Understanding Fear, Survival, and Pain: A Compassionate Look at the Brain
The human brain is wired first and foremost for survival. Long before logic, reasoning, or language come online, the brain develops systems whose only job is to keep us safe. At the center of this is the limbic system—the part of the brain responsible for fear, emotional memory, and pain perception. Whether the threat is physical, emotional, or psychological, this system is constantly asking one simple question: Am I safe right now?
This response is automatic and deeply ingrained. It is not a weakness or a flaw. It is a primal intelligence that has protected you your entire life.
When we experience anxiety as adults—panic about making a mistake, fear of consequences, or a sense that something bad is about to happen—it often feels confusing or irrational. But these reactions rarely begin in adulthood. They usually trace back to childhood, when the nervous system was still forming.
If a child grows up in an environment that feels unpredictable, critical, or emotionally unsafe, the developing brain learns quickly that mistakes lead to pain. Maybe caregivers were reactive or unkind. Maybe love felt conditional. The limbic system took notes. It adapted. It learned to stay alert, careful, and hyper-aware—because that was how survival was ensured.
The important thing to understand is this: the limbic brain does not know time. It does not know “then” versus “now.” It only knows pattern and protection. So when you feel fear today, it is not because you are broken. It is because a younger version of your nervous system learned how to keep you alive.
Rather than judging this response, we can honor it.
Healing begins when the frontal cortex—the part of the brain responsible for rational thinking, awareness, and conscious choice—steps in. This region, which doesn’t fully mature until our mid-twenties, is the adult voice of the brain. Its role is not to overpower fear, but to gently guide the limbic system back into reality.
A simple and effective way to do this—especially in moments of emotional or physical pain—is through conscious breathing and reassurance:
First, breathe slowly into the heart. As you exhale, bring awareness to the brain and silently say: I am open to receiving what is needed.
On the second breath, inhale into the heart again. As you exhale, say: I let go of what I cannot control. Allow the body to sigh. Let tension soften.
On the third breath, inhale once more. As you exhale, look around the room you are in and remind yourself: In this moment, I am safe.
Even if life feels overwhelming—even with debt, illness, or uncertainty—right now, in this exact moment, you are safe. The nervous system responds to truth when it is offered calmly and repeatedly.
This same survival response shows up clearly with physical pain. Pain signals urgency, and the limbic system immediately seeks relief. In that reactive state, many people begin searching everywhere for answers—doctors, therapists, bodyworkers, trainers, friends—often all at once. Each perspective may be valid, yet each comes from a different training and framework. Too much input can overwhelm the nervous system and slow healing.
The body heals best with clarity and consistency.
A compassionate approach is to choose one therapeutic path at a time and give it space—three to five weeks—to see how your body responds. Notice whether pain decreases, movement improves, or ease returns. If progress occurs, continue. If not, adjust thoughtfully.
More is not better. Stretching excessively, stacking multiple therapies, or chasing constant relief can create inflammation and confusion in the nervous system. Healing is not about force. It is about listening.
As adults, we now have choice. We can pause instead of react. We can breathe instead of panic. We can ask ourselves: Is this fear true right now? Am I actually unsafe in this moment?
Most often, the answer is no.
What is true is the present moment—the chair supporting you, the breath moving through you, the safety of now. When we meet our fear with compassion and guide our nervous system with awareness, we move out of survival and into healing. Not by fighting the body, but by finally listening to it.
When the Spiral Loosens
There’s an interesting thing about cycles: they don’t announce themselves when they’re finished. They simply stop asking for attention.
The Year of the Snake, carrying the weight of a nine-year arc, has been like that. Quiet. Observant. Patient. Less concerned with forward motion than with discernment. In Taoist language, it’s a season of return—where what no longer fits falls away on its own.
The Snake doesn’t hurry this process.
It doesn’t dramatize it either.
It waits until the skin is already loose.
Nine has that quality. It isn’t an ending that needs effort. It’s an ending that happens because nothing else is required.
On Spirals and Staying Too Long
Spirals are fascinating. They give the impression of progress while keeping us close to familiar ground. Healing spirals especially—always revealing something just beneath the surface, always offering one more layer to explore.
And they’re useful.
Until they aren’t.
Taoist thought doesn’t reject the spiral, but it also doesn’t worship it. A spiral is meant to return us to center, not keep us orbiting ourselves indefinitely.
At some point, inquiry finishes its job.
Not because everything is resolved—but because alignment has been reached.
And when that happens, staying in the spiral starts to feel unnecessary. Almost… inefficient.
The Shift from Nine to One
The transition from nine to one is subtle at first, then unmistakable. Reflection gives way to direction. Completion quietly hands the baton to initiation.
The Fire Horse brings a different tone altogether. Less concerned with understanding, more interested in motion. It doesn’t argue with timing. It moves when the gate is open.
From a Taoist perspective, this isn’t urgency.
It’s responsiveness.
A one-year doesn’t ask for more contemplation. It asks what happens now that contemplation has run its course.
A Different Kind of Accounting
Instead of resolutions, the moment seems to invite something simpler—almost casual:
What’s worth carrying forward?
What’s clearly finished?
What wants to begin without explanation?
KEEP
What’s stable. What’s integrated. What no longer requires attention to function.
STOP
What has already taught its lesson. What repeats without adding clarity. What delays movement under the guise of depth.
START
Whatever generates momentum. Whatever feels oddly obvious. Whatever doesn’t need to be justified to move forward.
No pressure. No declarations. Just noticing what’s already in motion.
Letting Direction Be Enough
The Tao doesn’t demand certainty before action. It assumes timing reveals itself through ease.
The spiral doesn’t disappear—it simply loosens its grip. And in that loosening, something else becomes available: direction without commentary.
Not because the work wasn’t meaningful.
But because it worked.
The season for shedding passes.
The season for movement arrives.
And nothing needs to be fixed before stepping into it.
7 Incredible Things Intermittent Fasting Does for your BRAIN
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Intermittent fasting has become one of the most popular strategies for losing weight, and it’s touted as having many physical health benefits. But what does it do to your brain? Let’s take a deep dive into the research to find out what “time-restricted eating” really does to your brain.
7 Incredible Things Intermittent Fasting Does for Your Brain
1. Triggers autophagy
Intermittent fasting turns on an important process called autophagy, in which your brain “takes out the trash” that builds up during the day. This self-cleaning process helps detoxify the brain, clear out old and damaged cells, and sweep away debris. This nightly housekeeping promotes the regeneration of newer, healthier cells. A wealth of research has shown that problems with autophagy have been linked to Alzheimer’s disease, depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and other neuropsychiatric disorders.
2. Improves memory
Restricting the hours when you eat has been shown to significantly improve memory, according to a study in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. In this study, after 4 weeks of intermittent fasting, performance on a spatial planning and working memory task and on a working memory capacity test increased significantly. Additional research on animals has found that intermittent fasting improves learning and memory.
3. Brightens mood
Research in the Journal of Nutrition Health & Aging found that after 3 months of intermittent fasting, study participants reported improved moods and decreased tension, anger, and confusion. Another study from 2018 that was investigating weight-loss strategies found that intermittent fasting was associated with significant improvements in emotional well-being and depression.
4. Reduces inflammation
Chronic inflammation has been linked to many brain disorders, including depression, bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s disease, and more. According to a study in Nutrition Research, intermittent fasting decreases inflammation, which can have potent benefits for your brain health and mental well-being.
5. Fights high blood sugar
Research in the British Journal of Nutrition shows that intermittent fasting produces greater improvements in insulin sensitivity, which helps you prevent high blood-sugar levels and type 2 diabetes. The journal Neurology has published findings showing that high blood sugar is associated with a smaller hippocampus, the seahorse-shaped structure in your temporal lobes associated with mood, learning, and memory. Other studies show that anxiety and depression are 2-3 times higher in patients with type 2 diabetes than the general population.
6. Lowers blood pressure at night
Intermittent fasting helps reduce blood pressure while you snooze, which is beneficial for heart health, and anything that’s good for your heart is also good for your brain. Having hypertension or pre-hypertension lowers blood flow to the brain. Low blood flow on brain SPECT imaging scans has been seen with depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, ADD/ADHD, traumatic brain injury, substance abuse, suicidal thoughts, and more. In addition, low blood flow is the #1 brain imaging predictor that a person will develop Alzheimer’s disease.
7. Burns excess fat
Intermittent fasting helps to burn more fat, which is good for brain health. Excess fat on your body is not your friend. A growing body of research, including studies in Archives of General Psychiatry and Psychosomatic Medicine, has found that obesity is detrimental to brain health and is associated with a greater risk of depression, bipolar disorder, panic disorder, agoraphobia (fear of going out), and addictions.
With so much research pointing to important brain health benefits, you may want to incorporate intermittent fasting into your lifestyle. What’s the best way to do it? One of the most common methods is to do a nightly fast for 12-16 hours. The easiest way to do it is to begin fasting several hours before bedtime. For example, if you eat dinner at 6 p.m., don’t eat again until 6–10 a.m. the next day.
written by AMEN CLINIC
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