A Day in the Life of a BrainCore Therapy Patient
by MaryAnne Dumont, a Manhattan-based Licensed Massage Therapist, Reiki Master, Craniosacral therapy practitioner and BrainCore Therapy patient.
Blog 1
Ah…How to begin a blog about the process of regulating the dysregulated brain while experiencing the symptoms of a dysregulated brain…Quite challenging.
I decided to do BrainCore therapy after learning about its success in treating many neurological conditions and its aid in maximizing the brain’s overall cognitive performance. BrainCore Neurofeedback is a sophisticated, effective and easy to use brain exercise system for both the young and the aging brain. After all, I could certainly use any and all assistance in optimizing my brain function. Who couldn’t?
BrainCore therapy is a non-invasive, non-drug, cutting edge approach to addressing neurological disorders resulting from tension on the nervous system caused by trauma, drugs, toxins, a subluxated spine, stress, or poor nutrition. Using neurofeedback it enables the nervous system to retrain itself to create new more appropriate wave patterns in the brain and to break the cycle of NDS (Neurological Dysregulation Syndrome), resulting in the alleviation of symptoms. Among the disorders it can address are ADD/ADHD, insomnia, migraines, memory loss, eating problems, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, ASDs, learning disorders and Panic/Anxiety disorders. The symptoms I am interested in alleviating include anxiety, insomnia, memory problems, difficulty making decisions and depression. But my biggest complaint is that my overall ability to focus and concentrate has quite deteriorated over the last several years, hence my challenge writing this blog.
I spoke to Dr. Chiappino and we thought it might be informative and helpful to document the actual process from beginning to end so that others might have a better understanding of what to expect from the experience. So here goes:
Upon making the decision to embark on BrainCore therapy, and having spoken to the doctors, I received an email instructing me to login to www.mybraincore.com using my email address and a patient number assigned to me. The email also gave detailed instructions on what to fill out after logging in. This included a patient profile, a physical symptom checklist, and a cognitive/emotional checklist. After filling each page out I clicked save and Voila! I had taken the first step on my journey toward greater brain health. Now the sky is the limit! And…
I was ready to make an appointment for my QEEG (Quantitative Electroencephalogram) Brain Mapping.
Next Blog: What is a QEEG? What does it measure and what is the experience like receiving one?
Blog 2
Having finished my paperwork, it is time for my QEEG (Quantitative Electroencephalogram) to get a glimpse of my brain waves and to find out which areas of my brain are dysregulated.
There are preparations I need to observe before going, which are listed in the email I received with the questionnaire. These include:
- No alcohol or marijuana 2 to 3 days before
- No hair conditioners or sprays
- Washing my hair the day of or the night before
- Having protein for breakfast and avoiding sugary foods
- Getting a good night’s sleep
- No over-the-counter meds and telling the doctor if and which meds I am taking.
Of course insomnia being one of my symptoms, I was concerned about a good night’s sleep and my daily coffee and muffin ritual would have to be forsaken for a swiss omelet but otherwise these requirements were very manageable. I am not on meds and my last glass of wine had been 3 nights earlier.
I will be working with the doctor (Annie) in the Manhattan office which, blissfully, I live within walking distance of. She greets me at the door on the morning of my appointment and ushers me into a compact but warm office. She invites me to sit in a reclining chair in front of a flat screen television that displays the BrainCore therapy logo.
Her desk is adjacent to the recliner with a computer hooked up to the equipment on which she will, no doubt, be monitoring my waves and my progress. I am very excited about finding out about my brain waves. I have fantasies about my greater fluency in Spanish, my debut on Dancing with the Stars, and my overall brilliance as a result of this therapy.
While I am imagining this, she fits me with what resembles a bathing cap, only with sensors which are pasted onto my scalp corresponding to different parts of my brain. The QEEG is a diagnostic tool that reveals information on each of the five primary brain waves and the brain wave patterns that the patient is producing. It provides a window into the brain to see how well it is functioning. The application is completely painless and no signals of any kind are put into the brain.
The process consists of 12 one-minute readings, six with eyes open and six with eyes closed. I am instructed to stay still and try not to blink. It is all very easy and before I know it, I am finished.
My brain function will be compared to pre-established norms and based on these physiological measures along with the completed cognitive profile, an appropriate protocol will be determined for me.
In no time at all I will have my findings and I can schedule my first BrainCore session.
Next… My first session.
Blog 3
Ok… before we begin my first session, I receive the report of findings from my QEEG. It turns out that my brain has some over-arousal issues and some inhibitory issues which explain some of my symptoms such as inattention, insomnia and anxiety. As a matter of fact, I have to pick the 10 most prominent symptoms that we will be tracking in each session to determine my progress. So, here are the 10 symptoms I am most interested in alleviating:
Memory problems
Inattention
Insomnia
Poor facial recognition
Decision making
Episodes (we refer to these bizarre dissociative experiences that I have as episodes, and agree on what we mean by them for the purposes of tracking symptoms)
Anxiety
Depression
Fear
Irritability
The QEEG findings match my symptom choices pretty well down the line.
Also, the four most dysregulated areas of the brain are highlighted and these areas will determine the protocols chosen. These will be the areas where the retraining takes place and new neuronal pathways are laid. In my case, the areas selected pretty well correlate to my symptoms. Perhaps, I will go into the specific areas and the related brain wave patterns at some point, but I am anxious to describe my first session….
Blog 4
Yeah! My first session…
I arrive again at the doctor’s office and am seated in the familiar reclining chair in front of the flat screen TV displaying the BrainCore logo. She fits a monitor on my middle finger which I rest on the arm of the chair. She explains that before we do the actual neurofeedback protocol, we will be doing something called the emWave before each session to bring me into a state of relaxation and to insure a well-oxygenated brain for optimal results.
So what is the emWave?
emWave (HeartMath) is a scientifically validated system that teaches techniques to help you create an optimal state in which the heart, mind and emotions are operating in-sync and balanced. This is achieved through a process using software which displays heart rhythm patterns in real time showing when you are in this high performance state (coherence). It a little known fact that the heart sends more signals to the brain than the brain sends to the heart. These heart signals have a significant effect on emotional processing and cognitive faculties such as attention, perception, memory and problem solving. Not only does the heart respond to the brain, but the brain responds to the heart.
HeartMath research has demonstrated that different patterns of the heart activity, which accompany different emotional states, have distinct effects on cognitive and emotional function. During stress and negative emotions, the corresponding pattern of neural signals traveling from the heart to the brain inhibits higher cognitive functions while the more ordered and stable pattern of the heart’s input to the brain during positive emotional states has the opposite effect of facilitating cognitive function.
So it makes sense that before I start a neurofeedback session I would benefit from learning how to harmonize my heart and my brain. Easier said than done….
Blog 5
Ok… So this is really my first session….
The doctor hooks me up to emWave. The first exercise is the Coherence Coach. This is an exercise to help me find an even breathing pattern and come into the highest coherence I am able to achieve. I actually did this exercise before at the BrainCore office in Lake Grove when they first opened. Even though it is not part of the neurofeedback program, it is one of the reasons I really wanted to do BrainCore. I wasn’t able to move out of the lowest coherence setting and it really made me question my ability to be in a balanced space. It got me thinking that there may be a relationship between this and my brain’s inability to stay focused.
So here I am following the ball up and down these hills, breathing in on the way up and exhaling on the way down. I’m still not getting very far in terms of coherence by the end, even though I have what I would consider a steady relaxed breath.
We do 15 minutes of the breathing exercise and then it is time to choose a movie from a fairly extensive collection. I choose Moulin Rouge. I have seen it several times and even though I am not usually a Nicole Kidman fan, I think she is fantastic in this movie and I absolutely adore Ewan McGregor.
So having chosen the movie, she fits my sensors on the area of my brain that she will be monitoring according to the protocol that was chosen for me. In my case it will be my frontal brain on both sides. She measures my head to see where the sensors should be placed and uses a sticky glue to adhere them. She then places two more sensors on each ear lobe. By the way, it is completely painless and at no time, as I have said previously, is anything put into the brain.
So we are all set to go….
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Session 2
I come into the office today talking about Temple Grandin, one of my favorite people. She has autism and is a powerful speaker on the subject and has written several books. Through her work on slaughterhouses, she has had a huge impact on the quality of care that livestock receive, by designing a system that lessens their terror before death. There is a movie about her life, ” The Temple Grandin Story” with Claire Danes, which I highly recommend. The reason I am mentioning this is because, when we do emWave today, I start immediately in high coherence and am there 50% of the time. My heart rate is much steadier and lower and I think it is because I am feeling uplifted by our conversation about Temple.
After 15 minutes of emWave, we begin the neurofeedback. Moulin Rouge continues and we do 25 minutes more of the movie. I find myself very involved in the movie, not really noticing the difference between when it is lighter and darker. I even forget that I am in a session and am disappointed when it is time to finish. Apparently, the work that the brain is doing to achieve the appropriate patterns is done on an unconscious level and it is not essential to know exactly what is going on. This is somewhat difficult for me to accept, since I always want to know exactly how things work but I am committed to trusting the process. So far, I am enjoying it and look forward to my next session.
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Session 3
My third session we have a bit of trouble with the emWave (I will refer to it as HeartMath from now on. It sounds kind of lovely…HeartMath), so she attaches the sensor to my ear lobe instead of my middle finger. It seems to be a more stable connection for me. Although I do stay quite still, I think my finger wiggles out of the sensor unbeknownst to me.
I am not getting out of the lower coherence range today. I try to think of beautiful places, people and things to no avail. I try different things to manipulate the process, like breathing harder or faster. I try holding my breath at the end of the out breath or the end of the in breath and sometimes it changes, but not enough to stay consistent. I try to recreate my excitement over my conversation about Temple Grandin, but that doesn’t work either. She reassures me and says “It is what it is.”
After the neurofeedback sensors are fitted, Moulin Rouge progresses. My scores are similar to the first session and I am told that this is all part of the process. It takes time to see and feel the changes that are occurring, around six or seven visits. It makes sense and so I anticipate, as patiently as I am able to, my next session…
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Session 4
I do a little better with HeartMath today and we try something besides the coherence coach. It is called the Garden game and when a high coherence is achieved, a grey garden comes alive with color. I love the songs of the birds in the background and when the garden grows there is a magical sound that accompanies the color. This game is only three minutes, so we go back to the coherence coach as well.
On to neurofeedback… Moulin Rouge is a long movie anyway, and so far, at the end of four sessions, I have completed an hour. I do feel subtle changes beginning to occur. I notice that my sleeping patterns are changing. I am sleeping more deeply and through the night. I might be a little less irritable as well, and less sensitive to noise. So this is all very promising….
Blog 9
Session 5
Today we try several new things in both the HeartMath part of the session and the neurofeedback part.
For HeartMath we do the rainbow game which is really fun because a rainbow appears, comes across the sky and descends into a pot of gold. If you remain in high coherence gold coins will appear in and around the pot. I want to break into “Somewhere over the Rainbow” but restrain myself.
We also do a game called the Mind Healer…. My coherence is in the midrange, not as often in the low as it has been, and somewhat in the the high range, better than before.
As for the neurofeedback portion, we try a puzzle game, PacMan, and more of the movie. The Puzzle Game is another way to retrain your brain to achieve a certain brain wave pattern and when this happens the puzzle pieces come together to create a picture which reveals itself at the end.
We also do PacMan which eats the dots when your brain is achieving the appropriate waves.
We continue with Moulin Rouge and after the session, I feel that we have really pushed my brain today….
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Session 6
Two things of interest….
The first is that after the last session, my brain is a little fatigued. I have a slight setback in some of my symptoms. Although I am having difficulty paying attention to things and my mind is somewhat foggy, my sleep is still improved which is a big thing.
The second thing is my HeartMath. I do really well today. We do the Rainbow game and a new one, Healing Hands. Being a massage therapist, I love the way waves of healing colors burst forth from the hand when I am in high coherence, which I am in quite a lot of the time today.
I feel like I have an “Ah Ha” moment today with HeartMath. I realize that it is not just about achieving peace and calm that brings me into high coherence. It is about joy as well. It is a more active state of mind. Active peace is joy. This is a powerful notion to me and I wonder how to achieve this state more consistently.
PacMan again before Moulin Rouge. I notice I think way way too much about every little thing, every memory lapse, every sypmtom and it turns out from my QEEG results I have issues with obsessive thinking and rumination. Of course, I am writing a blog about my experience so I have to be somewhat attuned to changes but I am looking forward to these issues subsiding.
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Session 7
Tomorrow is my birthday, but I started celebrating last night. My coherence was in the high range very little today while doing HeartMath. We tried a new game called the Balloon Game. My balloon didn’t soar very far and I was somewhat disappointed. I am beginning to really notice a difference in my HeartMath exercises when my diet is off. I have tested for food intolerances recently, but I have not been as conscientious as I should be in avoiding the foods I tested positive for. I am always trying to push the limit to see what happens.
We do Pacman before the movie and I am amazed at how little conscious control I have of making the PacMan eat the circles. I try opening my eyes wider and breathing more heavily, but it has no impact. It is not about the conscious mind. It is about training the brain unconsciously to achieve the appropriate waves so I have to sit back, relax and allow.
Onto Moulin Rouge. Nicole and Ewan are fighting the evil Duke to be together and I am wondering how much is left of the movie. My scores seem to be pretty consistent and I feel confident that even with my food issues I am progressing.
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Session 8
Did Balloon game again today and this time my balloon discovered new lands and stayed in high coherence 71 % of the time. Even though my birthday was on Wednesday, I am not celebrating until Saturday. I have been conscious of my food intake so I can splurge this weekend. Perhaps this has something to do with my high coherence today.
Moulin Rouge again… beginning to notice little things, like when I watch Jeopardy, I am able to bring the answer (or question in this case) to consciousness a little more quickly…. very subtle really, but hopeful. Who knows? After my 30 sessions are complete, maybe I will be able to compete. I also notice very very subtle changes in my ability to recognize faces. I am not as anxious when someone from my past, that I am supposed to know, approaches. If these changes persist, they could make a very big difference in the day to day quality of my life.
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Session 9
Ok… Today I want to talk about diet. I spent the weekend celebrating, eating and drinking more excessively than I am used to. My brain was foggy for my session and much of the improvement that I wrote about in the previous session was disrupted. I think it is important to talk about because poor diet is a catalyst for the episodes I experience, which at the worst bring on fainting spells and at the least are very uncomfortable experiences that inhibit my day to day life. It is one of the symptoms I am hoping neurofeedback will help me with.
I spent much of the HeartMath portion in low coherence, 94% of the time to be exact, after such a lovely showing last session. It was the balloon game again and my balloon just hovered. I wasn’t as present as I usually am.
The neurofeedback portion was ok as we continued the movie. It is not as easy to determine if I am off as it is with HeartMath. I am trying not to be too hard on myself and tomorrow is another day.
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Session 10
I want to continue the discussion about diet. I think it is especially relevant for parents who have children with ADD, ADHD or on the Autism Spectrum and are doing BrainCore. It is really important to adhere to a good diet, particularly for children who are gluten intolerant or have severe food allergies. Not only can it alleviate symptoms and enhance the quality of their day to day lives, but there is evidence that children progress much more quickly in their treatment.
Indeed, my diet did catch up to me from the weekend and I had some of my episodes, poor sleep and a poor showing again in HeartMath. I want to receive the greatest benefit from this program so I strengthen my resolve to commit to a good diet. I was beginning to perceive some very positive results and I want to be clear about what is due to BrainCore, especially because I am writing about this experience and want to discover its full potential.
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Session 11
Back on track today after my renewed commitment to receive the very best of this experience. Tried the child visualizer today, a new HeartMath exercise. It was fun to see the eruption of colors exploding and imagine a child’s delight and as a result, I was in a higher state of coherence.
For the neurofeedback portion, I finished Moulin Rouge today. Quite sad as I will miss the characters and the drama. It has taken me this many days to get through it. Of course, it is a very long movie to begin with and I did repeat some of the musical numbers that I particularly enjoyed before moving on.
In general, I feel better again. My concentration is improving again and I feel my overall recovery from the diet issues was rapid. Perhaps, this is one of the benefits as well…not such a deep drop over the precipice and a quicker recovery.
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Session 12
I am beginning to notice an improvement in my word retrieval issue. It’s almost as though I see the word before I say it. The moment of blankness that I routinely experience is lasting a shorter time. I am also not having as much of a challenge sitting down and concentrating to write this blog. Before, I had to struggle to begin it. I couldn’t separate the details from the whole and now the anxiety around it is less.
My HeartMath day is not what I would have liked it to be. It started off well and then fizzled out. We tried a new one and she suggested it didn’t hold my interest. I never thought about it but maybe she is right.
We began a new movie today. I am going to miss Moulin Rouge. I plan on getting it on Netflix so I can watch the whole thing without interruption. I chose Whale Rider. I have seen this movie twice as well and love it. It’s hard to believe that retraining the brain can be this enjoyable!
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Session 13
Wednesday appointment today as I just got back from Maine and a visit with my family. My 88 year old Dad fell the second day I was there so we spent much of the time in the hospital. I scheduled Wednesday and Friday (my regular time) so that I would not miss my two appointments per week. I think it is extremely important to be as consistent as possible. It is an enormous time commitment and why not get the entire benefit?
Anyway, interestingly, my biggest challenge, aside from the stress of the hospital, is diet in Maine. Historically, I come back completely out of sorts both physically and mentally.
Just to give you an example: when we finally sprang Dad from the hospital just in time for a holiday cookout, the desserts alone included whoopee pies, dream bars, brownies, and key lime pie all made from scratch. This of course was on top of the martinis, the dips and chips, all cookout usuals like burgers and franks, and beer. This diet is enough to trigger my “episodes” big time but I only have a flicker of one when I get back.
Having said that, I came back, got back into a decent diet immediately, which in and of itself, is a challenge.
I will say my HeartMath today is a disaster. I do a Pot of Gold and my rainbow starts off quite well moving into the pot of gold and then it starts receding and nothing I do can stop it. No amount of breathing or trying to think of pleasant thoughts. I am very aggressive! My rainbow disappears altogether, signaling the lowest coherence. I guess those whoopee pies did have an effect after all. I take it all in good stride because the absence of my “episodes” feels directly related to BrainCore and I am deeply grateful.
Neurofeedback is great because I am watching Whale Rider and I just slip into the story that is so compelling.
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Session 14
My best session ever! I had a massage directly before coming to the session and I am wondering if it relaxed me and oxygenated me more than usual because my Heartmath balloon sails all the way to the end. Never did that before! It just takes off and before I know it I am sailing past the pyramids of Egypt, Seattle, Washington and a lush Caribbean island. I am in the green, the highest coherence, for the whole time. I finish it well before the allotted time and I am told “Excellent You have reached the end.” I am jubilant!
My PacMan, in my opinion, still leaves something to be desired. I seem to get caught up around the far corner and the bottom. I try opening my eyes wider and sometimes I think that helps and maybe it puts my mind into a slightly more alert brain wave pattern. After all, I think that is what we are going for.
Neurofeedback also is more relaxed…More of the Whale Rider which touches my heart all the way through. I highly, highly recommend this movie.
I am finally letting go of my obsessive thoughts about performance. Do you think BrainCore is doing its magic?
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Session 15
I finish my half way point today. I also finish the Whale Rider. The movie is very emotionally moving and I cry through most of the session today. She and I wonder if this will have an impact on the type of brain waves produced, but it doesn’t seem to.
I have to admit I poured a little fire over my brain this weekend. It only serves to remind me how much influence food and alcohol have on the brain. My HeartMath is a bomb. I try the balloon game again. It just won’t go anywhere. And of course, I try and I try to force it with the breath and with my will and that doesn’t work at all. I had such a magnificent session on Friday. I wonder why I continue to push the limits of my diet, knowing the consequences. I am not giving up! I am so happy about the progress I am making. What is the saying? “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.”
After the HeartMath result we try the puzzle game during the neurofeedback portion of the session. We had tried it early on but have not done it since. The pieces fall into place as your brain achieves the appropriate waves. It is very cool and I feel the pieces are falling into place much more quickly than early on. She verifies that she likes what she is seeing as far as the brain waves are concerned, so my progress still is in forward motion. I am going to be a little kinder to myself and I am going to miss Pi from the Whale Rider. Next week a new movie…
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Session 16
Even though I am feeling the full effects of my diet with two days of episodes, I am really noticing a difference in my memory and my word retrieval issues. I am doing much better when I watch Jeopardy. It used to be that even when I knew an answer, I couldn’t always get it in before the bell. Now the answers come to mind with less hesitation and I’ve improved considerably. I am so enjoying the results of BrainCore that it is really an incentive to stay on my diet to support the neurofeedback!
We do the Healing Hands for HeartMath today and I want to see what will happen if I do Reiki on myself while I am doing it. It is the only time during the session that my coherence goes into the green and beautiful colors come out of the healing hand. I think this is really cool! Reiki is a hands on energy healing technique and this is a great indication of its power for me.
BTW, a new movie… A Night at the Museum with Ben Stiller. Neurofeedback goes well. It’s much harder to tell with this portion of the session how it’s going, but it’s all about the improvement of symptoms and so far with me it seems to be steady. Movie is silly but entertaining. It’s great to make such momentous changes all by watching a movie, playing PacMan or watching puzzle pieces fall into place.
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Session 17
I spent the weekend away and so I took my Spanish book with me to study on the train. On the way home, I realized that I am remembering my newly learned vocabularly much more quickly than before. This is amazing to me! My learning capacity has leaped unbelievably. I am so excited! I have not had this kind of ability to recall information in years!
I am now really feeling and seeing the effects of BrainCore. There is no question about it. The subtleties are now clear and I am so happy and grateful. The places where I do still have issues I feel have an enormous amount to do with what I put into my body, but I am finally feeling that my attention issues are starting to clear. Yeah!
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Session 18
Finding myself doing my Spanish a lot now. I am so excited by my ability to retain that I study whenever I can. I have started watching a Columbian telenovela because the next thing I want to work on is my ability to hear the language. I don’t know how my specific BrainCore protocol training will affect me regarding this aspect of language but we shall see. It would be very interesting to use a Spanish language DVD for my brain wave training but I am not quite ready to brave that yet.
Now more than ever I look forward to my sessions. I am really enjoying a certain sharpness and focus I have not experienced in a long time. Hasta la próxima vez! (Until next time!)
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Session 19
We start with a brief session of Garden Game for my HeartMath today. Then, onto the neurofeedback. We start with the puzzle which I always like and then more of Night at the Museum. We are almost finished the movie. It is rather silly but fun.
Still feeling great about my progress and she says that the trend graphs seem improved on the right. I have no idea what that means but I’ll take it. I’m still revved up about my Spanish and feel like this is what it used to be like learning a new subject. This is exciting because the idea that language learning as one gets older becomes more difficult may be a thing of the past someday.
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Session 20
Wow! I am now two thirds finished. I have ten sessions to go. I really love this work and I feel really strongly that it is very powerful. I do the garden game and go right into the puzzle before watching the rest of the movie.
We finish Night at the Museum… very fun and silly, but I am ready for something a little more compelling. It’s fun to choose the next movie and I choose Inception, although we will not start it until next session. We finish off with a little PacMan because there was so little left of the movie. My much improved attention and focus seem to be more and more a part of the new me, not just a fleeting experience.
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Session 21
I finish the Garden Game before the allotted time during the HeartMath portion today. I am quite pleased because I can’t always figure out how to stay in high coherence. I am told that children have an easier time of it.
We do the Puzzle for a time before starting the new movie, Inception, starring Leonardo DiCaprio. It’s kind of a wild ride… lots of mind games. I’m kind of amazed that I can follow it. Generally, I would have to rewind it again and again to follow the twists and turns, but I am optimistic that it is the BrainCore that is responsible for my acute focus and understanding.
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Session 22
Wow! Two sessions in a row of high coherence. Garden Game completed and today I get the balloon to go all the way to the end. Yeah! I haven’t done that since the day I got the massage. Maybe I have figured something out or maybe my coherence is finally getting better as neurofeedback takes hold.
We do the Puzzle game before continuing with Inception which really does have some wild ideas. I kind of like it but it’s very different then the other movies I’ve watched. Interesting… I have watched now 4 totally different genres in movies. I wonder if any one style is better then another for what we are doing…I continue to feel more alert and focused in my daily life.
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Session 23
Good coherence again today. Feeling very happy with the changes that are taking place. I have less stress when making decisions. Situations that would ordinarily induce anxiety before, now seem to have less of an impact. I am able to step back, organize my thoughts and move forward.
I am also still enjoying my Spanish lessons, improving easily in vocabulary and starting to understand more when watching my telenovela. I don’t know the impact of BrainCore on the ability to hear better but I am definitely improving. I will gladly take it.
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Session 24
Came back from Maine and I am happy to report that I have not had any episodes. This is a vast difference from usual. I also ran into someone that I had not seen in years. Whereas normally I would stare at them trying not to show that I had no idea who they are, I actually recognized her. Perhaps the facial recognition area of my brain is becoming more regulated. This is excellent.
I’m still watching Inception. I have lost interest in it since the original ideas that were entertained have given way to over the top action scenes. I think I am almost finished…
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Session 25
While my HeartMath scores are not consistent, it doesn’t seem to diminish the great effects of my BrainCore sessions in day to day life. I am not sure what determines when I do well with HeartMath or when I don’t. Breathing deeply and smoothly seems to be the key. It helps to be fully present and relaxed.
I do PacMan today. My time seems to be improved and then on to the movie Inception again. I keep thinking this will be the end but no, it goes on. Still, no episodes and Spanish going well. I am understanding more complete sentences when watching my telenovelas. This is great!
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Session 26
Well, after four weeks without an episode, I have a day of them. It is totally my fault, eating and drinking very poorly, pushing the boundaries. I am impressed that I went as long as I have without one. This is the longest in several years. I was hoping they were a thing of the past but diet still has an effect, even with a better regulated brain. It is definitely something parents with children on the spectrum or with ADD/ADHD should be conscious of, even as they are doing BrainCore with their children.
Finally finished Inception
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Session 27
Yeah! I started Secretariat today. I already love this movie. This is more my style, although I did appreciate using my newly regulated BrainCore brain to figure out easily what was going on in Inception.
Perhaps I am starting to sound like a broken record, but I really love BrainCore. I feel so much more in touch with my intelligence than I have in a long time. I enjoy making connections, learning new things and feeling less anxious about my ability to handle stress. It is quite remarkable and I am not looking forward to the end of my sessions.
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Session 28
Only three more sessions. Aside from the variations in my Heart Math scores, there is not much new to report. I feel consistently better in my life; my attention is sharper. It’s interesting now that I am functioning at a higher level, I notice how much stress I was under before. It’s very liberating.
Still watching Secretariat which I love.
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Session 29
I’m trying to think of the best way to describe the difference between pre-BrainCore and now. An example might be: I am looking for a word or a memory… momentarily I am stuck and then, I can almost watch my brain find a circuitous route to the answer, almost as if I can watch the process that my brain is taking to get to what it is looking for. Before, I might draw a blank and then quite a bit later, if lucky, the desired word or memory would surface. Now I feel empowered to stop, wait and watch as my brain makes the connections it needs to make for the desired outcome. I love it!
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Session 30
My last session. What a great experience this has been! I will say that I have come faithfully twice a week with the exception of one week. I think committing to the treatments wholeheartedly brings the best results. I wish this were available to everyone, just one of those maintenance things that people do for themselves to experience life and health optimally.
I can’t wait to see what my QEEG looks like! My concentration is so much better than before. My ability to learn and retain new information is also much improved and I jokingly say sometimes in response to a job well done, “Must be BrainCore.” It has also been fun tracking my progress in this blog and I hope that it’s been helpful for anyone wanting to know more about BrainCore and who is considering the program.
