Yes, it’s true! I had the wonderful opportunity to speak, with Jana my partner and wife, with the Dream Factory Community, founded and lead by Nancy Cantor, committed to empowering women looking for their next steps in life — women who want to realize, fulfill and live their own authentic dreams. Nancy was extremely generous in inviting us both to talk about our books and our stories of healing from leukemia and multiple sclerosis yesterday. And part of our talk was on the fascinating world of the mind body connection- and how that played a vital integral role in both of our healing stories!

We are all aware of the big brain above our shoulders (did you know our brain has over 80 billion neurons firing up to 17.2 trillion synapses every second?!).

And some of you are aware of what is called our “second brain”, a fascinating neural center located in our gut- which includes the esophagus, the stomach, all of the small intestine, the appendix, the large intestinal tract, the colon and rectum- all 9 meters long!!!! And, amazingly, over 500 million neurons are located in this area of our body. Now, the brain in our head doesn’t need to get its hands dirty with the messy business of digestion, which is delegated to the brain in the gut. But the second brain’s complexity has evolved far beyond just digesting food and making sure things move out of you! Right up until the past couple of decades, our brain was thought to be the dictator and controller of our body. Not true anymore! According to numerous studies over the past twenty years, the gut sends about 400 more messages to the brain, than the brain does to the gut. Research shows that your gut plays a key part in your instinct and intuition. And, almost 95% of your body’s serotonin is actually found in the gut. Serotonin is often referred to as a happy hormone and is known to contribute to feelings of well-being.

And, finally your “third brain”- which very few people are aware of. And, I had forgotten this fact until my sister, Karn, reminded me of it today! If you’ve ever listened to your heart, you’re probably not surprised that your heart is a brain. Your heart is sending emotional signals to your brain, constantly! As one of your most important organs, your heart has a brain, too. Your heart houses more than 39 million neurons. It’s generating the largest electromagnetic field in the body. The heart sends as many messages to the head brain as it receives. Researchers in the field of energy cardiology have discovered that your heart creates thinking hormones similar to the type created in the head brain. And, synapses are firing away all the time from the heart in communicating with our brain above the shoulders as well as with our gut brain down below!

We are literally swimming in a deep, diverse, complex massive inner world of vital communicating synaptical languaging and communications throughout our body’s nervous systems, gut microbiome, our heart and our brain.

Literally trillions and trillions of synapses are not just firing above our shoulders but are coursing throughout our entire body, with one commitment. To connect and be healthy! By talking, questioning, responding, shifting, transforming, evolving and moving second by second, moment by moment to insure all aspects of our bodies and brains are healthy! And our bodies most important organs are communicating as much if not more than that big skull above the shoulders.

Jana and I tapped into this fascinating relationship, and discovered practices and habits and supplements that can foster those relationships between these “three brains” (ie. meditation, visualization, yoga, exercise, reaching out and building communities to help and support us, adopting a plant based diet, alternative medicine practices ( reiki, acupuncture and energy healers), blue green algae, probiotics, chanting, deep breathing, saunas and epsom salt baths!

It’s possible we could take on this wonderfully diverse and mysterious synaptical energy coursing through our bodies and brains like a metaphor, in our outer lives and our outer world- in our relationships with friends, families, organizations, countries, governments, as well as our natural environment called planet Earth. What if we could take on connecting, asking questions, being inquiring, wanting to know, humbling ourselves not just to our inner complexity but also to the complex mysteries of everyone else as well as our planet! What a joy it is to know we are walking, talking, moving complex mysterious beings ourselves! 

And, maybe we could honor the exterior world and all the peoples on this planet as well as our gut and heart do with our brain!

Be well, be your own best friend, and be kind, especially to yourself!

Lots of Love Dan

danieljunkins.com