Episode Transcript
[00:00:11] What's worthwhile considering what we consume, believe, say and do towards peace of mind, vitality of body, and joy of spirit? I'm Ramsey Zimmerman. Here's some more healthy living, motivation and discussion.
[00:00:31] Hey there, it's Ramsey here. How much can six weeks really change a group of people? I'm not even talking about six weeks climbing Mount Everest together. Just six ordinary Friday evenings in a church basement. I recently had the opportunity to facilitate a six week Amen Whole four Foundations course. And while I expected us to learn some useful things about health and faith and I walked away realizing that something a lot more important had been quietly happening the whole time.
[00:01:05] Amen. Whole4 is a holistic health program developed by Dr. Daniel Amen, a psychiatrist who has spent decades studying brain health. The basic idea is that we cannot really separate the four holistic aspects of our spirit, our brain and body, our mind and our relationships. They all influence one another. The course spends six weeks introducing a variety of ways to strengthen each of those four areas while helping participants build habits that can last a lifetime. The program is currently in the pilot phase and we are one of many groups across the country and around the world that are test driving the curriculum and giving feedback based on our experiences.
[00:01:49] There were six of us in the group. Some of us were already good friends, others were friends of friends or yet acquaintances.
[00:01:56] We got together once per week for about two hours each evening. We watched a teaching video together, stopped from time to time to discuss what we were learning, prayed together, and challenged one another to take small steps forward during the coming week. I think we all hoped and expected to learn something, but as a bonus, we all got to know each other better. One of the first things that struck me about the course was how much emphasis Dr. Amen places on the brain itself.
[00:02:24] He repeated often that it is not just mental health, it is brain health. That captured my attention because I've spent years talking on the podcast with you about building peace of mind, vitality of body, and joy of spirit.
[00:02:39] Brain health became a fascinating bridge between those things.
[00:02:43] After all, the brain is some amazing physical tissue. It helps regulate the body, it gives rise to our thoughts, it influences our emotions, and it is one of the primary instruments through which we connect with other people. It's like the hardware that sits right at the intersection of so much of what makes us who we are.
[00:03:03] Dr. Amen also has a memorable acronym that he calls Bright Minds. Each letter represents one of the major factors that influence brain health over a lifetime, including things like blood flow, inflammation, genetics, head trauma, toxins Mental health, immunity, hormones, blood sugar and sleep. It's his way of reminding us that our brains are not fixed. They are affected by the choices we make every single day.
[00:03:33] One week focused heavily on nutrition. I got all excited once we started talking about food digestion, inflammation and brain health. I probably paused the video a dozen times to add commentary from my own experiences with nutritional therapy. Thankfully, the group was patient with me. Another thing that surprised me was how much emphasis Dr. Amen places on positivity now. I've always believed that gratitude, hope and encouragement are good for us spiritually and that they are necessary for healing.
[00:04:06] I have always believed they improve our attitude and probably our mental health.
[00:04:11] But Dr. Amen goes a step further.
[00:04:14] He argues that intentionally cultivating positive thoughts is actually good for the physical health of the brain itself.
[00:04:21] One of us in the group wondered aloud whether emphasizing positivity that much risks denying reality.
[00:04:28] After all, life is hard sometimes. We all have setbacks, disappointments and losses.
[00:04:35] Dr. Amen's response is not to pretend those things never happened. Instead, he encourages people to ask, what can I learn from this? His phrase is, you either win or you learn. I really like that. It reminds me of one of my own favorite sayings, you only fail if you stop trying.
[00:04:55] I still think my friend raised an important point. We do not want optimism to become denial. But a conscious emphasis on the good is better than the alternative. I was our group facilitator. I found that there is a temptation when I'm leading a discussion to ask everyone else the questions and then quietly move on to the next topic without sharing myself. Sometimes I can almost hide behind the role of facilitator. But I guess I pulled that too much because the group started asking me the questions. They drew me out. The very thing I had been doing for everyone else, they quietly did for me. It was cool and sweet that they cared for me in that way. So, having just completed the Amen Whole 4 Holistic Health 6 Week Foundational Course, here's my take on it. The curriculum was great. It packed a lot into six weeks and did a nice job of weaving the content together, taking time each week to focus in on specific topics while never losing sight of how it all interconnected. Dr. Amen did a nice job in the videos of sharing with us his cute acronyms and his interesting stories. At one point he said that he'd been on Dr. Phil's show like 30 times or something. That man definitely has a lot of fun stories. But we got even more value from spending the time with each other. Week after week, we took the time to check in with each other, ask about where we'd won and where we learned each week, and we encouraged each other to keep going.
[00:06:25] It's one thing to learn and try to do something new and challenging by yourself. It's something else entirely to take on the same challenges in a group of people who are equally committed to accomplishing those things and doing it together.
[00:06:40] Now we're headed into the second part of the journey, which is 12 weeks, to really focus in on the details and dig deeper into ways to improve brain health.
[00:06:49] I'll let you know later on how that turns out too.
[00:06:53] And for today, that is enough.
[00:06:57] Ready for more? Visit whatsworthwhile.net to listen to podcast episodes. Master your response to stress by reading my book, Stress Response, available through Amazon, or to get better before burnout sets in by requesting the free guide. Regardless of where you are in your journey, I'd love to hear from you and talk about how we might might move forward together. Please contact me, Ramsey Zimmerman through the website or on social media like Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn or X. Thanks.
