| If you are in good health, you're balanced. | | | | wish I could understand physics!)Brain |
| If you are sick, you've lost some balance, | | | | research shows three major parts to the human |
| temporarily I hope.Hang with me here.Picture | | | | brain: reptile, limbic, and neo-cortex. We |
| yourself swinging between Yang and Yin over a | | | | use our reptile brain whenever we feel our |
| precipice. When you stop swinging you see a | | | | survival threatened. (Explains continual |
| ledge. You stand on it, safely.Now, if | | | | warfare.) The limbic system, our midbrain or |
| you're unfamiliar with Eastern medicine, | | | | early mammalian brain, stores our emotions. |
| consider the Aristotelian Mean. Aristotle | | | | We use the neo-cortex for thinking, forward |
| advocated following a path between two | | | | planning and problem solving. All three |
| extremes. If you swing too far in either | | | | brains are interdependent and function |
| direction you are apt to get sick.Since I | | | | together. The neo-cortex houses the right and |
| have skimmed the surface of Eastern | | | | left brain. When either of these is too far |
| Philosophy, Aristotle, Stephen Hawkings' | | | | out of balance we suffer.You may know, |
| string theory, brain research, religions, | | | | slightly, an accountant or computer |
| meditation, and Western medical science, I am | | | | programmer who is so left-brained he is |
| no authority, but I can show you how they | | | | practically a hermit. Or you may know an |
| relate to good health.First, Yang refers to | | | | artist who is so right-brained he forgets to |
| the masculine, left-brained energy in | | | | pay his rent and is often in some kind of |
| everyone and Yin the right-brained, feminine | | | | trouble.I think most physicists use all three |
| energy. When these two are out of balance, | | | | brains in balance. I may be |
| things go awry. Acupuncture is the medical | | | | wrong.Experiments with meditation have shown |
| practice of releasing blocked flow of energy | | | | some amazing results. Dr. Richard Davidson of |
| to regain balance and good health. | | | | the W.M. Keck Laboratory for Functional Brain |
| Obviously, it works.String theory, I think, | | | | Imaging and Behavior studied the brain waves |
| says everything in the universe consists of | | | | of some Tibetan Buddhist monks, including the |
| strings of energy. Nothing is solid. (Phew, | | | | Dalai Lama. |