for Better Health, Less Stress, and More Energy

Last updated on: December 20, 2016 at 10:28 pm   by Ilchi Lee

Sensitize Your Brain for Better Health, Less Stress, and More Energy 2016-12-20T22:28:12+00:00 Ilchi Lee

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Brain Education Step 1 - Brain Sensitizing

[Image Credit: iStock]

Like so many other practices, the early teachings of Brain Education form the foundation of what is to come. Step 1 of Brain Education, called Sensitizing, is about the fundamentals—better health, less stress, and more energy. And, it is about discovering the value and potential of your brain. Without these things, the next steps are practically useless. While some other practices de-emphasize the body, this is not the case in Brain Education. In fact, you learn to understand and appreciate your body, and especially your brain, in ways that you probably have not in the past.

Appreciating Your Amazing Brain

One fundamental tenant of Brain Education is belief in the power of the human brain. Your brain is amazing, and it is important for you to know that. Sadly, some people do not have that basic belief. They do not believe that they are smart enough or talented enough to create the life that they really want, so they hold themselves back. That’s why in Brain Education we begin with basic understanding of how the brain works.

This includes some very basic discussion of the parts of the brain, just enough so that one may appreciate their functions and visualize them during meditative visualization of the brain. For example, when sending energy to the brain, it can be helpful to know that the brain stem plays an important role in regulating our stress responses or that the prefrontal cortex in the center of our decision-making processes.

Neuroplasticity is another important neurological concept referenced in Step 1 of Brain Education. The term refers to the brain’s ability to continually rewire and rearrange its neurons. This feature is what allows us the ability to learn and grow throughout life. If we use neuroplasticity to its fullest extent, we can change our physical habits, such as smoking or overeating, as well as our mental and emotional patterns, which is dealt with more directly in Brain Education Step 2.

Finally, we focus on opening all the senses of the body. These five senses—sight, smell, touch, hearing, and taste—are how our brains interact with the world, so they are very important for forming our perceptions. Most people, however, do not use all of them fully, instead relying more on just sight and sometimes sounds. By opening to all the senses, you open yourself to a broader understanding of the world.

All of this leads toward an important goal of Brain Education for every practitioner—developing a Power Brain, a brain that is healthy, happy, peaceful, and productive.

Energy Studies 101

Although we conventionally refer to five senses, people sometimes refer to a “sixth sense,” an ability to sense something beyond what is perceived by the usual senses. Some people think this is a myth, something that is fun to watch in movies, but that is not real. Personally, I believe in this sixth sense, and I do not believe that it is something that only special people can use. Rather, I believe that the “sixth sense” is simply our natural ability to sense energy. A Power Brain person uses all the potential of the brain, so it is important to recover this forgotten sense.

In the first step of Brain Education, we introduce people to their own ability to sense the presence of energy. We start with something called Jigam, which is a simple meditative exercise focused on feeling energy on the surface of the palms. No special talent is needed to succeed at this; most people feel energy on the first try, and everyone feels it after a little practice.

Then, we provide people with a basic understanding of the energetic anatomy of the human body, as Asian medical practitioners have understood it for thousands of years. They learn about the meridians of the body, which are energy pathways that carry energy to the various organs of the body. Brain Education Step 1 includes many meridian exercises that are designed to keep energy flowing on these pathways. Practitioners also learn about important energy points on the body, places where energy blockages can be released by pressing or tapping.

In Brain Education Step 1, practitioners focus on awakening the body’s senses in a full spectrum, which helps to create a stronger body, better health, and a more stable mind.

Bringing the Fire Down to Have a Cool Head

Brain Education Step 1 has one very practical benefit to those who practice it—stress relief. Numerous studies have linked stress to all sorts of diseases—heart disease, obesity, high blood pressure, auto-immune diseases, asthma, and many more. Even if no disease has yet developed, people still feel discomfort from stress—knots and tension in the muscles, poor digestion, stiff joints, and frequent headaches. Practitioners often see rapid improvement in these conditions during Brain Education Step 1, basically because their bodies are finally placed in proper energy balance and circulation, what we call the “water up, fire down” state. With this optimal energy balance, you develop a cool head and a warm abdomen.

People are often off-kilter these days because of too much mental activity and too little physical activity. That means that energy circulation is upside down—fire up and water down. In other words, hot fire energy is pooling in the head, while the lower body remains cold and inactive. If you have experienced a busy, stressed-out mind and a tense, under-exercised body, you have felt this condition. As Step 1 practitioners open the energy system and learn to bring energy into the lower body, they also experience great relief from stress-related conditions, which are so common in today’s world.

Move Your Body, Use All Your Senses

Of course, all I can do here is tell you about the practices in words. But they won’t be of any practical value to you until you start doing something. Naturally, I would love to have you join us by taking a class at a center or online. Or, you could follow the Brain Education exercises in my book, The Power Brain: Five Steps to Upgrading Your Brain Operating System. But there is one simple thing you can do right now—believe in your brain and start moving your body. That, in essence, is what Brain Education Step 1 is all about. So, get out there, move your body, and use all your senses to take in the world. Breathe deeply, and start to imagine the best version of you, the person you can become . . . if you only set your brain to it.

Uncategorized

Previous Post



December 7, 2016

5 Steps to a Focused, Creative, and Benevolent Brain

Next Post



January 3, 2017 3 Brain Sensitizing Exercises that Help Your Body Relax and Return to Balance


Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016


Follow Us!

Follow Us on Facebook Follow Us on Twitter



TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who anointed Jesus with expensive perfume?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Peter Martha Salome Mary

Related posts from Living Tao with Ilchi Lee

New Visions

Practicing Gratitude—And Why You Should

Living Tao with Ilchi Lee

New Visions

Healthy Sexuality and Spirituality: How These Energies Come...

Living Tao with Ilchi Lee

New Visions

Caring for Your Chakras and What You Can...

Living Tao with Ilchi Lee

New Visions

Laying the Groundwork for Longevity

Living Tao with Ilchi Lee

TRENDING AT PATHEOS New Visions

Did Prayer Cure His Cancer? Or Was It...

At 4 AM one morning, Joshua W. Brown’s wife awoke to a...

8 Ways a Near-Death Experience Rewires the Soul

Does Consciousness Survive Physical Death? After 50 Years of Research, Dr. Raymond...

Holy Longing: What Our Restlessness Is Telling Us

“One can find so many pains when the rain is falling.” -John...

The Making of a Dumbass

  What this is NOT about.  This blog is definitely not about...

Who Told You That?

Who said the Israelites were God’s chosen? That’s right, they did. Who...

The Spirit World Is the Real World: God...

A Monk’s Wisdom on Body and Spirit I sit with Brother Martin...

view all New Visions blogs

Patheos on Facebook Patheos on YouTube

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Copyright 2008-2026, Patheos. All rights reserved.

Subscription Support Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In

Follow Patheos Patheos on Facebook Patheos on YouTube