Sense of Self — The Mohawk of Self-awareness

Do you ever find yourself saying something, or acting contrary to what you really feel or believe?

Perhaps you find yourself changing per social environment, only to leave that interaction feeling sunken while feeling both unbothered by, and simultaneously caught up in others opinions/impressions/expectations of you?

Do ever get that ‘sense of self-betrayal’ when you realise after the fact that you abandoned yourself in a dynamic?

What’s going on here?

In his book The Body Keeps the Score, Dr Bessel Van Der Kolk shares research by one of his colleagues Dr Ruth Lanius, MD. PhD, about what he calls, 'the self sensing' areas of the brain.

This zone begins above our eyes, through the centre of the brain to the very back of the brain. Bessel refers to this central area of the brain as ‘The Mohawk of Self-awareness’.

One part of Dr Lanius' research involved comparing brain scans of people with early childhood trauma (complex PTSD/C-PTSD) with brain scans of those reported less adverse upbringings.

The research showed that those who are affect by C-PTSD showed a significant decrease in activation in this Mohawk area of the brain — in these areas known to be self sensing areas.

This means that the neural pathways involved in processing emotions, identifying one’s personal needs and preferences and advocating for those needs and preferences aren't as active in the brain of someone with C-PTSD. The connections aren't as strong or automatic. 

These are some ways this could manifest:

• self doubt

• second guessing

• people pleasing

• unsure of values

• unsure of what you want

• feeling taken for granted

• social anxiety

• cognitive dissonance

• can’t see or sense your future

• numbness/blankness/apathy
  

Let's envision the implications:

In the book, Bessel explains the Orbital Prefrontal Cortex (at the front of the brain, above your eyebrows) assists with decision making and executive functioning. This is the part of the brain which increases in activity when it draws upon prior experiences to navigate current situations.

He also mentions the Insula — a little further back in the brain along the Mohawk of Self-awareness. The Insula registers information from your environment. Data is registered and sifted through so you can handle conditions/dynamics in your experience.

Imagine though, that the connection between these two regions of the brain, is slowed or delayed, only providing a percentage of the data you need to assess a situation. If you're not processing all the available data — what do you think would happen?

These are the silent, reverberating effects of trauma.

Throw in another area of the Mohawk — the Posterior Singulate — at the back of the brain. Research shows this area is responsible for spatial memory. If you've ever found yourself transported to a time in your past, losing track of the present moment and how far you've come and all that you've experienced and grown through between then and now — most likely the Posterior Singulate is involved.

Of course, these areas of the brain don't operate independently, they're working in multi-dimensional layers and complex chains of reactions — and on differing timelines. However, the research showing inactivity in these areas of the brain for those with CPTSD has a cascading effect on every other part of our biochemistry — from hormonal function to cell regeneration.

Dr Bessel Van Der Kolk says, “trauma results in a fundamental reorganisation of the way the mind and brain manages perceptions. It changes not only how we think and what we think about, but also our very capacity to think.”

“If you cannot tolerate what you know, or feel what you feel, the only option is denial and dissociation.”

All is not lost though, even if this has been your experience.

He also says…

“The solution requires finding ways to help people alter the inner sensory landscape of the body.”

In his book, The Genie in Your Genes, Dawson Church explains from a number of perspectives that our brains are constantly in a state of adaptation to the environment around us.

“What you are thinking, feeling and believing is changing the genetic expression and chemical composition of your body on a moment-by-moment basis.” — Dawson Church

Dawson Church says, “Memory, learning, stress and healing are all affected by classes of genes that are turned on or off in temporal cycles that range from one second to many hours.

The environment that activates genes includes both the inner environment — the emotional, biochemical, mental, energetic and spiritual landscape of the individual — and the outer environment.

The outer environment includes the social network and ecological systems in which the individual lives."

"Learning experiences and other highly attentive states of awareness switch on the expression of genes that stimulate the formation of new neurons.”

As long as the body is still generating new cells (which you will continue to do until your last breath), your brain is adaptive and there is an ability to influence and repair these patterns.

"What we can imagine, we can create. Filling our minds with positive images of well-being can produce an epigenetic environment that reinforces the healing process." — Dawson Church

It’s somewhat counter-intuitive to believe that experiences in life that aren’t logical or sensical could be resolved by linear means.

Logic, language and rationale is so often leaned upon when we endeavour to 'solve a problem' in our society, but acknowledging the multi-faceted dimensions at play is essential.

Bessel says:

"The rational brain cannot abolish emotions, sensations or thoughts. The only way we can consciously access the emotional brain is via self-awareness."

Tapping into the Limbic brain (the emotional brain) can help make connections the rational mind was never involved in, and give that held energy pattern the recognition it seeks, and then decide to move beyond it's established structure.

In hypnosis we take an alternative route to that of logic and linear processes. We work directly with the emotional brain using a language it understands — imagery, sensation, symbols and intuition.

If you find yourself relating to the symptoms listed above, remember this one thing today —your body is constantly in a state of change — you are an organic being and you have more power than you may think.

Inspired by this research, I created this hypnosis experience where we oxygenate the Mohawk of Self-awareness, so we can get one step closer to creating the environmental conditions conducive to change that Dawson Church mentions in The Genie in our Genes.

This hypnosis experience is multi-fold; it is intended to provide the body with time and space to rest and release (read: relax into a different frequency), while easefully allowing change to occur as you take the time to feel into the essence of ideal conditions while activating new neural connections in the direction of those conditions, all the while receiving messages from your subconscious of how that could look for you.

🎧 If you’re interested in experiencing this hypnosis recording follow this link.

Sense of Self hypnosis (24 mins)

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