The Fix: Own Your Brain

April 03, 2018

The Danger of Assuming Potential Experience

The fundamental issue we are all facing is the assumption we make about our potential.

We think we have this massive amount of potential and, whether that is true or not, the assumption of it is not helpful in attempting to actualize it.

In assuming that anything is unlimited, we have a tendency to undervalue it. Looking at an entire lifespan, for example, we may think that we have about 75 years, so we forget how precious is each day. Likewise, in assuming that we have unlimited potential, we think that we have some to spare and we lose our sense of urgency. Seeing it as limited resource, however, creates the mindset to truly appreciate it as something to be valued and utilized to the fullest extent.

In viewing potential as infinite, it also becomes difficult for us to be able to judge and appreciate our own incremental improvement, those small steps which are essential to progress. As a result, we get sucked into comparative analysis which creates uncertainty and unhappiness.

Create an Anchor for Yourself

It is a cosmically cruel joke of the human experience that your body is always in the present, but your brain goes back and forth between the past and the future. We have stories that we run and we are often either consumed in our own or being sucked into someone else’s. Superimposing your physical and your mental experience to be present in each moment requires practice to create that anchor for yourself, if even for a fleeting moment. This practice in itself is one of incremental progress as we are conditioned and evolved to be constantly processing and evaluating rather than simply experiencing.

Being a social animal in today’s society is one of the things that f#@ks with us. In that comparative and competitive state we are triggered by shame and the need to display social status and prestige. The invisible forces of culture pull us like gravity and reveal this reflexive side of us. Couple that with the fact that we are now competing in the world of social comparison on a much larger scale due to the internet, and it is difficult to create a healthy interface between ourselves and our social environment.

A flexible mind requires a healthy cellular metabolic relationship between the brain and body as the essence of growth; but the interaction of our brain with our culture, environment, and social community plays the ultimate role. Awareness of these forces at play in our internal and external worlds is the key to our freedom.

I aim to educate and learn from patients and have updated my principles of care:

You cannot out-perform your self-concept.
Be comfortable with impermanence, fragility, and modesty.
Exercise as a way of communication rather than an expression of vanity.
We all change either through evolution or revolution.
Focus on determining what you want rather than just saying no.
Believe that you’re enough, but be tough-minded to learn like you never will be.
Embrace some of your neuro-diversity (weirdness).
Wellness starts with wisdom.
Live your truth, but don’t try to prove it to the world.

I apply honest and the expression of form, function, and purpose. I see beauty as energy, as some of the most self-criticism in my learning and teaching, and am inspired by the language of nature beautiful interactions occur when we are aligned in energy and purpose. Once we realize we are all in the same boat, it’s time to start paddling—to maximize our individual and collective potential.

Dr. Tabrizi is a chiropractor, osteopath and a passionate member of both the local and scientific community, whose goal is to teach that the pursuit of optimal health and wellness is much more than being symptom-free. His practice is rooted in the philosophy of treating the person rather than just treating the illness or ailment. As a result of his interdisciplinary training, Dr. Tabrizi has developed a neuroscience-based therapeutic education approach to treating his patients, focusing on healing illness from a wider perspective, placing equal responsibility on patient as well as practitioner. Dr. Tabrizi aims to educate his patients and provide them with the tools and framework needed to integrate pain management and healthy living into the fabric of their everyday lives.