Part 19 – Graduation Day

It has been a life-changing 6 months.

Yesterday, June 16, 2021, I completed neurofeedback brain training and ARDR therapy. It was a small affair. You may even say it was just another day at Neurvana. Liz and I discussed adding a button at reception that Kelly and Danika can press to start the party with Kool & The Gang’s Celebration. I think this is a fantastic idea – the amount of work I did definitely warrants a dance party!

I’ve said it before, and I will say it again – if you choose to do any deep mental health work, especially neurofeedback, PRESS PAUSE on everything else in your life that can wait. You will need space in your life to do the work, and time to sit in the experience of that work. You will be glad you focused as much of your varied resources as possible on your mental wellness journey – it really does pay off.

In my final ARDR session with Liz, we discussed the concepts of Fortune Telling and Foreboding Joy.

Fortune Telling is what my “then brain” used to do. I was stuck in a constant loop of threat assessment. I played a never-ending game of “What If”. I thought I was managing my anxiety and PTSD symptoms by trying to predict outcomes and prepare for them, but the opposite is actually true. Fortune Telling made it worse.

Brene Brown talks about Foreboding Joy. She’s right – joy is terrifying. It’s the narrative that plays in our brains, telling us that something bad is about to happen even when everything is going well. As a result, the Fortune Teller voice rehearsed worst-case scenarios, which kept me stuck in threat assessment.

For me, neurofeedback brain training was the thing that got me unstuck and re-wired my brain, creating new neural pathways – so my “now brain” has the ability to choose what to accept and what to discard.

Here is a super-simplified explanation:

Every day stuff happens. I think things, both good and bad. Other people say or do things, both good and bad. Incidents occur either because of me or to me, both good and bad. My “then brain” often did not have a choice to accept or deny that input. It just… stuck.

I think of my emotional brain as a parking lot. My “then brain” parking lot filled up quickly. I seemingly had no say in what parked there. My “now brain” can choose. I can acknowledge a thing that was said or done, but I don’t have to let it park there and stick around. I now have the ability to say, “I see/hear this, I acknowledge this, but I choose to not accept this.” I wave it along, keeping that parking spot open for something else.

I can now hold space for:

Gratitude

Compassion

Joy

Empathy

While I always held some space for those things, my “then brain” was cluttered with emotional wounds, triggers, crippling depression, and debilitating PTSD. Neurofeedback cleared all those things away, leaving more space for the good stuff. ARDR helped me access that space, and now I choose what gets to stay, and what gets discarded.

I cleared the space and time, I did the work, and now I am reaping the rewards. To be honest, I was feeling a little sad about not being able to do more ARDR, because it is so helpful and I wanted to make it an ongoing part of my meditation practice. But now I don’t have to be without it, and neither do you!

Karl Meema, the creator of ARDR, now has an online version that can be accessed at any time, without the need for clinical guidance.

This is such a helpful resource, especially during a moment when I experience a stressful situation. I log in, select a track to play, and put in my ear buds. I love the sleep track that plays for 3 hours. This is more than nice relaxing music – this is science. These tracks are original compositions specifically designed to calm anxiety.

And it WORKS!

Here’s the best part – Karl has offered my readers a one month free trial to this subscription service! Just use the voucher  7LSEDR59PP1G740 to access one month free of Solice Frequency Based Music. Click on this link and follow the steps in this video:

More tracks will be uploaded in the coming days, so please, take advantage of this offer!

Are you ready for more exciting news??

Liz Deacon has also partnered with me to offer you 15% off your initial Comprehensive Initial Intake for ARDR Therapy!

Go to Neurvana Health and use the code LISA15 when you book your appointment.

It’s time to go beyond managing mental illness, and actually achieve healing!