TomAce,

The first thing to do is stop looking at everything as black and white. The science is just observations, not solutions. There are plenty of studies that point to a single issue like mindfulness meditation and changes they claim result from it. But, do those imageable changes cause improvements? Everything is in shades of grey. We do best when we listen to our bodies.

Moderating stimulus can make a difference. Changing the intensity of how we take on life can make a big difference. Those who are intent on understanding every detail tend to be the people who have the most struggle with anxiety. Letting go of this need to have control over the details is important.

Over-stimulation comes from damage to parts of the brain that filter out extraneous stimulation. Those stimulations are always there. The brain lets them through without the normal filtering process.

Some believe this white matter and similar issues are the result of a break down of the blood brain barrier. This needs proper nutritional support and a reduction of stimulation to give the brain a break with less stress.

Think of it this way. It you injure a joint, you can splint and protect that joint and let it heal before starting a rehab program. Or, you can limp along for months and years because you never allowed the joint to heal.

My orthopedist, after scoping my knee and finding nothing wrong to fix but I improved anyway explained it this way. The scoping trauma caused me to give my knee a break for a month. This low stress recovery period allowed the unfound injury to heal.

We need to reduce our exposure to stimulation so our brains can get the break from stress so healing can happen.

I believe mindfulness meditation works because it becomes a disciplined time of giving the brain a break. Other relaxation systems can be just as beneficial. I changed how I was subjecting my brain to stimulation. Short periods were followed by quiet. I even rested up prior to planned stimulating events.

What people fail to understand is that these over-stimulation events are hard on healthy brains. The brain is not designed to tolerate such stimulation. People subject themselves to some of these over stimulations as a form of self-medicating. It triggers chemistry (dopamine and adrenaline, etc). Over time, this over-stimulation can lead to fatigue, anxiety, depression and more.

There should not be a goal of improving multi-tasking tolerance. Multi-tasking is stressful and harmful to the brain. Trying to do a cognitive task while being stimulated by sound, sight, feel, smell or other is multi-tasking.

The skill worth learning is Stop to think. That means stop the stimulations so you can think.

Listen to your body. Give it a break.