For those who got a chance to see the Oscar wining film "Free Solo" on National Geographic channel, they got a glimpse into the inner workings of the mind of the most amazing climber ever put on film. Directed by Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, it's in theaters now as well as the safety of the National Geographic Channel in your own home.
There was a key moment in the film, when Alex agreed to have his brain MRI'd. The doctor looking at the inner workings of his brain, said "Your amygdala isn't functioning normally."
Alex made a comment like "I guess my brain's different."
Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
Some can argue that the evidence of why Alex appears to be unafraid of heights, is because the "flight or fight" mechanism in his brain is malfunctioning. It's the catchall phrase that people use when talking about the amygdala - a peanut sized part of the brain that regulates serotonin.
I'm not a doctor, but I've studied a little bit about the amygdala because it appears in an epic study on meditation, something I am familiar with.
Richard Davidson at the University of Wisconsin did a study with MRI of brains of people who were expert at meditation, where he showed that a "single session of meditation can change the shape of the amygdala."
I attended a lecture he gave at UCLA where he talked about this research to a room full of psychiatrists, eager to find an alternate to the customary methodology of prescribing SSRI drugs to children who are depressed.
I attended the lecture because I know that Davidson is part of the Dalai Lama's mind science program, and was curious what his research might show about meditation. But after the lecture where he demonstrated that his study showed that "mediation can cure or alleviate symptoms of depression," hand after hand went up.
The psychiatrists in the SRO room were concerned because parents were insisting, asking for help with depressed children, or with children who were acting out - and the only medicine they had in their arsenal was medicine that would "inhibit serotonin release." (SSRI drugs like Prozac, Zoloft, etc). (The "misfiring" of serotonin is frequently cited in everything from autism to not being able to sleep properly)
As it turns out, there had been no definite studies done with teens and these SSRI drugs, and the side effects (one pediatrician told me that it was as high as 15%) could be severe; ideations of suicide or violence. Here is a warning from the National Institute of Health:
"The documented efficacy and long-term benefit of antidepressants in patients with recurrent forms of severe anxiety or depressive disorders support their use in those individuals with these disorders, who experience suicidal thoughts or behavior. In general, it is assumed that antidepressants are beneficial for all symptoms of depression, including suicidality. However, some evidence suggests that Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors [SSRIs] may cause worsening of suicidal ideas in vulnerable patients. Systematic reviews and pooled analysis of experimental, observational, and epidemiological studies have investigated the use of SSRIs and their association with suicidality. Taking account of the methodological limitations of these studies, the current evidence fails to provide a clear relationship between their use and risk of suicidality in adults. However, in children and adolescents, there appears to be a bit of increased risk of suicidal ideations and attempts, but not of completed suicides." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3353604/
(And further, if one wants to make the case that every mass shooting since Columbine has had an SSRI or "antidepressant" component - that case can be made. Many of the shooters had been under psychiatric care, or had a history of Serotonin Release inhibitor use).
Michael Moore weighs in on the topic:
It's not my opinion, theory or belief that is the case - it's just in the public records when there has been an autopsy done on the shooter or shooters, or there is a known record of that kind of medical prescription.
Be that as it may, this isn't a post about SSRI abuse, or the medical community prescribing something that hasn't been fully studied - it's about the part of the brain that for some reason, wasn't "functioning normally" in the brain of Alex Honnold, the man who is the first to free solo "El Cap" in Yosemite.
If you've seen the film, it's thrilling, dizzying, almost disturbing to see him defy gravity and reach the top. His casual comments of his success - not screaming, hopping up and down, but of sitting down and smiling profusely - point to someone who has his amygdala "not abnormal" but functioning perfectly well.
In the voice over, he talks about "controlling his fear" by "expanding his horizon" - by expanding what it is that he is doing in his mind with regard to each step of the journey. It's as if he's "meditating on what he should be doing" and "visualizing what can be done." Further, he had done the trip "40 or 50 times" the year prior, so he was very familiar with the journey. He was able to previsualize each step.
However, there are not many human beings that could make that trip, as is noted throughout the film. He has an amazing ability to either compartmentalize fear, or as the MRI shows - to not have it both him at all.
Was it his determination to succeed that caused the amygdala to work differently in such adverse conditions? Or was he born that way?
Well, in Davidson's epic study, he showed that anyone can change their amygdala by being mindful. In fact, the idea of "mindfulness" comes directly from his study, because the word "meditation" is often associated with religious practices, or worse - yoga - meaning a person would have to do "some form of exercise in order to accomplish a task." Which is why the word meditation was changed to something more precise about what was going on. Mind. Full. Ness.
After his lecture, I asked Richard Davidson what specific meditation he used to achieve the results. I figured since there are so many different meditations that are possible, the specific meditation might hold a clue as to why he achieved those results.
He told me; "Tonglen;" but a "non-specific version," using the idea of "healing of the Earth as an object" instead of a person to not skew the scientific results.
I happen to know what "Tonglen" is and how it's used. And indeed, it does hold a clue - not only to why Alex Honnold can climb a mountain without fear, but as to how we can help cure or alleviate depression without the use of drugs.
Tonglen means "give and take" in Tibetan. It refers to the practice itself, where the person meditating imagines someone (or in this case, the non specific Earth) that is ill and needs healing. The meditator pictures their loved one (or object) in front of them, then imagines the problem that needs repair (or illness) as a "color or smoke." It doesn't matter which color they choose to represent "illness" or "trauma" - they imagine it on the person or object they're trying to heal. It's up to the person doing the imagining to determine what color or smoke they see.
Then as they breathe in, the imagine "pulling that illness" out of the person or object, pulling that color or smoke into themselves.
It may sound counterintuitive - pulling an illness out of someone and imagine pulling it into yourself - but as the illness arrives, you're supposed to imagine a healing light ("the healing light of the universe") blasting that illness and transforming it into a healed light - and the color or smoke changes.
So for example, if you're imagining someone's broken rib, you might imagine a color for that injury - perhaps red, or red smoke. As you picture your friend, you imagine "pulling that color out of them" as you breathe in - the color finds its way into your own rib, but as it arrives, you turn on a "klieg light of healing energy" - and turn that color into a healed energy and then breathe it back into the loved one.
Or in this case the Earth.
As you breathe in, you pull the color out of the loved one, as you breathe out, you breathe healed light back into them. Perhaps you "take the red" and "give back gold" into your loved one.
In one case, I know of someone who tried this with someone who had pneumonia - they got a call from their friend who was deathly ill, and was asking for help. First he called a doctor who agreed to go to this person's home, and then as a test of their ability, imagined trying to heal the loved one using Tonglen. First, the person saw the wife's chest as a fireplace with coals inside of it, burning red. And as he breathed in, he saw the coals get brighter, with flames - but then as he breathed out, he imagined his breath was a cool ice filled mist, that damped the coals.
Eventually the imaginary cool mist turned to snow, and he said that he pictured snow falling on the red coals in his wife's chest - until the fire went out.
A few moments later, prior to the doctor's arrival, he called his wife, and she said "I don't know what just happened, but my fever broke. My pneumonia just seemed to end. I feel better now." The doctor arrived moments after that and gave her a dose of antibiotics. It's not as if the meditation saved this person's life where antibiotics did the trick, but it's an anecdotal story of someone claiming to "feel the physical effects" of the tonglen meditation.
There is no scientific proof (that I'm aware of) that demonstrates that prayer or meditation can cure or help the object of the prayer or meditation (there is plenty of anecdotal tales) but there is medical evidence that proves the person doing the prayer or meditation can "cure or alleviate symptoms of depression" in themselves.
Literally "doing unto others" selflessly has a physical healing effect on the person doing the selfless act.
When they imagine themselves healing someone else - doing something selflessly, indeed, they heal themselves. They alter the amgydala in such a way that it now is able to regulate serotonin normally, or better - or whatever term they use to describe the normal function of the amygdala.
Which indeed, may very well by the way that Alex Honnold's amygdala works - just fine, thank you very much. His amygdala may be what we all might aspire to - to be able to experience life without fear on a daily basis.
For further information, Richard Davidson's website is here:https://centerhealthyminds.org/about/founder-richard-davidson Pema Chodron has a book and technique on teaching Tonglen which can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwqlurCvXuM and for further adventures into the flipside, my film can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0081U6K1Y - highly recommend watching Free Solo as it's a monumental achievement in film and in sport: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7775622/
There was a key moment in the film, when Alex agreed to have his brain MRI'd. The doctor looking at the inner workings of his brain, said "Your amygdala isn't functioning normally."
Alex made a comment like "I guess my brain's different."
 |
| Typical amygdala - Wikimedia |
Some can argue that the evidence of why Alex appears to be unafraid of heights, is because the "flight or fight" mechanism in his brain is malfunctioning. It's the catchall phrase that people use when talking about the amygdala - a peanut sized part of the brain that regulates serotonin.
I'm not a doctor, but I've studied a little bit about the amygdala because it appears in an epic study on meditation, something I am familiar with.
 |
| Using MRI to study meditation |
 |
| Richie Davidson |
 |
| Part of his study with a monk trained in meditation. |
Richard Davidson at the University of Wisconsin did a study with MRI of brains of people who were expert at meditation, where he showed that a "single session of meditation can change the shape of the amygdala."
I attended a lecture he gave at UCLA where he talked about this research to a room full of psychiatrists, eager to find an alternate to the customary methodology of prescribing SSRI drugs to children who are depressed.
I attended the lecture because I know that Davidson is part of the Dalai Lama's mind science program, and was curious what his research might show about meditation. But after the lecture where he demonstrated that his study showed that "mediation can cure or alleviate symptoms of depression," hand after hand went up.
The psychiatrists in the SRO room were concerned because parents were insisting, asking for help with depressed children, or with children who were acting out - and the only medicine they had in their arsenal was medicine that would "inhibit serotonin release." (SSRI drugs like Prozac, Zoloft, etc). (The "misfiring" of serotonin is frequently cited in everything from autism to not being able to sleep properly)
As it turns out, there had been no definite studies done with teens and these SSRI drugs, and the side effects (one pediatrician told me that it was as high as 15%) could be severe; ideations of suicide or violence. Here is a warning from the National Institute of Health:
"The documented efficacy and long-term benefit of antidepressants in patients with recurrent forms of severe anxiety or depressive disorders support their use in those individuals with these disorders, who experience suicidal thoughts or behavior. In general, it is assumed that antidepressants are beneficial for all symptoms of depression, including suicidality. However, some evidence suggests that Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors [SSRIs] may cause worsening of suicidal ideas in vulnerable patients. Systematic reviews and pooled analysis of experimental, observational, and epidemiological studies have investigated the use of SSRIs and their association with suicidality. Taking account of the methodological limitations of these studies, the current evidence fails to provide a clear relationship between their use and risk of suicidality in adults. However, in children and adolescents, there appears to be a bit of increased risk of suicidal ideations and attempts, but not of completed suicides." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3353604/
(And further, if one wants to make the case that every mass shooting since Columbine has had an SSRI or "antidepressant" component - that case can be made. Many of the shooters had been under psychiatric care, or had a history of Serotonin Release inhibitor use).
Michael Moore weighs in on the topic:
It's not my opinion, theory or belief that is the case - it's just in the public records when there has been an autopsy done on the shooter or shooters, or there is a known record of that kind of medical prescription.
Be that as it may, this isn't a post about SSRI abuse, or the medical community prescribing something that hasn't been fully studied - it's about the part of the brain that for some reason, wasn't "functioning normally" in the brain of Alex Honnold, the man who is the first to free solo "El Cap" in Yosemite.
 |
| Robert Thurman (left) leading a meditation under the north face of Mt. Kailash in Western Tibet |
If you've seen the film, it's thrilling, dizzying, almost disturbing to see him defy gravity and reach the top. His casual comments of his success - not screaming, hopping up and down, but of sitting down and smiling profusely - point to someone who has his amygdala "not abnormal" but functioning perfectly well.
In the voice over, he talks about "controlling his fear" by "expanding his horizon" - by expanding what it is that he is doing in his mind with regard to each step of the journey. It's as if he's "meditating on what he should be doing" and "visualizing what can be done." Further, he had done the trip "40 or 50 times" the year prior, so he was very familiar with the journey. He was able to previsualize each step.
However, there are not many human beings that could make that trip, as is noted throughout the film. He has an amazing ability to either compartmentalize fear, or as the MRI shows - to not have it both him at all.
 |
| El Capitan in Yosemite (wiki) |
Was it his determination to succeed that caused the amygdala to work differently in such adverse conditions? Or was he born that way?
Well, in Davidson's epic study, he showed that anyone can change their amygdala by being mindful. In fact, the idea of "mindfulness" comes directly from his study, because the word "meditation" is often associated with religious practices, or worse - yoga - meaning a person would have to do "some form of exercise in order to accomplish a task." Which is why the word meditation was changed to something more precise about what was going on. Mind. Full. Ness.
 |
| Palden Gyatso was able to endure thirty years of torture at the hands of the Chinese authorities through meditation. |
He told me; "Tonglen;" but a "non-specific version," using the idea of "healing of the Earth as an object" instead of a person to not skew the scientific results.
 |
| As close as I'll get to climbing a mountain in Tibet |
I happen to know what "Tonglen" is and how it's used. And indeed, it does hold a clue - not only to why Alex Honnold can climb a mountain without fear, but as to how we can help cure or alleviate depression without the use of drugs.
Tonglen means "give and take" in Tibetan. It refers to the practice itself, where the person meditating imagines someone (or in this case, the non specific Earth) that is ill and needs healing. The meditator pictures their loved one (or object) in front of them, then imagines the problem that needs repair (or illness) as a "color or smoke." It doesn't matter which color they choose to represent "illness" or "trauma" - they imagine it on the person or object they're trying to heal. It's up to the person doing the imagining to determine what color or smoke they see.
Then as they breathe in, the imagine "pulling that illness" out of the person or object, pulling that color or smoke into themselves.
It may sound counterintuitive - pulling an illness out of someone and imagine pulling it into yourself - but as the illness arrives, you're supposed to imagine a healing light ("the healing light of the universe") blasting that illness and transforming it into a healed light - and the color or smoke changes.
So for example, if you're imagining someone's broken rib, you might imagine a color for that injury - perhaps red, or red smoke. As you picture your friend, you imagine "pulling that color out of them" as you breathe in - the color finds its way into your own rib, but as it arrives, you turn on a "klieg light of healing energy" - and turn that color into a healed energy and then breathe it back into the loved one.
Or in this case the Earth.
 |
| Richard Davidson and HHDL |
In one case, I know of someone who tried this with someone who had pneumonia - they got a call from their friend who was deathly ill, and was asking for help. First he called a doctor who agreed to go to this person's home, and then as a test of their ability, imagined trying to heal the loved one using Tonglen. First, the person saw the wife's chest as a fireplace with coals inside of it, burning red. And as he breathed in, he saw the coals get brighter, with flames - but then as he breathed out, he imagined his breath was a cool ice filled mist, that damped the coals.
Eventually the imaginary cool mist turned to snow, and he said that he pictured snow falling on the red coals in his wife's chest - until the fire went out.
A few moments later, prior to the doctor's arrival, he called his wife, and she said "I don't know what just happened, but my fever broke. My pneumonia just seemed to end. I feel better now." The doctor arrived moments after that and gave her a dose of antibiotics. It's not as if the meditation saved this person's life where antibiotics did the trick, but it's an anecdotal story of someone claiming to "feel the physical effects" of the tonglen meditation.
There is no scientific proof (that I'm aware of) that demonstrates that prayer or meditation can cure or help the object of the prayer or meditation (there is plenty of anecdotal tales) but there is medical evidence that proves the person doing the prayer or meditation can "cure or alleviate symptoms of depression" in themselves.
Literally "doing unto others" selflessly has a physical healing effect on the person doing the selfless act.
When they imagine themselves healing someone else - doing something selflessly, indeed, they heal themselves. They alter the amgydala in such a way that it now is able to regulate serotonin normally, or better - or whatever term they use to describe the normal function of the amygdala.
Which indeed, may very well by the way that Alex Honnold's amygdala works - just fine, thank you very much. His amygdala may be what we all might aspire to - to be able to experience life without fear on a daily basis.
For further information, Richard Davidson's website is here:https://centerhealthyminds.org/about/founder-richard-davidson Pema Chodron has a book and technique on teaching Tonglen which can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwqlurCvXuM and for further adventures into the flipside, my film can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0081U6K1Y - highly recommend watching Free Solo as it's a monumental achievement in film and in sport: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7775622/
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