Shrinking My Amygdala with Lovingkindness

minnie on fiber chair

The light from the moon filled the window and Jon lay sleeping next to me.  My rational mind knew there was nothing to be afraid of, but fear gripped me.  Something was wrong.  I didn’t know what it was, so my mind started to roam.  Looking to make sense of what I was feeling.  Going through the previous day, searching for someone I offended, something I forgot to do, a mistake I made, a bill I forgot to pay.

The feeling is all too familiar and not just to me.    That afternoon my friend told me that Ingmar Bergman called it The Hour of the Wolf.  I know it as The Witching Hour.  Waking up at 3am, sometimes in an instant terror, sometimes a slow building fear.

Often Jon’s already awake, feeling his own fear and we’ll talk each other out of it.  Last night I tried to remember the Lovingkindness meditation I had learned years ago.  I placed one hand on my stomach and the other on my heart and not remembering the exact words I  improvised.  May I be happy, may I know joy, may I know lovingkindness, May you be happy, may you know joy, may you know loving kindness.

I sometimes  listen to a guided meditation when I wake up in this place of fear.  But last night I thought of the interview I heard with the neurosurgeon James Doty.  In it he said that when we practice compassion either through our actions or through meditation, the part of our brain that’s responsible for our fight or flight instincts shrinks.  This means that the more compassionate we are the less fearful we are.

Now this has much bigger implications than quelling my fear at 3am.  Because when we’re less fearful we’re more willing open our hearts.  This allows us to reach out and connect more easily with other people.  Which creates better understanding and more compassion and the possibility of less hate and violence.

I know this isn’t  a new idea, different religions have been practicing it for thousands of years.  But for me, knowing how it works scientifically and that it can be measured, helps me to understand it and not have to  believe blindly.

It also gives me something to visualize, the idea that my amygdala, (the part of the brain that fear inhabits)  is shrinking when I meditate on opening my heart or practice compassion, makes me want to do more of it.  And it doesn’t take the mystery or faith out of it, it just makes the idea even more fascinating to me.

This is one of those things that I want to remember, but have a feeling I’ll soon forget. There are many things that are good for me that I forget in  day to day living or in the height of my fears. And there are few if any things I do religiously, except for my bodily functions.  So I’ll try to remember it and incorporate it organically into my life.  Like drinking a glass of soy milk a day (which I’ve read is good for women my age).  I don’t literally drink a glass a day, but I have it in my farina and tea.  It’s a soft practice not a rigid one. A loving and compassionate practice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

13 thoughts on “Shrinking My Amygdala with Lovingkindness

  1. Beautiful post. Thank you for the helpful, healing steps. My acupuncturist as well as a canine acupuncturist I know say this 3am morning time in Eastern medicine is called “The Time of Wind.” And, the body does need help clearing something. Thank you.

    1. I got chills reading that Holly. The time of the wind and clearing. That makes so much sense to me. So in a ways it’s like a bad dream, it’s bringing something up that needs to be dealt with, needs to be cleared, as you say. That makes it an opportunity instead of something to dread. And the wind part also makes so much sense to me. I love those windy days I always imagine the wind clearing the old and settled “dust”. Thanks for this.

  2. I also call it the Witching Hour, Maria, it’s a pain in the butt waking up with your heart racing, anxiety mounting and for what…there seems no reasonable or immediate answer. I think it’s an underlying response to stress and experienced it for a number of years myself, thankfully, it has become less so but it’s sure not a nice feeling to have.
    SandyP in S.Ont.Can.

  3. The clearing idea is such a great way to think of this time that always leaves me feeling helpless.

    Last night it poured here in Cambridge, a steady, heavy rain. As I listened I could imagine the rain washing everything away and cause I’ve been thru some difficulties lately I then began to ask the rain to actually help me, to cleanse me, tho I wasn’t exactly sure of what.
    And now here’s your post Maria, and Holly’s response. What synchronicity. I’m thinking next time I wake at 3 with that end-of-the-world feeling I’ll consciously ask for a clearing, whether I know what needs clearing or not.

  4. May I/you be filled with living kindness
    May I//you be well
    May I/you be peaceful and at ease
    May l/you be truly happy

    I learned this meditation from Jack Kornfield many years ago and it has served me well as a practice for myself and to offer to others in times of need.

  5. Maria here is something to try next time- instead of trying to avoid the fear, or make yourself feel better, actually drop down into the fear and the sensations and allow yourself to fully experience it. I know this sounds counterintuatve, but this is the antidote to fear.There is in fact a treasure on the other side of fear- this is the secret….

    1. I have done that many time Louise, and in certain instances it has worked for me. This fear that I’m feeling now is an old track in my brain that I’m trying to change.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Full Moon Fiber Art