The Power of Neurofeedback

For focus, sleep, mood, and more

What if I told you there was a therapy that could improve your sleep, your mood, your focus, and more - permanently?

"Too good to be true?"

How about, "Yea, right?"

Or maybe, "No way?"

Neurofeedback can do all this and more.

How?

What is neurofeedback? Have you ever heard that you are only using a small portion of your brain? There's a great deal of truth to this.

As we experience life, our brain is constantly gathering and assimilating information. What does it do with that information? It does its best to respond to our external world in a way that meets our needs.

This creates what we call "behavior." For example, you feel thirsty, so you go to the kitchen and pour yourself a glass of water from a large bottle of water.

Sounds boring and mundane, right?

But the truth is, this simple action is the sum of numerous complex decisions you made over the course of your life.

First, you didn't go to the tap. Second, you didn't go to the refrigerator to get a drink from a pitcher filter. Third, you didn't get your water from a countertop or under-sink filter, like a Berkey filter or an under-sink reverse osmosis filter.

Your behavior emerged from what you had read, heard, and seen about water, water filters, and more.

You used different parts of your brain to do this. Stated a different way, different parts of your brain responded to the information you were exposed to, and you made a series of decisions in response to that information that led you to buy bottled water to drink, rather than any of the other options.

Just another day of being human, right?

Yes, but your most important decisions are not things like "what kind of water should I drink?" They are things like, "how do I respond to my angry family member?" Or, "how do I respond to this angry, combative stranger?"

I was introduced to neurofeedback by Jim Laird this past summer. Jim had learned about it through a friend who had found it helpful in recovering from wounds he sustained in combat.

How does neurofeedback work? First, electrodes are attached to your skull and a QEEG is taken. Someone trained in neurofeedback then interprets the QEEG and recommends a treatment protocol.

What does the treatment protocol do? What it is supposed to do is to wake up areas of the brain that have been shut down, due to trauma, lack of stimulation, or toxic exposures. All of these things are part of daily life.

For more on trauma, I recommend the books (these are affiliate links):

When the Body Says No

and

The Body Keeps the Score

What happens when you do this?

Imagine parts of your brain coming online like the different parts of an organism, a company, or a car. You become more efficient. You sleep more soundly. You're able to focus for longer periods of time. You're able to tolerate annoyances and distractions better. You are more patient, thoughtful, and effective.

Too good to be true?

That was my experience. I've had a few patients tell me they did not have such a profound effect.

What else was I doing at the time?

I've already alluded to mineral balancing in my last post.

I feel like a broken record in recommending LifeWave patches, which I've been using continuously since this summer.

I bought a sauna from SaunaSpace and actually started to use it this past year. My guide to sauna is here:

The Quick and Simple Guide to Sauna Therapy

What made the difference?

All of them together is my answer. Which is why we now include the LifeWave patches in our executive physicals, we often refer for neurofeedback, we test hair minerals quarterly, and we recommend sauna to almost everyone.

And I can honestly say we are getting better and better results with this multi-disciplinary system.

Who do I recommend neurofeedback to?

• Do you have a history of trauma?

• Do you answer "yes" to any of these questions?

• Do you have a history of mental illness, including anxiety, depression, PTSD, or ADHD?

• Do you struggle to focus?

• Do you have difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep?

• Do you feel like you can't turn your mind off?

• Do you struggle with repetitive thoughts or obsessions?

Neurofeedback can help with all of these things and more.

I almost feel like I'm writing an advertisement for it, but honestly I saw a huge improvement in my cognitive capacity from neurofeedback. I think I can safely say that it changed my life. I know I'm not the only one.

I don't recommend neurofeedback alone. If you look at the literature, the studies on neurofeedback show "mixed" results.

I'm convinced this is due to lack of proper execution of what we call The Fundamentals of Wellness. Which is why we have a course on that, plus coaching.

Have you ever tried neurofeedback? What was your experience? If you're comfortable, let me know in the comments.

Until next time, be well,

Dr. Stillman