Lizard Brain

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Emotions operate on many levels. They affect our thoughts, our words, and our actions. If we don’t have control over our emotions, they can do damage to all aspects of our lives. Our emotions are one of four parts of our being. We have a spiritual, emotional, intellectual, and physical aspect to our whole being.

 

"'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'” Luke 10:27

 

In this verse we find our God given purpose to glorify God and edify others. We can also apply this verse to our wholeness in Christ. The verse describes four areas where we need harmony in order to live in our purpose: heart, soul, mind, and strength. These four areas define our whole being.

• Heart – spiritual
• Soul – emotional
• Mind – intellectual
• Strength – physical

 I think we will agree that we are aware of the need to feed our mind, attend to our spirit, and take care of our bodies. Most people don’t realize the necessity of caring for our emotional selves.

 

Think for a moment about the effect your emotions have on the other three areas of your being: your mind, body, and spirit. You probably recognize the consequences of emotions that are out of control.

 

Gary Smalley, author of The DNA of Relationships, says, “Emotions are God’s information system. They inform you about your needs and your deepest beliefs.” The brain is the processor, the decision maker. Our emotions supply the data to the brain. God designed us to work best when our heart, soul, mind and body work together.

  

Our thoughts control your feelings and reactions. So…in order to control our emotional reactions, what must we control? Yes, our thoughts.

 

 If we allow our emotions to control us, we are little more than a reactionary animal. REMEMBER: We want to be proactive about our emotional responses. The more we know about ourselves the better armed we can be when we face our emotional battles. We all have emotional buttons that get pushed. If we respond only through our emotional portal, we will probably have an inappropriate emotional response. However, when we use our whole being to process the stimuli, we have a much better chance of responding in a Christ-like way.

 

 Let’s take a further look at the connection between our mind and our emotions.

 

The amygdale , also known as the lizard brain, is the emotional center in the brain that when overloaded with emotion, can trigger an irrational, emotional response. It is responsible for our fear, anger, and negativity. It is responsible for our fight or flight reflex. When we feel any emotion, especially fear or anger, the lizard brain kicks in and sends an alarm to every part of the brain. Our motion centers are alerted so our muscles become tense. Our heart rate and blood pressure increase and breath slows.

 

Do you see how this process connects the mind, body, and emotions? What effect do you think it has on our spirit??

 

The problem is that the amygdala gets a head start before the rational part of our brain can react. This gap is about six seconds. There is a lot of truth in the old adage to count to 10 before you react.

 

Are you prepared to respond to emotional stimuli? Being ready when the lizard brain is alerted is key to controlling our emotional responses. We need practice positive proactive emotional responses and in doing so, protect our mind, spirit, and body.

 

A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart. Luke 6:45