Step 2 in “rewiring the brain” is said to be Prayer and Meditation.
In my case, I find meditation much more of a challenge than prayer.
Meditation is on the list, though.
But, while pulling all this together for yesterday’s post, I found myself wondering:
What happens to people who have been through so much tragedy that they no longer believe in God?
Where does prayer fit in then?
That sent me so far down the research rabbit hole last night that I finally gave up, exhausted, and went to bed.
BUT—today is a new day. So let’s look at all of this.
For starters, brain-imaging research suggests that regular prayer and/or meditation can affect both the function and, over time, the structure and connectivity of brain networks involved in attention, emotional regulation, self-awareness, memory, sensory processing, and behavior.
Researchers have reported changes involving areas such as the:
Cerebral cortex
Frontal cortex
Parietal cortex
Temporal cortex
Occipital cortex
Insular cortex
Cingulate cortex
Orbitofrontal cortex
Primary motor cortex
Primary somatosensory cortex
And yes, cocktails were run yesterday—and again today wherever there was resonance.
There is plenty of information online about the individual functions of all these brain areas, but for what we’re talking about here, it seems to boil down largely to:
Negative thought patterns • Emotional regulation • Attention • Memory • Decision-making • Planning • Sensory processing • Spatial awareness • Language • Vision • Hearing • Body awareness • Movement • Reward • Motivation • Self-awareness • Social judgment • Pain perception
And perhaps most importantly for today’s discussion:
What gets our attention—and what the mind repeatedly does with it.
At the very least, a little quiet time first thing in the morning may change how we meet all of this.
And it doesn’t necessarily have to begin with 10 minutes.
It can begin with simply not picking up the phone immediately.
Now let’s take a look at the top 10 Negative Thoughts That Came Up in today’s scan
“I have to worry about what could go wrong.”
“I don’t know if I can trust what is happening.”
“I have to stay alert.”
“I can’t let my guard down.”
“I have to handle this myself.”
“I want help, but I don’t trust the help.”
“I’m tired of carrying this.”
“I’m not enough.”
“If I trust, I may get hurt.”
“I have to keep going even when I’m depleted.”
That’s quite a soundtrack to be running in the background.
So – instead we’re running it for clearing in the Nei Gong.
Tomorrow we’ll see what’s still there.
The rest of the scan continues a theme we’ve been seeing:
depletion and stagnation.
But there is also a very clear pull toward:
replenishment • support • grounding • peace • forward movement
Which makes me wonder if part of “rewiring the brain” is not simply learning a new thought—
but creating enough quiet to notice the old one before it takes over.
So for tomorrow, if you aren’t already doing some prayer or meditation first thing in the morning, see if you can give yourself just one or two minutes of quiet before the world gets your attention.
No elaborate meditation required.
Maybe just don’t look at your phone.
Because I have a feeling that tomorrow…
God may be writing us a prescription.
