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Natural Awakenings Twin Cities

Master Your Brain: A Five-Step System

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Master Hong Kim is the owner and teacher at Body and Brain Yoga, in Maple Grove. His career in healing started in South Korea in 1998, where he studied energy healing, qigong, holistic yoga and meditation and became an Emotion Code Practitioner. Before finding his path, he was an engineer and overwhelmed with health issues.

“I didn’t know who I was,” Kim states. “I was just living my life.” He grew tired of being unhappy and made the choice to prioritize his time and energy to his healing. “I found my true self, my heart fully opened, and then amazing things happened—my body healed itself.”

Kim’s journey led him to teach the same principles that helped him many years ago. One of these principles, Brain Education, is a five-step system that was developed by Ilchi Lee, one of the leading innovators with human brain potential development. Lee is the founder of Body and Brain Yoga with locations throughout the world, including over a hundred in the U.S.

Kim believes the most important thing we can do for our brain health is to know who we truly are. “Without knowing who you are, you cannot find inner balance. Without inner balance, you cannot find balance in your life.”

Five-Step Brain Education System

  1. Brain Sensitizing

The first step is to bring overall awareness to your senses to encourage the ability to stay present. Your thoughts need to be connected to your body. If you allow your thoughts to go outside of yourself, your energy follows outward as well. You then experience tiredness, feel worn out and overwhelmed. If you bring your mind back into your body, the energy comes back. You can do this by focusing on inner joy and happiness instead of chasing outward stimulation.

One simple thing you can do to help connect the body and brain is body stretching. Simple actions such as rotating all of your joints and tapping helps improve blood flow and increase energy. When you start focusing on your body while moving, you may find some concerns like sore knees, painful hips or an aching shoulder. To this end, Kim shares, “If you don't know your problems, you cannot solve the issues.”

  1. Brain Versatilizing

You can use physical and mental exercises to keep your brain versatile and flexible. Certain exercises have been shown to create new synapses in the brain. When you change the circuit in your brain, you can adapt more quickly to new thought processes and lifestyle habits.

A simple exercise to try is the Pinkie and Thumb Switch.

  • Make your hands into fists with palms facing you.
  • Point your left thumb and right pinkie. Now bring them back in and point your right thumb and left pinkie.
  • Keep switching left and right. You may need to move one finger at a time at first, but work up to switching the fingers on both hands simultaneously. See how fast you can switch them back and forth.

   

  1. Brain Refreshing

Since birth, we’re fed information from our parents and society. We are living with their preconceptions and beliefs. Brain refreshing is like washing our brain from all preconceived thoughts and emotions so we can increase our emotional intelligence and start fresh.

  1. Brain Integrating

We have three main interconnected layers of brain—vertically it’s the neocortex, limbic system and central core (brain stem). Horizontally it’s the left (logical) and right (creative). We must integrate all of these layers so we can maximize our brain power. Doing so helps us answer questions such as, what kind of person have I been? What kind of person do I want to become? What past pain am I ready to forget? Who do I need to forgive? Once you are able to answer with honesty and without judgment, you’ll be ready for the final step.

  1. Brain Mastery

The final step means we are the master of our own life. We utilize everything—our body, emotions and information—to achieve what we truly want in life. Being the master of our brain means we are aware of the influences on our mind, and we have the ability to choose what will be an influence over us.

Brain Education is more than just developing a healthy brain. It can help you discover what you truly want. Kim explains, “Once you know who you are, you’ll become healthy, truly happy and you will feel peace.”

Body and Brain Yoga is located at 9672 63rd Ave. N., Maple Grove. For more information, visit BodyNBrain.com/Maple-Grove.

Rebecka Lassen is an author, writer, professional speaker and holistic healer. She recently completed the requirements for Integrative Health and Healing, at Anoka Ramsey Community College, by serving as an intern for Natural Awakenings Twin Cities magazine. For more information, visit RebeckaLassen.com.