The 365 Commitment

Emotional Balance

Some interesting research into ADHD (attention deficit) has developed this last few years. There has been an interesting link discovered into brain function in the cerebellum (part of the human brain). This area of the brain has been identified as the principle area behind motor function. It is really active when you are doing something that requires an intense amount of coordinated effort, usually found when trying to balance. We are an upright species so as a consequence we have an advanced brain and nervous system that allows us to stay balanced and coordinated. Stand still on one leg for a while, that is sort of hard, but gets easier over time. However, have you ever considered how much brain activity and muscle system coordination it takes to actually balance like that on one foot? Or consider the act of surfing on a surfboard out in the ocean. That is not easy to learn, but once you do, the human can do some incredible things with that balance control.

One I was a kid, I got into pogo sticks. I wanted to beat the world record for the number of continuous pogo stick jumps. When I was young that record was held by Doug Ziegler who jumped for 11 hours and 80,080 jumps. I thought I could easily beat that. I got to about 10,000 jumps and then my grandmother insisted that I come in for dinner. She did not get what I was trying to do. The record today is 206,864 jumps and 20:14 hours by James Roumeliotis in 2011 in Costa Mesa California. This requires an intense ability to balance, and a very active cerebellum.

Anyway, as it turns out the same part of our brain that provides physical balance also aids in emotional balance! That is what the ADHD research is pointing toward. They have discovered that physical activity really helps young people diagnosed with ADHD. One researcher specifically uses balance exercises, 15 minutes every morning. The child learns a balancing act that they practice every day. That activity produces a lot of brain function in the cerebellum and seems to help with emotional balance at the same time. Is this why running helps with emotion? Is this why people practicing yoga experience a calmness? Is this why surfers are always so chill?

So I am going to give it a shot. I am going to create a daily balancing routine! Not sure what that is going to be yet, however, if this research is true my emotional balance will be as strong as my physical balance!

Guy Reams

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