Within each of us is an inherent drive toward health—a push toward integration. But life happens, and we may sometimes find that integration is blocked. This blockage can come from impairments to linkage, as in unresolved trauma. Blockage can also arise from impairments to differentiation, whether as a fallout from childhood neglect or as a result

Each of us has a unique mind: unique thoughts, feelings, perceptions, memories, beliefs, and attitudes, and a unique set of regulatory patterns. These patterns shape the flow of energy and information inside us, and we also share them with other minds.

Let me briefly map my meltdown against the nine prefrontal functions that I introduced in chapter 1. To summarize, they are 1) bodily regulation, 2) attuned communication, 3) emotional balance, 4) response flexibility, 5) fear modulation, 6) empathy, 7) insight, 8) moral awareness, and 9) intuition. These nine would top many researchers’ and

With discernment we can see that a thought or feeling is just mental activity, not absolute reality.

did not have to speak just because the impulse was there. My son went on to tell me that my getting “upset”

our impulses long enough to consider various options for response. We work hard to model and to teach this to our children, and we can continue to strengthen this ability throughout the lifespan.

Openness implies that we are receptive to whatever comes to our awareness and don’t cling to preconceived ideas about how things “should” be. We let go of expectations and receive things as they are, rather than trying to make them how we want them to be. Openness enables us to sense things clearly. It gives us the power to recognize restrictive

our impulses long enough to consider various options for response. We work hard to model and to teach this to our children, and we can continue to strengthen this ability throughout the lifespan.

The middle prefrontal region creates links among the following widely separated and differentiated neural regions: the cortex, limbic areas, and brainstem within the skull, and the internally distributed nervous system of the body proper.