Dr. Martha learned the importance of taking time for self from her experiences as a child. She knows what it's like to spend too much time worrying and what it does to the body mind and spirit. In this excerpt she shares her story and one way you can relieve stress.
Martha's Rat Brain
Trauma is a strong, scary word. But honestly, my childhood experience drives my animal brain to think that if one of our appliances breaks, we’re going to go bankrupt. My go to emotion is fear and the worst possible outcome. All those years of sitting on the steps, waiting for my dad to come home safe, thinking of the absolute worst thing that could happen to most kids, a parent dying, has left its mark. I was a worried, scared, helpless, poor kid. And that’s the message that my amygdala, my animal brain, transmits throughout my body all the time. Sometimes I wonder how I would be different if I had been nurtured through that worry. How would I be different if my mother had soothed me somehow that Dad would be home, not to worry? Hugged me. But that never happened. For one thing, I snuck out of my room after she went to bed. As far as I know, she had no idea that I sat on the steps every night. She had no idea that I worried, waited for him to come up the stairs, and then could go to bed. I must have been flat out exhausted as a kid.
According to both modern medicine and Chinese medicine—my career is a combination of both—our lungs hold grief. They don’t work well if we’re holding on to grief. And we need a healthy breathing cycle in order to have a strong immune system. No wonder I had asthma. My twenty-plus years of practicing Chinese medicine has also shown me that I’ve inherited my father’s fear. DNA is energy; we inherit the energies of our parents, our grands, our great grands, on and on. We are helpless not to inherit it. Dad’s father ran off and his mother committed suicide when he was five, leaving him abandoned, alone. So, there’s that inherited part of my rat brain, even older than my sitting on the stairs, hoping he’d come home alive.
That’s my legacy; yours is hopefully different.
Breathe. One of my favorite breathing methods, the one that I suggest to my patients, is to breathe deeply from the belly up. Yes, belly up. Your belly will expand when you breathe deeply. Bring your breath up and then start the exhale from the top of your chest down to the belly. It’s circular. Bottom up… top down. It gets you into your body and out of your animal brain.
I am the founder of ArmLin House, as well as the Chief Editor and Creative Director. For over thirty-five year, I’ve worked in technology, business development, marketing, writing, and publishing jobs. In the last 5 years I’ve returned to school and have become a graphic designer and social media video editor. In general, I have A LOT of experience in A LOT of industries and I love to help people, which is one of our main missions as a company. Learn more about me on my LinkedIn page.