Unity of Walnut Creek
Brain Health and Compassionate Communication
Garret Reigg, J.D.
Happy Father’s Day! I found recently that I am a father figure at a fraternity I advise at Sonoma State. It was very important to a young man there. His father was absent from his life, and he had no brothers or sisters. He told me recently about his wonderful girl friend and the great job he had as a camera man with the Forty Niners. He was so excited. Over break, though, he was binge drinking and took some pills. I got a call that he was found face down on the floor outside his room, dead.
It is believed that over 50% of students engage in this dangerous behavior. We do know more people are now dying from illegal and legal use of anti-depressans and opioids than from handguns and auto accidents combined. Among white middle-class women, over 40% are using 1 or more anti-depressants. Medicine didn’t believe how dangerous these drugs are.
The answer to depression is not drugs. After researching thousands of studies, it has been determined that there are 8 ways to calm the brain. From the last to the first:
8) Smile. Mean it or not, it releases endorfins. And little things count. It has been found that if a patient about to get a bad diagnosis were to give their doctor a small bag of jelly beans before the diagnosis, the doctor is 20% more accurate!
7) Think. Chess can reverse some dimentia. Games and puzzles improve mental ability in the short run, but for the long run the mind needs big intellectual ideas and challenges, like philosophy, metaphysics, or world peace.
6) Relax. Relaxing your muscles and breathing deeply is good for the brain, as is playing relaxing music or repetitive activity like knitting or using rosary beads.
5) Yawn! It also relaxes the muscles in the neck and causes you to breathe deeply. Students who yawned 5 times before a test consistently made higher scores. 5 yawns, too, are as good as a cup of coffee.
4) Meditating. It’s a treat… – Captured Live on Ustream at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/unity-center