How Mindfulness Fuels Your Brain and Unlocks Your Mental-Metabolic Power – Part 2 of 2
- Brainz Magazine
- Mar 31
- 5 min read
Updated: Apr 4
Fanny Elizaga is an occupational therapist, certified Neuro-Coach, and trauma-informed mindfulness trainer. Over the years, she has embraced her passion for learning and applying holistic modalities for mind-body healing in her personal and professional life. Fanny is also a Reiki master practitioner and certified instructor in the art of Qi-Gong.
For decades, you struggled to figure out why your handbag overflowed with more sales receipts than a till at a Costco.
Why were you setting alarms for all the meetings in your iCal but still turning up five minutes late?
On Monday, you threw yourself into renovating the kitchen. You started learning how to play the ukulele on Tuesday. On Wednesday, you took on the role of the new PTA president.
By Friday, the kitchen was a mess, you’d given up the uke, and your car commute had turned into rehearsal sessions for your presidential resignation.
Then you got your diagnosis.
At first, it felt like a sentence for life. Then, a jailbreak.
You hadn’t lost your keys because you were careless.
That cyclone that passed through your kitchen wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t a lack of commitment that had let down the PTA.
It was a deficiency in dopamine. A metabolic meltdown.
You, like at least 19% of the American population, were told you were neurodivergent. While individual symptoms vary, the above are common in folks with ADHD.
But what if I told you that none of it needs to be permanent? That your diagnosis isn’t a prison?
Growing with grace
In my 30 years as an occupational therapist (OT), one patient of mine stood out.
Grace (not her real name) was a little girl who felt so overwhelmed by her environment that she’d stopped attending preschool.
Grace reminded me a bit of me. She was the part of me I’d learned to disguise. When she screamed, nothing would calm her. Her moods were as erratic as a cat chasing shadows.
Months before, Grace had been a typical three-year-old. Questions about the rapid onset of Grace’s condition drove me to seek solutions.
What had shifted in young Grace’s brain in those few months? Could those changes be reversed? By what grace might she and I both recover from the more debilitating aspects of our neurodivergence?
Despite the palpable onset of anxiety before our sessions, I committed to every opportunity to help Grace. Devouring research. Attending courses. Seeking expertise. By tending to this little girl’s distress, I was also nurturing my own.
In my last article, I pointed to the profound impact that nutrition has on brain health. Indeed, efforts to reduce dairy and gluten as well as lessen Grace’s exposure to toxic metals eventually led to her recovery from the more impairing symptoms of autism.
While the links between mental and metabolic health are groundbreaking, they’re nothing new. All these events happened a decade ago.
Today, however, the scientific links are clearer than ever. Opportunities to take charge of our mental-metabolic wellness lie not only at every meal but also in every breath.
Mindful metabolisms
In Part 1 of this series, I explained how you can monitor your mineral intake to improve your mitochondrial functioning.
By mindfully tending to your stress levels and calmly monitoring your thoughts and feelings, you can also improve mitochondrial health.
Several studies have shown that mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) leads to notable structural changes in your brain’s gray matter and its connectivity.
We know that the most consistent changes with MBI happen in the part of the insula that controls interoceptive body awareness. When you meditate, that area of your insula gets bigger and more active. Secondly, mindfulness consistently decreases subgenual anterior cingulate activity related to depressive rumination. That proves that mindfulness leads to greater neural plasticity.
Recent studies have focused on identifying the chemical and physiological biomarkers associated with this neuroplasticity. Excessive oxidative stress may damage the mitochondria, which, as we explored in Part 1, plays a crucial role in maintaining a healthy metabolism. Oxidative stress also causes imbalances that affect the onset of several neurological diseases, such as anxiety.
As we also covered in Part 1 of this series, Christopher Palmer is making the links at the metabolic level to a range of neurological conditions, not only anxiety but also ADHD, post-traumatic stress, and autism.
Mindfulness helps to balance levels of oxidative stress, so the evidence suggests it may help to repair damage to your mitochondria.
If you’ve already taken my advice from Part 1, you may be reading this while enjoying a meal rich in folate, fiber, and B12.
Here’s my tip for this week: Take it all with a generous helping of mindfulness.
You’ll supercharge your metabolism and gain ground on your personal journey to mental health and well-being.
If you suffer from ADHD, post-traumatic stress, anxiety, or depression, add mindful meal times as one of the key elements to craft the key that will free you from any prison your condition may appear to hold you in.
Supercharge your mental-metabolic health with mindful meals in 4 steps
1. Treat yourself to a healthy, mindful meal
Trigger your brain's reward system by taking yourself out for a healthy meal. You deserve it! Make it salmon on wild rice with kale and beets. Tuna on soba with Brussels sprouts and broccoli. Whatever your order, make it healthful and full of vitamins and minerals.
2. Take a mindful moment
Take a minute to say thanks, or simply sit in silence, charging your brain with a few calm moments of pure gratitude. Before you dig in, savor the scent of your food. The herbs. Spices. Tender grains. Take delight. Experience those pleasurable few moments before your first bite.
3. Chew, taste, swallow
Don’t rush. Take your time. Resist any temptation to speak, to check your notifications, or to do anything apart from chew each morsel. Mentally note all the flavors on your tongue.
Observe how they come alive the more you pay attention to them.
4. Linger
We intended to linger over our meals, not eat them in haste behind the wheel. Whether you’re dining alone or sharing with friends and family, give yourself at least a satisfying hour with your food. If you’ve finished dessert and still have time, take a stroll and digest. But stay in mindful meal mode, lingering with all the delightful sensations that come your way.
For more brain-enhancing tools, practical mind hacks, and live courses, click here to visit my website.
Download my free eBook, Chaos to Clarity: Taming the Unfocused Brain here. Click here to access my free 5-Day Mini Course.
Fanny Elizaga, Certified Trauma Centered Neuro-Coach, Mindfulness Trainer
Fanny Elizaga is an occupational therapist, certified Neuro-Coach, and trauma-informed mindfulness trainer. Over the years, she has embraced her passion for learning and applying holistic modalities for mind-body healing in her personal and professional life. Fanny is also a Reiki master practitioner and certified instructor in the art of Qi-Gong. Fanny inspires, empowers, and educates her clients by teaching brain-enhancing tools for self-improvement, expanding out of their comfort zone, and thriving. Fanny is also the founder and trainer of Neuro-Wellness Academy; she is genuinely passionate about creating content and courses based on practical brain science for wellness, resilience, personal transformation.
Endnotes:
Gomutbutra, P., Srikamjak, T., Sapinun, L., Kunaphanh, S., Yingchankul, N., Apaijai, N., Shinlapawittayatorn, K., Phuackchantuck, R., Chattipakorn, N., & Chattipakorn, S. (2022). Effect of intensive weekend mindfulness-based intervention on BDNF, mitochondria function, and anxiety. A randomized, crossover clinical trial. Comprehensive Psychoneuroendocrinology, 11, 100137.
Ibid.
Palmer, MD, Christopher M. Brain Energy: A Revolutionary Breakthrough in Understanding Mental Health and Improving Treatment for Anxiety, Depression, OCD, PTSD, and More (p. 5). BenBella Books. Kindle Edition.
