Are You Aware of the Impact of Brain Injuries?

March is Brain Injury Awareness  Month!      A brain injury can happen...

Did you know that 1.7 million people will sustain a  brain injury each year?   About 75% of TBI's that occur each year are concussions or other forms of mild traumatic brain injury. 52,000 people will die. 275,000 will be hospitalized. 1.365 million people will be treated and released from an emergency department. An injury that happens in an instant can bring a lifetime of physical, cognitive and behavior challenges and early, equal and adequate access to care will greatly increase overall quality of life.  We encourage all of our readers to take action and spread the word about brain health.  Here are a few things you can do:

Get  involved!  You can see the full list of ways you can become involved here.  Speak  out! Since many people with brain injuries rely on publicly funded services to fully participate  in  their  communities, policy makers need to know you are concerned about   continuing those services in the face of budget cuts. Here is a CDC website link with more tips on how you can give brain injury a VOICE and IMPORTANT INFORMATION all about brain injuries. Contact your legislator today and let them know you expect them to enact public policy to assist people with brain injury.      Speak  up! Talk to your employer or the businesses you frequent about their practices for   recruiting and hiring people with brain injury.  Many employers just don't realize how much an employee with brain injury can contribute to the workplace. The Bureau of Labor Statistics released a report for the end of 2010 showing the unemployment rate for people with disabilities is at 14.3 percent, compared with 8.9 percent  for the general population.      Spread the word!  Learn about issues important to the brain injury community then tell the world what you found out. Post your positive thoughts about the brain injury movement on   your Facebook page or Twitter account.  Follow BIAA on Facebook and Twitter and express yourself.  Or send a letter to the editor of your local newspaper  explaining to your community why they should care about brain injuries.       Join us during March to help raise awareness! Find out more about brain injuries and what you can do at www.biausa.org today.  We, at Edge NeuroFitness are helping people with brain injuries as well. The brain has billions of neural pathways of communication and with EEG Biofeedback we allow the brain to see itself in action to help regulate and stabilize these functions just by watching a feedback screen. Here's a video so you can actually see for yourself What Is Neurofeedback ? - EEG INFO Videos And if that's not enough, click here for the latest research! If you or a loved one has had a brain injury, even long ago, and would like more information on how we may be able to help you, please give me a call at 928-486-5414 to make an appointment to for a free consultation!  And don't forget that we work with U.S. military veterans on a pro bono basis as our way of saying "thank you" for your service to our country! Find out more Find out how we can help you feel better, think better, work, perform, or sleep better... TODAY!

Think healthy, eat healthy, and stay well! Many Blessings,       Becky Bassham www.EdgeNeuroFitness.com

Is This You?

Is this YOU?                            THIS COULD BE YOU!               Looking for some peace of mind for the holidays? Looking for that perfect gift for your family or special someone? Did you know that wearing a high tech pair of LED light emitting glasses can navigate your brain toward focus, clarity, relaxation, stability and even a good night of sleep? Well guess what? Chuck Davis, inventor and scientist extraordinaire has come up with a HOLIDAY SPECIAL on his p.ROSHI glasses.... Never before has he offered this device at a discounted price, but for a limited time he's given me the green light to sell them at an unheard-of price I dare not even publish! This is an awesome opportunity to invest in your brain health! Want to give it a test drive or just chill out for a time? Call to schedule a session! The Dis-Entrainment through Photostimulation. Don't be fooled by "imposter" entrainment glasses...this is the real deal! By sending specially calibrated flickering light through the eyes and into the brain,  ROSHI In-Sight Glasses help "DisEntrain" the mind...        freeing it from unhealthy cyclical patterns. The brain attains a meditative "normalized" state in which it becomes totally at rest...  yet attentive at the same time-similar to the brain of a Zen Master! This helps put you "In the Zone"-whether you are an Athlete, Businessperson, Doctor, Student, Bricklayer or simply a human being trying to cope with the pains and stresses of life,  or those who stress us, LOL! Roshi training may allow a person to improve the brain's ability to self-regulate. Research indicates this training rebalances the brain by breaking unhealthy patterns of brain wave activity and by helping the brain to establish a healthy rhythm. Once free of unhealthy patterns, the brain is able to rebalance itself and an individual may experience many improvements in their lives including: Better sleep Increased concentration and focus Decreased impulsivity Decreased mental chatter Decreased moodiness or anger Improved memory, reduced anxiety Increased overall feeling of well-being! This is like a GPS for the brain, folks, and can be used by the whole family, shared with friends, and even help our pets!         Call or reply today for special limited-time only holiday pricing... just ask for the "BRAIN SPA" package! Think healthy, eat healthy, and stay well!

Foods vs. moods

As promised, here is the first in a series on how foods affect our moods... What do foods have to do with our moods?  Plenty! At the chemical level, food is the brain's primary link to its environment and structure. Your diet affects the brain chemicals that influence your moods, thought processes, emotional reactions, and behavior...which ultimately creates the story of your life! Sounds kinda deep, but really, how many times have I mentioned that it all starts in your brain? Well it stands to reason this behooves us to consider "What are we feeding the brain?" Fortunately, what you eat is within your power to control...your will power to control. The more you know about the food-brain connection, the more empowered you are to choose foods thatbenefit your brain. Nutrients provide the biological building blocks for brain chemicals called neurotransmitters which affect how we think and feel. Neurotransmitters are chemicals made by the body (or not) that send signals from one nerve cell to another. It's like when you communicate on a cell phone. "Can you hear me now?" Without signal, you don't hear the voice or get the message. The same goes for your brain! You get the message or you don't... Or maybe there is static on the radar, uh oh... How are neurotransmitters made by the body? Our bodies make them from amino acids, which are the building blocks of protein.  Almost half of these proteins (9 out of 22 in adults, 13 of 22 in children) must come from food because the body cannot make them and the amount required depends on age and health.  Do you want to feel good?  Do you want your brain to hear its signals? What kinds of signals? All of them! It all begins in your brain...signals for pleasure and happiness, touch, feeling and movement, memory, learning, arousal, calming, hunger, sleep, even autonomic nervous system functions like breathing, eye-blinking, heartbeat, temperature...everything! When you don't eat enough "neuronutrients" or brain nutrients (vitamins, minerals, and related nutrients), your body cannot make adequate amounts of mood-enhancing neurotransmitters. Can you hear me now? Has anyone ever called you a "FATHEAD"? Find out in my next post why this is actually a COMPLIMENT, LOL:) Think healthy, eat healthy, and stay well!

Feel better now

We've been looking at the effects of thinking on our feelings and health. Check out this recent article on how positive feelings affect cardiovascular health as well. Imagery and positive thinking are great, then again, I don't know about you, but sometimes I just need to feel better now!!!  The first step is to become aware of your feelings. A psychologist colleague of mine, Dr. Frank Tornatore, suggested doing frequent "check-ins" to scan your body and emotions. If any negativity or stress is found, then stop for a moment to intervene (with therelaxation response, progressive relaxation, or deep breathing exercise) or re-evaluate thoughts as necessary, then turn it around before the feeling goes further... like so you are not a ticking time bomb of stress!  Then check out and carry on in a better path. "Check in and check out," he says... frequently.  So HOW do you stop and turn around adverse feelings, thoughts, emotions, etc.?  Well here's something cool. Recently, someone gave me an audiobook by Kevin Trudeau called, "Your Wish is Your Command" in which he states we all have a genie within us to get what we want by sending out good vibrations, among other things. Really? It's controversial! There was some valuable information in this work, but personally, I lean toward prayer and goal-setting and accountability... every day!  However, I did like chapter 8 when Kevin talked about a list of 20 ways to FEEL BETTER NOW. He had some great practical tips on how to improve your mood and feelings, so you will begin to feel better, even quickly. It inspired me to start a little garden and even to play Mozart on the piano for the first time in almost 20 years. Bet you didn't know I could do that, eh? I was a closet pianist in my younger days, LOL :)  So here's the list...I'm going to share it with you today before our next series on how FOODS affect your moods. Let me know which ideas are your favorites, I'd love to hear from you! Think healthy, eat healthy, and stay well! Many Blessings

It all starts in your...

It was so sad last week to hear the news of Junior Seau, former San Diego Chargers football player. Here's someone who could have benefited from some positive imagery and brain training as we have been exploring.  Did you know that he is one of three former NFL players who committed suicide since February, 2011?  It all starts in the brain...  Experts connect depression to traumatic brain injury and concussions. The latest report is Seau's family is donating his brain to be studied by scientists. Well how many people have had concussions?  That would be ME after years of flying head first off horses and motorcycles! Trust me, it is no "accident" I "landed" on this career path... Stuff like this makes you THINK! Think about what you are thinking about and know there is help for people whose brains are stuck in patterns that don't work! It's about a decrease in brain activity, which has been demonstrated on fMRI. Remember my background is in medical imaging, hence, I think about these things. Now, instead of scanning body parts and giving bad news, I show you how to tune up brain activity...so you can think better and feel better! The point is that thoughts lead you in a direction...positive or negative...mental and physical. And it all starts in different parts of your brain, running at different frequencies and just like with muscles, we can train it to be stronger. Through neurofeedback or "EEG Biofeedback" we show you where your brain is at (like looking in a mirror) and where it needs to go to do better. It's really that simple, and without the side effects of medication. How many people do you know who take meds and STILL don't feel better?  For a free consult just give me a call at 928-486-5414 or check in with my affiliates serving Az. in Lake Havasu City by clicking here.  There is hope, folks...through training, lifestyle change, supplementation, and proper nutrition, there is hope and here is some research to prove it! Stay tuned... next we will take a look at how FOOD affects your moods... Think healthy, eat healthy, and stay well!

think better

No Worries!

We have been working on positive thoughts and imagery to relieve anxiety, stress, and prepare for upcoming events. It's no secret that thoughts lead to feelings which lead to actions. Thoughts and imagery can even bring forth physical manifestations. Check out this reply that came in from my friend Jack Miller, a Certified Traditional Naturopath. http://www.naturalhealthsciencesofarizona.com/     "Very good info Becky. The opposite is true also. A non-recovering chronically ill person came to see me who perpetually lives in unhappy places. It doesn't even seem that the things this person and some others have gone through are horribly bad but they can recount those bad events in detail, which they do frequently. They live in a place of bad mental imagery and feel sorry for themselves that they had to go through something bad. Bad things are a part of life. I had some pretty rough things happen to me in my life. I won't get into that but the point is that I moved on and choose to focus on good things and a positive future. A few of these patients work on themselves constantly with emotional release therapies but they have been doing so for years and to me it becomes just an excuse to recall bad events over and over. There seems to be a need to do so. I need to learn more about what you do because I may want to send you some people. Do you ever do these sessions in LHC?" Above is an example of someone who ruminates on negative outcomes to the point of physical disease. PTSD is an example of flashing back to traumatic events. Once again, this has its roots in the brain. One of the first things I do with my clients through EEG Biofeedback AKA  neurofeedback is to help them calm down mentally...this offers tremendous relief from stress, anxiety, insomnia and eventually leads to improved focus and attention. Did you know you can train your brain to calm, reduce perception of pain, sleep better, and focus? Really! That's good news! Like Jack, do you want to learn more? Here's some good news... I'm offering a FREE consultation! That's right, you can call, schedule an appointment or even Skype and we can determine how neurofeedback can help you or a loved one. There's also a bushel of information on my websitewww.edgeneurofitness.com so you can get answers now. Need a consult in Arizona? I'm there from time to time, but just send me a reply and I will forward you to my affiliate in Lake Havasu City. http://www.affordablecounselingsolutions.com/braintraining Think healthy, eat healthy, and stay well!

Imagine Success!

In the last email, my colleague Dr. Hillel Mazansky, M.D. offered us a road map to find our "Happy Place" to relieve stress and anxiety.  Have you ever stressed out over an upcoming event or performance?  Well the good news is you can use imagery in preparation and rehearsal! Did you know that athletes use imagery?  It's all about getting into "The Zone"... Allowing yourself to run through the event SUCCESSFULLY       in your mind... Now here are more pearls of wisdom from Dr. Mazansky, our guided imagery expert: Aside from allowing you to rehearse mentally, imagery also allows you to practice in advance for anything unusual that might occur, so that you areprepared and already practiced in handling it. This is a technique used very commonly by top sports people, who learn good performance habits by repeatedly rehearsing performances in their imagination. When the unusual eventualities they have rehearsed using imagery occur, they have good, pre-prepared, habitual responses to them. Imagery also allows you to pre-experience achievement of your goals, helping to give you the self-confidence you need to do something well. This is another technique used by successful athletes. Wow! Now that's the competitive EDGE! When I was studying Exercise Physiology at CSUF years ago, we covered this in Sports Psychology. Because the game starts in your MIND! There is a mind-body connection. It all starts in your brain...that's the point of mental or NeuroFitness training to "Unlock Your Brain's Potential" and I'm here to share with YOU all the tools I have learned! In my next post, I'll share with you a response that came in from another colleague about what can happen to you physically with continued rehearsal of negative thoughts and imagery... For more information on Dr. Mazansky and his work, you can check out his website http://www.gianinc.com