September 30, 2025 • 45 mins
Today is World Mental Health Day, and that’s why it's the perfect time to talk about the faith-brain connection, and how it has EVERYTHING to do with your own mental and emotional health.
In this next episode of The God Pod, Leanne takes you on a journey to explore the profound interplay between faith, self-image, and neuroscience. Leanne breaks down (in simple science terms) how just influencing ONE specific part of the brain (the Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC), or the "social brain" as she calls it) can change the game for you -- simply by knowing about it -- as just this ONE part of the brain influences everything from self-perception and emotional pain to coping mechanisms and physical pain.
Inviting God into the conversation right away, she shares how this region of the brain drives our need for acceptance and connection while also playing a big role in your coping mechanisms or habits which you feel are "out of control".
And it's not just theory either, as she shares evidence-based scientific studies that show how faith has been proven to drastically impact everything from self-esteem and addiction recovery...to the alleviation of physical pain, and how THIS can hold the keys to your own mental and emotional health.
Ultimately, she's simply inviting you to 'try on' this idea that faith can be a catalyst for healing, strength, and transformation in the realm of mental and emotional well-being.
HOST: Leanne Ellington // StresslessEating.com // @leanneellington
To learn more about Leanne, head over to www.LeanneEllington.com, and to share your thoughts, questions, feedback, or guest suggestions instantly, head on over to www.WhatsGodGotToDoWithIt.com.
Follow Leanne on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leanneellington/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
If you want to go on a journey, if you're skeptical,
don't worry. Now Here to preach. I want to keep
it clean and talk to me and recall where faith
needs files nature and get in touch with your creator
with a bacon, love and jew She even speaks Hebrew.
What's that, Ganza? What's that? As well? Sabosation, you should
(00:39):
talking transformation?
Speaker 2 (00:41):
What's that?
Speaker 1 (00:42):
Gonzato?
Speaker 2 (00:45):
We are back on what's God got to do with it?
And thank you so much for all the feedback we've
received so far, and thank you to everyone who has
followed or liked or subscribed to the podcast. And today
is so perfect to talk about this whole faith brain
connection because I believe that that has everything to do
with your mental emotional health. And if you've been listening
(01:07):
to this podcast, you know that my own mental emotional
health was kind of like my kryptonite for much of
my life, and teaching and coaching around mental emotional health
for women and teens is literally my day job. But
the reason I actually started podcasting was because I just
wanted the world to have easy access to the tools
that they need to take ownership of their mental and
(01:29):
emotional health because it really is a universal human right,
and because the suffering that happens in our heads and
hearts and brains and bodies is also universal. I mean,
no one is immune to challenges and adversity, and our
brains just kind of doing what they do. Right, Because
stress is universal, and we as humans relying on coping
(01:50):
mechanisms of different varieties to deal with those mental emotional
stress stressors, that's also universal. But also this simple but
not always easy desire to just be happy and to
be at peace and feel free. I believe that those
are also universal desires and universal human rights. So as
(02:12):
you soak in today's episode, I just want to plant
the seed that your mental and I would put emotional
and spiritual health in that same category, but that A
your mental health matters, and B you have a right
to feel healthy in your mind, brain, body, and spirit.
But here's what I also say about it. Okay, since
you do have a brain, I'm inviting you to have
(02:35):
a conversation about taking ownership and responsibility rather than letting
your brain run and do its thing, taking you down
your own rabbit holes. Right, It's about influencing what you
can influence to create your own peace of mind and
happiness and freedom. So yes, taking care of your mental
emotional health is a brain conversation, but this time around,
(02:58):
I'm also inviting you into the possibility of what if
it was also a God conversation, Like what if this
time you could invite God into the conversation and ask
God to meet you there and help you and support
you unconditionally and be your most supportive friend and trusted advisor.
But I will also say, and I'm sharing this from
(03:19):
my own experiences of making this so much harder on
myself than it needed to be, It will go a
lot smoother and easier if you shift, you know, from
this idea of really taking care of yourself and your
mental emotional health is kind of some sort of burden
and shift it to an assignment or a challenge that
you are choosing to take on. Okay, Because when everything
(03:41):
else in your life or your circumstances feels out of control,
your mental emotional health is one thing that you can influence,
you can focus on, and you can choose what you
feed it right, But it's also something that you can
surrender over to God at the same time and just
see what happens when you do that. Okay. And again
(04:02):
I'm not just saying like blindly take my word for it.
I'm saying, try it on and see how it feels
for you. Okay. So with that being said, let's just
dive on in. Okay. So this whole faith brain connection
and what I mean when I say where self image
meets neuroscience I shared with you in the very first
episode a scientist goes looking for God. That meeting myself
(04:24):
in my skeptical, cynical mind, but also, you know, stepping
into a God conversation around things I was previously trying
to do through my own might and will was so
so powerful for me because A it completed my story
and b it met me in what I already knew
about the magic and wonder of the brain and the
(04:45):
nervous system. And that's why for the last fifteen years
of my life I have been obsessed with the female
self image, like what is it that makes us see
and perceive ourselves the way that we do? And why
do our brains play tricks on us? And why do
we do what we do? And for me, this started
with questions like, you know, why did I just lose
(05:05):
one hundred pounds and totally make over my body, but
my self image is still calling myself fat? Or why
do I still feel like a crazy sugar addict? Or
why do I still feel unworthy, unlovable, undesirable fill in
the blank. And why didn't my mind and my brain
and my self image play catch up with how my
body physically transformed? And that is why I became obsessed
(05:29):
with researching and understanding the intricacies of the female brain
and self image, because, as you know, I suffered and
struggled with food and my body image and my self
image for decades and the world just kept throwing more
diets at my deeper problems. And you know, this stuff
really is not taught in the mainstream and it's not
made readily available, And that's why I really am so
(05:51):
purposeful about getting this way of thinking out there. But
also I've noticed it's really rare that I find anyone
taught talking about what God has to do with our
own mental emotional health and how that can be if
you are willing to go there, you know, a really
pivotal piece of the puzzle. So we're going to talk
(06:12):
about where faith meets science in terms of where your
self image lives and how to influence it through neuroscience
and by inviting God into it. But please just know
that we are just scratching the surface of this massive
topic and there will be multiple episodes that unravel this
thread and peel this onion so that you can, you know,
(06:33):
actually feel true worthiness down in your bones, like not
just this ambiguous you know, oh, just love yourself the
way you are kind of fake positivity that a lot
of the world is giving us. I'm talking about taking
a systematic and scientific approach to self love and self
trust and actually transforming the way that you see yourself
while you invite God into this conversation, or maybe that's
(06:57):
where it starts, right, So that is actually where I
want to start today essentially, you know, it's this is
an introduction to where your self image and your self
perception actually live and how to start influencing it and
how to invite God into that conversation. From day one,
and you probably guessed it, I want to start with
your self image. Okay. So when I say self image,
(07:20):
essentially it's the goggles that you are seeing yourself through
day in day out. Okay, It's your personal view or
mental picture that you have of yourself, and so imagine
all of the thoughts that you think about yourself on
a day to day basis. So maybe you're calling yourself
things like intelligent or kind, or beautiful or talented, or
(07:40):
maybe you're calling yourself a loser or ugly, or a
disappointment or selfish, unworthy, unlovable, you name it right. Basically, however,
you are regarding yourself or perceiving yourself, like how you
view your strengths or your weaknesses. You are defining yourself
and painting a picture of yourself and then living into
(08:01):
that story and picture, and then your beliefs and your
habits and your behaviors follow that story. Okay. And that's
why I always say what you see is who you be,
which is really just to say that how you're showing
up in your life, whether that's physically, emotionally, spiritually, financially, relationally, whatever, Okay,
(08:22):
how you're showing up in your life is a direct
reflection of what you see as being true about yourself
relative to each of these areas. Okay, So if you
see yourself as beautiful and lovable and irreplaceable, then you
be someone who shows up in the world as beautiful
and lovable and irreplaceable. What you see is who you be.
(08:43):
But on the other hand, if you see yourself as
imperfect and flawed and ugly, unlovable, unworthy fill in the blank,
then you'll be the person who meets the circumstances of
your life as that person. Okay, again, what you see
is who you be. And that's why doing the out
there work and I'm putting out there in quotes, right,
(09:06):
you know, the diets and the gym stuff and the
goal based or motivational stuff, it usually falls short for
us or it doesn't really address the deeper stuff going on,
because we will only ever be the person that we see.
What you see is who you be. And that's why
I always say true transformation begins with the self image
(09:27):
and really stepping into a new identity. And I learned
this the hard way, you know, after losing one hundred
pounds and making over my body, you know, because I
didn't address this self image and body image and the
wiring in my brain that was causing me to think
and act and feel and behave like I was fat,
unworthy of failure, destined to stay this way forever, whatever
(09:48):
painful words I was using. Okay, yes, I lost a
lot of weight, but I never transformed my identity and
I brought all of my old habits, thinking, and behaviors
with me because I brought my old self image with me. Now,
keep in mind that when I started on my own
self image path, I didn't have God in my life yet,
or at least I just didn't know that I did.
(10:10):
But by some divine miracle, I eventually had the insight
and awareness to just realize, like, Okay, I'm never going
to be able to outdiet or outwork or outsmart the
wiring that's been laying down in my brain for a
long time and really my self image. And I was
not going to be able to do it all on
my own either, Like I needed help and I needed
a lifeline. And yes, in many ways, I needed to
(10:33):
be saved from myself, Okay. And that's why I get
so excited to bring God into this conversation and talk
about what's God got to do with it when it
comes to your self image, because I believe there is
absolutely a faith brain connection. So when it comes to
the collective stories that we're telling ourselves on repeat about ourselves,
(10:54):
where yeah, maybe we are using hurtful words like unworthy
or unlovable, or you know, just identifying with words like
shame or self rejection. But it's also those sneaky stories
that we tell ourselves that maybe we're we're different or weird,
or maybe we just don't belong, or maybe we're telling
ourselves that we're all alone in this world or isolated, right,
(11:15):
Like you get the picture on that side of it, right,
those isolation words. And if you're anything like me, I
also thought that I was crazy, Like I thought that
like I was morally and undoubtedly broken and fill in
the blank down that rabbit hole, right, And that really
is its own rabbit hole when you're calling yourself crazy
or broken, because when we feel those things, we also
(11:37):
feel isolated or disconnected, and that's its own rabbit hole
as well, or at least it can be if our
self image is untamed or unmanaged or just you know,
growing metaphorical weeds without us weeding the metaphorical garden. And
that's why right off the bat, I'm going to dive
into a very specific part of the brain. And it's
(11:58):
the part of the brain that I have been, you know,
semi obsessed with for many years because it's essentially where
your self image and self perception live. And I'm starting
here because this is the stuff that if I knew
about this when I was younger, it would have saved
me so much suffering because understanding why I do what
(12:18):
I do and really understanding how this part of the
brain works. Honestly, it kind of helped me own my crazy,
as I lovingly say now, but what I really mean
by that is I can now see that I wasn't
crazy at all. Okay, my brain was just doing what
it does and what it got fired and wired to
do and repeated until I changed the pattern. So we
(12:41):
are going to get a big geeky, but I promise
it will all make sense and become really important to
your own faith brain connection. Okay, So this specific part
of the brain I really want you to get familiar
with is called the anterior singulate cortex, but you're going
to hear me calling it ACC for short acc Okay.
And the reason I believe it is so darn important
(13:04):
is because of all of the radically important stuff that
goes on in this part of the brain. So, first
of all, like I said, it's where our brain is
largely responsible for self perception and self reflection aka your
self image. Okay, but this is also where a large
majority of your emotional pain receptors and your social pain receptors,
(13:27):
as you'll learn about in a bit, which, as you'll learn,
is also a big time influencer when it comes to
conversations about addiction or just relying on any coping mechanisms
or anything you feel out of control of. Right, So,
whether that's food or alcohol, or shopping or Netflix, you
name it. Yes, that is all an ACC thing as well. Okay,
(13:47):
but if that's not important enough, all of that stuff
that I just mentioned, the ACC is also where a
large majority of your physical and physiological pain receptors live. Well, Okay,
So for example, if I hurt my shoulder, the injury
lives in the shoulder, but the pain I'm experiencing lives
(14:08):
in the brain, a large majority of it, specifically in
that ACC. So just that alone, those three things, can
you see why this part of the brain is so
important to know about and just try to take care
of and keep healthy? Right? But also can you see
how it would be a really powerful experience to invite
(14:28):
God into conversations about this part of your brain as well?
So that's exactly what we're gonna do. And I'm just
going to break down each part really quickly for like
the logic and reason side of it for you, and
then we're going to directly invite God into these conversations.
And as you'll learn, there's literally evidence based science out
(14:48):
there that backs this up. So let's go through these
one by one. So let's go through these one by one.
So first, is the self perception and self reflection part
of your brain and your self image. Okay, so a
(15:10):
quick thing about the ACC, or the social brain as
I call it. I teach my clients to remember the
three letters ACC by remembering acceptance, connection and care. ACC acceptance,
connection and care. And that's because your ACC's job is
to look for acceptance, connection and care from others, but
(15:31):
it also is looking to feel it from yourself. It
doesn't really care if it's from others or from yourself.
It just needs to feel accepted, connected, and cared for.
And so, in other words, in order for your social
brain to feel safe and not go into its own
form of fight or flight, it needs to feel emotionally
and socially safe. Okay, more specifically, it needs connection. It
(15:53):
needs belonging, inclusion, and really actual human connection. So either
feeling accepted and connected and cared for from yourself or
to feel that from others. Okay, and guys, this isn't
just a desire, it is a require. It's not just
a want. It is a need from your social brain.
And ladies that are listening. And interesting thing about the
(16:16):
ACC is it's bigger and more active in females than
it is in males. Okay, And so I want to
quote one of my favorite neuroscientists, doctor Lewin Bresendine, because
she says it best when she says this. Okay, she said,
more than ninety nine percent of male and female genetic
coding is exactly the same out of thirty thousand genes
(16:36):
in the human genome. The less than one percent variation
between the sexes aka male and female is small, but
that one percent difference influences every single cell in our bodies,
from the nerves that register pleasure and pain to the
neurons that transmit perception, thoughts, feelings, and emotions. So that's
(16:57):
what one of my favorite brain scientists, LeWinn Brezdian said,
And here's the thing. One of the biggest differences. She
says that one percent difference. The biggest difference is the ACC. Okay,
it is bigger and more active in females than it
is in male So, ladies, that social emotional pain center
of your brain essentially needs more love. You need more acceptance,
(17:20):
connection and care. And really understanding that side of it,
it really helped me realize like, Okay, I'm not crazy,
I'm not over emotional, I'm not needy. I'm just a woman.
And now I know that my female brain needs a
bit more acceptance, connection and care, and it needs more love.
But here's what I also say about this social brain
(17:42):
and self image conversation. It is not practical or even
possible for anyone to just not care what other people
think about us. Like if you've ever heard somebody be like, oh,
I don't care what they think about us, Honestly, it's
not true, because our brains are wired to care about
what other people think about us, Like that's what the
ACC does, and especially that female brain, right, We're wired
(18:04):
to actively notice other people's opinions and judges and judgments,
I should say, more than the male brain notices them.
So yeah, it's not possible to not care. What other
people's opinions are of you. But here's what is possible.
It is possible to figure out what it would take
for you to value your own opinion of yourself more
so or even just a little bit more so than
(18:26):
someone else's opinion of you. And I truly believe that
the best way to do that is to align with
God's view of who you are, not society, not your
neighbors down the road, or that woman you follow on
Instagram that you're comparing yourself to. Right, I believe it's
possible to build an identity and recreate your self image
(18:46):
through the eyes of unconditional love and unconditional acceptance, connection
and care. And I believe that God is the perfect
set of eyes to start seeing yourself through. In other words,
what would it be like if you didn't need, you know,
endorsement or approval from somebody else to tell you who
you are, or tell you how much you're worth, or
(19:08):
tell you how beautiful or desirable you are, or if
you have the air quotes right to feel that way
for yourself. And let's be honest, like we're human, it's
very nice to get that confirmation and affirmation from others,
like we're only human. But what would it be like
if you didn't need it and rely on it from others,
and you were able to provide it for yourself because
you were getting your identity from God and through the
(19:31):
eyes of unconditional love and unconditional acceptance, right, Like, Just
imagine what would you be walking like and talking like,
and thinking like and feeling like if you were walking
around seeing yourself and your life through those eyes, through
God's eyes, and identity built and based in that, right
And imagine how your self image would be impacted if
(19:52):
you were walking around seeing your life through those eyes
and through God's eyes. And we're going to come back
to that, I promise, But I also want to touch
on and remember how I said that the ACC was
also a big player in things like addiction and coping
mechanisms or you know, just kind of feeling dependent or
codependent or just out of control of something. And I
(20:12):
believe the ACC is also primarily where addiction and coping
mechanisms actually live. And here's what I mean by that. Now, First,
I want to just give a little disclaimer because this
is a massive topic. Okay, all of this really is
a massive topic, and none of this episode, but especially
when we're talking about a big thing like addiction. I
am not here claiming that this podcast episode is going
(20:32):
to solve addiction or even close to being a substitute
for getting actual help and support, right, I'm simply here
to help you understand a bit more about maybe you
know why you do what you do, and of course
invite God into this conversation.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
Right.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
And I know this is a massive topic. It's loaded
with emotions and history and oftentimes trauma. So please don't
hear what I'm not saying. Okay, My hope is just
to help you understand so that you can approach your
struggles with compassion and care rather than judgment or shame.
So back to the acc So I'm going to kind
(21:07):
of describe this cause and effect cascade that happens in
the brain. And I'm actually going to use sugar for example.
But you know, let's be honest, sometimes it's wine. Sometimes
it's Netflix, mindless TV, online shopping, scrolling Instagram, anything that
really numbs you out, distracts you, you know, causes you
to procrastinate, like drugs, you right, and again, like we
all have our own drug of choice. There's no there's
(21:28):
no shame in that, right, but just no, Like, this
really is a small snapshot of how your ACC works.
And of course I'm giving you the very oversimplified version,
but I wanted to kind of lay out this cascade
for you. Okay. So when you're reaching for your drug
of choice, your social brain, like your ACC, is actually
looking for oxytocin, okay. And oxytocin is the love and
(21:51):
comfort and emotional or psychological safety hormone, and the ACC
has one of the highest densities of opioid receipt in
your brain. And I want you to remember that because
it's going to be important. So here's the thing. Your
ACC or social brain as I call it, will get it.
It will get oxytocin. Okay. Like I said, it's not
(22:12):
just something that your ACC desires. It requires oxytocin. But
it becomes a matter of what you feed your brain
because here's what's also happening, and a lot of times
it's happening without you knowing it. So, like I said,
your brain requires connection oxytocin, that safety love connection hormone
that we talked about instead in those moments because our
(22:35):
brain doesn't know or maybe it's misfiring. We feed ourselves,
you know, food or mindless TV or mindless web scrolling
or compulsive shopping, or maybe it's actual drugs or alcohol, right,
but really it's any activity that numbs or distracts or
comforts in that moment. So in turn, instead of giving
our brains what it really needs in that moment, which
(22:55):
is oxytocin, we are giving it endless amounts of this high,
like a synthetic high of the drug itself, which is
actually not an oxytocin payoff. It's actually creating a dopamine
serotonin payoff. But in those moments, what our brain is
truly craving is connection and oxytocin, and in turn, our
social brain it stays hungry, like it's still hungry for
(23:19):
that oxytocin because it's still not getting it because we're
giving it endless amounts of dopamine instead. So essentially we
are feeding loneliness and sadness and shame and stress and
boredom with like fake connection like TV and food and
other drugs, And in turn, we remain overfed, but we're undernourished,
(23:40):
and we stay undernourished because our brain still craze that oxytocin.
But again, the pattern keeps going. And this is the
vicious cycle that keeps happening over and over and over again,
and it's fired and wired in your brain. And that's
why willpower or trying to outmotivate or white knuckle your
way through it probably isn't working, or it doesn't work
(24:01):
very long, because that problem is never going to be
solved with logic reason because it is emotional. It's in
your brain. In fact, your brain is just doing what
it's been programmed to do. Require oxytocin and expect to
get that hit of dopamine in return. Okay, But also
this is the perfect place to invite God into the
(24:23):
conversation because in reality, this is your brain screaming at
you to feed it what it really needs. And here's
a hint. It's oftentimes a spiritual need and an emotional need.
But in the moment, your brain thinks it wants sugar
or Netflix or drugs or alcohol or sex or whatever.
But in reality, it doesn't want that thing. It wants
(24:45):
oxytocin and heart soul spirit connection. But it's just been
programmed and fired and wired to get that other thing.
It's been programmed to live in a state of being
overfed yet undernourished. So I really want you to start
seeing being this through the eyes of like what spiritual
need and emotional need am I filling with my own
(25:06):
drug of choice? Okay, just think about that, Like, what
when I'm finding and feeding my drug of choice, what's
the emotional and spiritual need that I am really filling
right there? And we're gonna come back to that when
we talk about the faith brain connection, because it's so important.
But first let's look at that third piece of this puzzle,
because it actually totally overlaps and is very related to
(25:28):
what we just talked about, the addiction coping mechanism kind
of things, because you can't look at the pleasure seeking
side of your brain without looking at the counterpart that
manages or soothes pain. Right. So there's pleasure seeking and
then there's like pain relieving.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
Right.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
So the ACC also has one of the highest densities
of pain receptors as well in your brain. Okay, So,
like I said before, if I hurt my shoulder, the
injury itself is in the shoulder, but a lot of
the pain I'm experiencing is being processed by the ACE
in your brain. And this is where I'll also say,
(26:03):
and I'm not going to go too deep into this
today because it's also a really big topic. But there's
also a lot of evidenced based research that's been done
on the social emotional pain that humans experience, where they're
finding that emotional pain is actually manifesting as physiological pain. Okay,
so emotional pain is being experienced, but it's manifesting as
(26:25):
physical pain. And so for example, you know, take something
like fibromyalgia, and this is fascinating to me, and I
won't go too deep into it, but this is a
great example. So if you take something like fibromyalgia, which
is typically regarded as a physical pain disorder, a lot
of times it's called a fan, it's called phantom pain
disorder because a lot of times doctors it's unexplained, so
to speak. But there's been studies that show when a
(26:48):
FIBROMIALGA sufferer is placed under an fMRI machine, the brain
scan shows that the acc is essentially like firing and overdrive.
And that same study that I'm that I'm referring to,
it showed that the number one treatment for fibromyalga pain
in that study was not physical therapy, and it wasn't
pain meds or pain management. It was getting these people
(27:11):
connected with other fibromyalgia sufferers. It was getting them in
community and connecting their ACC social brain to other humans
going through the same thing. Okay, aka, getting their social
brain that oxytocin social connection. And what this study concluded
was that fibromyalgia could very well be a social disorder,
(27:34):
not a physical one. In other words, the ACC was
essentially in pain and there was what could be considered
like kind of a sensory mismatch, meaning the emotional pain
centers were firing in the ACC, but it was manifesting
physiologically because remember those emotional pain centers and the physiological
pain receptors are all predominantly in the ACC. And when
(27:57):
they attended to the social emotion pain in the ACC,
the physiological pain decreased significantly, way more than with meds
or PT, and so feeding and taking care of the
social brain is what helped the most with their physical pain. Okay.
And this is so fascinating, right, Like, just this brain
(28:18):
stuff to me was revelatory because again it made me
realize like, Okay, I'm not crazy or weak willed or
weird or different. I just need to learn to take
care of my brain just like I take care of
my body. But if you think that's cool, then let's
look at all three of the important aspects of the
ACC that we just talked about, and let's look at
(28:39):
it through the faith lens. Okay, and let's directly invite
God into this conversation one by one. Let's look at
all three of the important aspects of the ACC that
(29:00):
we just talked about, and let's look at it through
the faith lens. Okay, and let's directly invite God into
this conversation one by one. So first, let's look at
self image and self perception and where faith meets science, like,
let's see what God's got to say about it. So
first I just want to mention there was a national
(29:20):
study conducted by the Association of Religion Data Archives, and
it concluded that worship, attendance and prayer, and the specific
act of someone committing their life to Christ like, this
is what the study said. It said the specific act
of somebody committing their life to Christ was all related
to higher self esteem when the individuals reported a close
(29:42):
relationship with and I'm quoting here a divine being who
cared about them. A divine being who cared about them. Okay.
And the sociologist that conducted this experiment said that when
humans have what they called the ultimate friend on their side,
it made a big difference when it comes to self
respect and self worth. Guys, this is literally a study
(30:06):
to see the impact of faith on self image and
self worth. And what they concluded was that and I quote,
a sense of divine support is a robust predictor of
self esteem. It is a robust predictor, robust, robust potato potato,
but it literally is predicting self esteem. Okay. And here's
the thing I really want you to take away from
(30:27):
this study. Because language we've talked about is so important.
Notice the kind of relationship with God in Christ that
this study specifically talks about. In their language, they referred
to having a relationship with Christ where he was like
the air quote's ultimate friend and a divine being who
cared about them. This is about relationship, Okay. It's not religion.
(30:49):
It's not a punishment or shame driven God. It's a
relationship with a loving, redeeming God and a heavenly father
who sees you and loves you just as you are,
and you don't have to earn it or work for it.
And as Kevin Queen distinguished a few episodes ago, there's
a big difference between religion and faith, right, the big
distinction being that religion is rules and faith is relationship.
(31:12):
And this study just shows that faith as a relationship
with God and Christ as the ultimate friend and someone
who cares about you is scientifically proven to improve your
self esteem and self worth. Now, let's look at what
God's got to say about it by going into his
word like this from First Samuel sixteen seven. It says,
(31:33):
but the Lord said to Samuel, don't judge by his
appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord
doesn't see things the way that you see them. People
judge by outward appearance. But the Lord looks at the heart.
The Lord looks at the heart. I love that, Like
how often are our self image is based solely on
what we look like or quantifiable things like money and
(31:56):
bank balance and scale weight and gene size and all
those things. The Lord looks at the heart. Can you
imagine if you walked around reminding yourself of that? Or
this one from First Peter chapter three, verses three through
four reminds us of something similar. It says, don't be
concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry,
(32:17):
or beautiful clothes. You should clothe yourselves instead with the
beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a
gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God
and to me. This is about working on your inner beauty,
because what you see is who you be, and the
beauty within you that has nothing to do with the
worldly ways that we comprise our self worth is so
(32:40):
so precious to God. And of course this one from
Tewod Corinthians five seventeen, This means that anyone who belongs
to Christ has become a new person. The old life
is gone, a new life has begun. And this just
reminds me that you can take on a new story
and a new identity any time you chose. And like
(33:01):
I've shared throughout this entire podcast, I tried on the
story that God sent his son Jesus to die for
all my sins so that I didn't have to live
in my own burden and shame any longer, and I
could be a new creation in Christ and that when
I chose to follow him, the old is God and
the New has come, and that I can take the
pen and I can rewrite my story with God. And
(33:23):
when I tried on that story and I literally just
asked God to show me who I really am and
show me how he sees me, everything transformed because what
you see is who you be. And when I started
seeing myself through his eyes, Wow, it completely transformed my life.
And yeah, it started with me going down the brain
(33:44):
and science rabbit hole, but when I started asking, you know,
what's God got to do with all this self imaged
stuff and what's God reflecting back to me in the
mirror of my own self perception, what happened is beyond description.
And yeah, I use words like miracles because that's what
it felt like after thirty years of toxic shame and
having self rejection and self abandonment as my emotional home.
(34:07):
And really, that's why I'm inviting you to try this on.
Try on that you're not crazy or weak willed, You
just have a brain, and ask God to fill you
with new beliefs and new elements of your identity and
step into your own rebirth because what you see is
who you be. And keep in mind, I am just
giving you examples of scripture that resonated with me. But
(34:30):
like we talked about in last week's episode, resonance is everything,
So it's important that you find scripture that resonates with you.
So for the next part, remember how I also said
that the ACC was a big player in coping mechanisms
or you know, feeling dependent or out of control or
even outright addiction. So again this is a big topic
and obviously not someone and done conversation, but I also
(34:53):
want to say this again just to reiterate. You know,
you are not crazy, and you are not weak willed,
and you are simply do what your brain got fired
and wired to do. But this is also a brain
that God created and God gifted you with. And if
you feel lost or in the dark, then this is
the perfect place to meet God and invite him in there.
(35:14):
So let's see where faith meets science when it comes
to addiction or feeling out of control or you know,
relying on coping mechanisms. So a national study by the
Association of Religion Data Archives where they basically corelated one
hundred and eighty five different studies on faith's impacts on
different things such as you know, depression, mental health, you
(35:34):
name it. But they concluded that out of the one
hundred eighty five studies that they located, eighty four percent
of them, eighty four percent of them found that faith
reduced the risks of drug abuse. This you know, study
of studies, as I'm calling it, it's literally called belief,
behavior and belonging. How faith is indispensable in preventing and
(35:57):
recovering from substance abuse. And it's no wonder that seventy
three percent of addiction treatment programs in the USA include
a spirituality or faith based element, and it's part of
twelve step programs. And of course it was initially made
popular by alcoholics anonymous, where a lot of its core
principles emphasize relying on God or a higher power to
(36:18):
stay sober. But as you learned, when we talk about
that acc that social brain, it might not necessarily be
drugs or alcohol or sex, or maybe it is those things,
but it can also feel like we're addicted to food
or social media or dating apps or fill in the blank.
And again, yes, it's a conversation of taking radical ownership
and responsibility and doing the work to rewire your brain.
(36:41):
But it's literally proven that inviting God into this conversation
will miraculously help and speed up recovery, and I'll add
keep you on the path. So that's what science says
about the faith brain connection for this, But let's take
a look at what God has to say about it.
Let's go to God's word. So from First Corinthians ten thirteen,
(37:02):
it says, the temptations in your life are no different
from what others experience, and God is faithful. He will
not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand.
When you are tempted, he will show you a way
out so that you can ender. And this is where
I'll say it again. You are not crazy, You're not
weak willed. You are human and your temptations are also
(37:26):
the human part of you. But God will not allow
the temptation to be more than you can stand. And
if you feel lost or in the dark or out
of control, this is the perfect place to meet God
and ask him to meet you there. First Corinthians six' twelve,
says you Say i'm allowed to do, anything but not
(37:46):
everything is good for. You and even Though i'm allowed
to do, ANYTHING i must not become a slave to.
Anything so there's a difference between, yeah you're, allowed but
not being a. Slave and that reminds, me, yeah we
have free, will, right but not everything serves. Us and for,
me this was about looking at WHAT i was a slave,
to like what owned me, Right AND i was a
(38:08):
slave to so many things over my, life, food opinions of,
others we, relationships, alcohol, friendships dating, sites you name. It
BUT i finally did just have to acknowledge, like, wow
this does own me And i'm not really. Free AND
i had to get to that point WHERE i, said you,
KNOW i refuse to go another day without figuring out
how to heal. This and it's not just about giving
(38:30):
it To. God it's about radical personal responsibility and ownership
WHILE i give it over To god and have him
help me sort it. Out BUT i feel like that
in itself is an important, distinction like taking personal responsibility
and ownership of your struggles while you Invite god in
and surrender it over To. God, right it's not one
of these things of, like Oh, god just do it for.
(38:51):
Me it's, like, no you have to do the work.
Too but when you Invite god into that, again miracles.
Happen and in One peter five, ten it, says in his,
Kindness god called you to share in his eternal glory
by means Of Christ. Jesus so after you have suffered
a little, while he will restore support and strengthen, you
(39:12):
and he will place you on a firm. Foundation, Okay
so to, THAT i, say even if you feel like
you are at rock bottom or you're, suffering or maybe
you feel, unhelpable or like you're a lost cause or
just destined to struggle with your vice, forever there is a,
restorative healing power in the name Of jesus that can
strengthen you and give you a new healthy. Foundation god's
(39:37):
love will restore support and strengthen, you and he will
place you on a firm. Foundation and, again don't just
take my word for it. Blindly try this on. Right
Ask god to fill you with new beliefs and new
faith and new elements of your identity and step into
your own rebirth. Right and of course yes you have
(39:57):
to take radical ownership and change what's going on in your.
Brain but, again Ask god to meet you. There And
i'm just giving you examples of scripture that resonated with.
Me but, again resonance is, everything so make sure that
you find scripture that resonates with. You. Okay and, last
but not, least let's look at where faith meets science
when it comes to physical pain and What god's got
(40:18):
to say about. That so there's a study out Of
canada that they did it in two thousand and eight
and it was thirty seven thousand people that were fifteen
years or older and the study concluded that faith based
individuals and they literally defined faith based individuals as measuring
it by worship frequency together with the importance of spiritual.
(40:39):
Values so having spiritual values and worship in. Prayer. Okay
so faith based individuals based on that definition were associated
with lower levels of chronic pain and fatigue. Syndromes but
on top of, that frequent warship attendance was also associated
with better psychological well being in the populations that suffered
(41:02):
from chronic pain and. Fatigue faith was associated with the
use of positive psychological and positive physical coping. Mechanism so
again they also saw this alignment where where again it's
connected to what we talked about in our last section
of the coping. Mechanisms faith also changed how people cope,
Okay and again this is the evidence based science is
(41:23):
pointing to the fact that having a faith life and
a relationship With god and a prayer life and worship
is a pain. Reliever so let's take it even further
by looking To god's word and seeing What god's got
to say about. It so From psalm six to, two it,
says have compassion on, Me, lord FOR i am. Weak heal, Me,
(41:43):
lord for my bones are an. Agony and this is
literally a. Prayer. Okay this is an example of Asking
god for healing and strength and for relief from the,
agony which we just learned that faith and prayer is
scientifically proven to help alleviate, pain and The bible aligns with.
This philippians four thirteen, says FOR i can do everything Through,
(42:05):
christ who gives me. Strength FOR i can do everything Through,
christ who gives me. Strength and this just reminds me
to look To god for. Strength and, yes don't hear
What i'm not, saying, like definitely do all you can
do for yourself physically and to heal from what's ailing.
You but to, me this reminds me to Let god
do the heavy lifting in my, head, heart and, spirit
and he gives me true inner strength WHEN i might
(42:27):
feel physically, weak FOR i can do everything Through, christ
who gives me. Strength and, then of course there's this
scripture that has given me peace in so many different.
Situations BUT i feel like it's so relevant to. This
it's From psalm thirty four, eighteen and it says The
lord is close to the broken. Hearted he rescues those
whose spirits are. Crushed because let's be, honest pain and
(42:50):
unexplained illness or physical mental emotional distress can be soul
and spirit, crushing you know WHAT i. Mean and even
when the circumstances feel like it's more than you can,
bear this scripture reminds me that this is When god
is closest to your. Reach The lord is close to
the broken, hearted and he rescues those whose spirits are.
Crushed and, again, like just reach, Out like try it,
(43:13):
On try reaching out To god when you're broken. Hearted
try reaching out To god when your spirits are. Crushed
and you, know these are just obviously some of the
examples of the healing power Of god's word and the
healing power of faith and the healing power Of. Jesus but,
again it's up to you to Meet god. There, Right
that's All i'm inviting you to. Do and really the
big point of this, conversation, like what if you simply
(43:36):
started looking at your mental emotional health and your beliefs
and self image and your coping mechanisms are parts of
your life where you feel bondage and, yes even your physical,
Pain and what if this was all A god? Conversation?
Right this is the kind of stuff that is happening
in our social, brains whether we are aware of it or.
(43:56):
Not but this is also the part of the brain
THAT i believe if we Invite god in absolute miracles can. Happen.
Right our minds can be, renewed identities can be, reshaped
and hope and healing in our mental emotional health can
be something that we can continually Invite god into the.
Conversation and as, always EVERYTHING i share is simply an
(44:17):
invitation without, expectation to just try on a new story
or new perspective and see what meets you where you
are in your own. Journey, so if you're wondering What's
god got to do with your mental and emotional, Health
i'm here to tell you, everything everything you know and
everything you didn't. Know you didn't. Know we'll be back
(44:40):
with More What's God got To do With? It but
in the, MEANTIME i would definitely love to hear from,
you so just tell me where you are in your
story or maybe what questions you, have like where do
you feel you need clarity or support or wisdom in
your own. JOURNEY i definitely want to hear from, You
so head on over To What's God got To do With?
It dot com and scroll down to the form to
(45:03):
share your, thoughts your, questions your, feedback and you can
do that. Instantly So What's God got To do With?
It dot? Com you'll find all the ways to do.
That and if you like this podcast and want to hear,
more go ahead and, follow, like and subscribe wherever you
listen to podcasts to get your weekly dose Of What's
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(45:24):
tuesday and while you're, there be sure to rate and
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What's God got To Do With? It is an iHeartRadio
podcast on The Amy Brown Podcast. Network it's written and
hosted by Me Leanne, Ellington executive produced By Elizabeth, fozzio
post production and editing By Houston, tilley and original music
(45:47):
written By Cheryl stark and produced By Adam. Stark
If you want to go on a journey, if you're skeptical,
don't worry. Now Here to preach. I want to keep
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needs files nature and get in touch with your creator
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(00:39):
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We are back on what's God got to do with it?
And thank you so much for all the feedback we've
received so far, and thank you to everyone who has
followed or liked or subscribed to the podcast. And today
is so perfect to talk about this whole faith brain
connection because I believe that that has everything to do
with your mental emotional health. And if you've been listening
(01:07):
to this podcast, you know that my own mental emotional
health was kind of like my kryptonite for much of
my life, and teaching and coaching around mental emotional health
for women and teens is literally my day job. But
the reason I actually started podcasting was because I just
wanted the world to have easy access to the tools
that they need to take ownership of their mental and
(01:29):
emotional health because it really is a universal human right,
and because the suffering that happens in our heads and
hearts and brains and bodies is also universal. I mean,
no one is immune to challenges and adversity, and our
brains just kind of doing what they do. Right, Because
stress is universal, and we as humans relying on coping
(01:50):
mechanisms of different varieties to deal with those mental emotional
stress stressors, that's also universal. But also this simple but
not always easy desire to just be happy and to
be at peace and feel free. I believe that those
are also universal desires and universal human rights. So as
(02:12):
you soak in today's episode, I just want to plant
the seed that your mental and I would put emotional
and spiritual health in that same category, but that A
your mental health matters, and B you have a right
to feel healthy in your mind, brain, body, and spirit.
But here's what I also say about it. Okay, since
you do have a brain, I'm inviting you to have
(02:35):
a conversation about taking ownership and responsibility rather than letting
your brain run and do its thing, taking you down
your own rabbit holes. Right, It's about influencing what you
can influence to create your own peace of mind and
happiness and freedom. So yes, taking care of your mental
emotional health is a brain conversation, but this time around,
(02:58):
I'm also inviting you into the possibility of what if
it was also a God conversation, Like what if this
time you could invite God into the conversation and ask
God to meet you there and help you and support
you unconditionally and be your most supportive friend and trusted advisor.
But I will also say, and I'm sharing this from
(03:19):
my own experiences of making this so much harder on
myself than it needed to be, It will go a
lot smoother and easier if you shift, you know, from
this idea of really taking care of yourself and your
mental emotional health is kind of some sort of burden
and shift it to an assignment or a challenge that
you are choosing to take on. Okay, Because when everything
(03:41):
else in your life or your circumstances feels out of control,
your mental emotional health is one thing that you can influence,
you can focus on, and you can choose what you
feed it right, But it's also something that you can
surrender over to God at the same time and just
see what happens when you do that. Okay. And again
(04:02):
I'm not just saying like blindly take my word for it.
I'm saying, try it on and see how it feels
for you. Okay. So with that being said, let's just
dive on in. Okay. So this whole faith brain connection
and what I mean when I say where self image
meets neuroscience I shared with you in the very first
episode a scientist goes looking for God. That meeting myself
(04:24):
in my skeptical, cynical mind, but also, you know, stepping
into a God conversation around things I was previously trying
to do through my own might and will was so
so powerful for me because A it completed my story
and b it met me in what I already knew
about the magic and wonder of the brain and the
(04:45):
nervous system. And that's why for the last fifteen years
of my life I have been obsessed with the female
self image, like what is it that makes us see
and perceive ourselves the way that we do? And why
do our brains play tricks on us? And why do
we do what we do? And for me, this started
with questions like, you know, why did I just lose
(05:05):
one hundred pounds and totally make over my body, but
my self image is still calling myself fat? Or why
do I still feel like a crazy sugar addict? Or
why do I still feel unworthy, unlovable, undesirable fill in
the blank. And why didn't my mind and my brain
and my self image play catch up with how my
body physically transformed? And that is why I became obsessed
(05:29):
with researching and understanding the intricacies of the female brain
and self image, because, as you know, I suffered and
struggled with food and my body image and my self
image for decades and the world just kept throwing more
diets at my deeper problems. And you know, this stuff
really is not taught in the mainstream and it's not
made readily available, And that's why I really am so
(05:51):
purposeful about getting this way of thinking out there. But
also I've noticed it's really rare that I find anyone
taught talking about what God has to do with our
own mental emotional health and how that can be if
you are willing to go there, you know, a really
pivotal piece of the puzzle. So we're going to talk
(06:12):
about where faith meets science in terms of where your
self image lives and how to influence it through neuroscience
and by inviting God into it. But please just know
that we are just scratching the surface of this massive
topic and there will be multiple episodes that unravel this
thread and peel this onion so that you can, you know,
(06:33):
actually feel true worthiness down in your bones, like not
just this ambiguous you know, oh, just love yourself the
way you are kind of fake positivity that a lot
of the world is giving us. I'm talking about taking
a systematic and scientific approach to self love and self
trust and actually transforming the way that you see yourself
while you invite God into this conversation, or maybe that's
(06:57):
where it starts, right, So that is actually where I
want to start today essentially, you know, it's this is
an introduction to where your self image and your self
perception actually live and how to start influencing it and
how to invite God into that conversation. From day one,
and you probably guessed it, I want to start with
your self image. Okay. So when I say self image,
(07:20):
essentially it's the goggles that you are seeing yourself through
day in day out. Okay, It's your personal view or
mental picture that you have of yourself, and so imagine
all of the thoughts that you think about yourself on
a day to day basis. So maybe you're calling yourself
things like intelligent or kind, or beautiful or talented, or
(07:40):
maybe you're calling yourself a loser or ugly, or a
disappointment or selfish, unworthy, unlovable, you name it right. Basically, however,
you are regarding yourself or perceiving yourself, like how you
view your strengths or your weaknesses. You are defining yourself
and painting a picture of yourself and then living into
(08:01):
that story and picture, and then your beliefs and your
habits and your behaviors follow that story. Okay. And that's
why I always say what you see is who you be,
which is really just to say that how you're showing
up in your life, whether that's physically, emotionally, spiritually, financially, relationally, whatever, Okay,
(08:22):
how you're showing up in your life is a direct
reflection of what you see as being true about yourself
relative to each of these areas. Okay, So if you
see yourself as beautiful and lovable and irreplaceable, then you
be someone who shows up in the world as beautiful
and lovable and irreplaceable. What you see is who you be.
(08:43):
But on the other hand, if you see yourself as
imperfect and flawed and ugly, unlovable, unworthy fill in the blank,
then you'll be the person who meets the circumstances of
your life as that person. Okay, again, what you see
is who you be. And that's why doing the out
there work and I'm putting out there in quotes, right,
(09:06):
you know, the diets and the gym stuff and the
goal based or motivational stuff, it usually falls short for
us or it doesn't really address the deeper stuff going on,
because we will only ever be the person that we see.
What you see is who you be. And that's why
I always say true transformation begins with the self image
(09:27):
and really stepping into a new identity. And I learned
this the hard way, you know, after losing one hundred
pounds and making over my body, you know, because I
didn't address this self image and body image and the
wiring in my brain that was causing me to think
and act and feel and behave like I was fat,
unworthy of failure, destined to stay this way forever, whatever
(09:48):
painful words I was using. Okay, yes, I lost a
lot of weight, but I never transformed my identity and
I brought all of my old habits, thinking, and behaviors
with me because I brought my old self image with me. Now,
keep in mind that when I started on my own
self image path, I didn't have God in my life yet,
or at least I just didn't know that I did.
(10:10):
But by some divine miracle, I eventually had the insight
and awareness to just realize, like, Okay, I'm never going
to be able to outdiet or outwork or outsmart the
wiring that's been laying down in my brain for a
long time and really my self image. And I was
not going to be able to do it all on
my own either, Like I needed help and I needed
a lifeline. And yes, in many ways, I needed to
(10:33):
be saved from myself, Okay. And that's why I get
so excited to bring God into this conversation and talk
about what's God got to do with it when it
comes to your self image, because I believe there is
absolutely a faith brain connection. So when it comes to
the collective stories that we're telling ourselves on repeat about ourselves,
(10:54):
where yeah, maybe we are using hurtful words like unworthy
or unlovable, or you know, just identifying with words like
shame or self rejection. But it's also those sneaky stories
that we tell ourselves that maybe we're we're different or weird,
or maybe we just don't belong, or maybe we're telling
ourselves that we're all alone in this world or isolated, right,
(11:15):
Like you get the picture on that side of it, right,
those isolation words. And if you're anything like me, I
also thought that I was crazy, Like I thought that
like I was morally and undoubtedly broken and fill in
the blank down that rabbit hole, right, And that really
is its own rabbit hole when you're calling yourself crazy
or broken, because when we feel those things, we also
(11:37):
feel isolated or disconnected, and that's its own rabbit hole
as well, or at least it can be if our
self image is untamed or unmanaged or just you know,
growing metaphorical weeds without us weeding the metaphorical garden. And
that's why right off the bat, I'm going to dive
into a very specific part of the brain. And it's
(11:58):
the part of the brain that I have been, you know,
semi obsessed with for many years because it's essentially where
your self image and self perception live. And I'm starting
here because this is the stuff that if I knew
about this when I was younger, it would have saved
me so much suffering because understanding why I do what
(12:18):
I do and really understanding how this part of the
brain works. Honestly, it kind of helped me own my crazy,
as I lovingly say now, but what I really mean
by that is I can now see that I wasn't
crazy at all. Okay, my brain was just doing what
it does and what it got fired and wired to
do and repeated until I changed the pattern. So we
(12:41):
are going to get a big geeky, but I promise
it will all make sense and become really important to
your own faith brain connection. Okay, So this specific part
of the brain I really want you to get familiar
with is called the anterior singulate cortex, but you're going
to hear me calling it ACC for short acc Okay.
And the reason I believe it is so darn important
(13:04):
is because of all of the radically important stuff that
goes on in this part of the brain. So, first
of all, like I said, it's where our brain is
largely responsible for self perception and self reflection aka your
self image. Okay, but this is also where a large
majority of your emotional pain receptors and your social pain receptors,
(13:27):
as you'll learn about in a bit, which, as you'll learn,
is also a big time influencer when it comes to
conversations about addiction or just relying on any coping mechanisms
or anything you feel out of control of. Right, So,
whether that's food or alcohol, or shopping or Netflix, you
name it. Yes, that is all an ACC thing as well. Okay,
(13:47):
but if that's not important enough, all of that stuff
that I just mentioned, the ACC is also where a
large majority of your physical and physiological pain receptors live. Well, Okay,
So for example, if I hurt my shoulder, the injury
lives in the shoulder, but the pain I'm experiencing lives
(14:08):
in the brain, a large majority of it, specifically in
that ACC. So just that alone, those three things, can
you see why this part of the brain is so
important to know about and just try to take care
of and keep healthy? Right? But also can you see
how it would be a really powerful experience to invite
(14:28):
God into conversations about this part of your brain as well?
So that's exactly what we're gonna do. And I'm just
going to break down each part really quickly for like
the logic and reason side of it for you, and
then we're going to directly invite God into these conversations.
And as you'll learn, there's literally evidence based science out
(14:48):
there that backs this up. So let's go through these
one by one. So let's go through these one by one.
So first, is the self perception and self reflection part
of your brain and your self image. Okay, so a
(15:10):
quick thing about the ACC, or the social brain as
I call it. I teach my clients to remember the
three letters ACC by remembering acceptance, connection and care. ACC acceptance,
connection and care. And that's because your ACC's job is
to look for acceptance, connection and care from others, but
(15:31):
it also is looking to feel it from yourself. It
doesn't really care if it's from others or from yourself.
It just needs to feel accepted, connected, and cared for.
And so, in other words, in order for your social
brain to feel safe and not go into its own
form of fight or flight, it needs to feel emotionally
and socially safe. Okay, more specifically, it needs connection. It
(15:53):
needs belonging, inclusion, and really actual human connection. So either
feeling accepted and connected and cared for from yourself or
to feel that from others. Okay, and guys, this isn't
just a desire, it is a require. It's not just
a want. It is a need from your social brain.
And ladies that are listening. And interesting thing about the
(16:16):
ACC is it's bigger and more active in females than
it is in males. Okay, And so I want to
quote one of my favorite neuroscientists, doctor Lewin Bresendine, because
she says it best when she says this. Okay, she said,
more than ninety nine percent of male and female genetic
coding is exactly the same out of thirty thousand genes
(16:36):
in the human genome. The less than one percent variation
between the sexes aka male and female is small, but
that one percent difference influences every single cell in our bodies,
from the nerves that register pleasure and pain to the
neurons that transmit perception, thoughts, feelings, and emotions. So that's
(16:57):
what one of my favorite brain scientists, LeWinn Brezdian said,
And here's the thing. One of the biggest differences. She
says that one percent difference. The biggest difference is the ACC. Okay,
it is bigger and more active in females than it
is in male So, ladies, that social emotional pain center
of your brain essentially needs more love. You need more acceptance,
(17:20):
connection and care. And really understanding that side of it,
it really helped me realize like, Okay, I'm not crazy,
I'm not over emotional, I'm not needy. I'm just a woman.
And now I know that my female brain needs a
bit more acceptance, connection and care, and it needs more love.
But here's what I also say about this social brain
(17:42):
and self image conversation. It is not practical or even
possible for anyone to just not care what other people
think about us. Like if you've ever heard somebody be like, oh,
I don't care what they think about us, Honestly, it's
not true, because our brains are wired to care about
what other people think about us, Like that's what the
ACC does, and especially that female brain, right, We're wired
(18:04):
to actively notice other people's opinions and judges and judgments,
I should say, more than the male brain notices them.
So yeah, it's not possible to not care. What other
people's opinions are of you. But here's what is possible.
It is possible to figure out what it would take
for you to value your own opinion of yourself more
so or even just a little bit more so than
(18:26):
someone else's opinion of you. And I truly believe that
the best way to do that is to align with
God's view of who you are, not society, not your
neighbors down the road, or that woman you follow on
Instagram that you're comparing yourself to. Right, I believe it's
possible to build an identity and recreate your self image
(18:46):
through the eyes of unconditional love and unconditional acceptance, connection
and care. And I believe that God is the perfect
set of eyes to start seeing yourself through. In other words,
what would it be like if you didn't need, you know,
endorsement or approval from somebody else to tell you who
you are, or tell you how much you're worth, or
(19:08):
tell you how beautiful or desirable you are, or if
you have the air quotes right to feel that way
for yourself. And let's be honest, like we're human, it's
very nice to get that confirmation and affirmation from others,
like we're only human. But what would it be like
if you didn't need it and rely on it from others,
and you were able to provide it for yourself because
you were getting your identity from God and through the
(19:31):
eyes of unconditional love and unconditional acceptance, right, Like, Just
imagine what would you be walking like and talking like,
and thinking like and feeling like if you were walking
around seeing yourself and your life through those eyes, through
God's eyes, and identity built and based in that, right
And imagine how your self image would be impacted if
(19:52):
you were walking around seeing your life through those eyes
and through God's eyes. And we're going to come back
to that, I promise, But I also want to touch
on and remember how I said that the ACC was
also a big player in things like addiction and coping
mechanisms or you know, just kind of feeling dependent or
codependent or just out of control of something. And I
(20:12):
believe the ACC is also primarily where addiction and coping
mechanisms actually live. And here's what I mean by that. Now, First,
I want to just give a little disclaimer because this
is a massive topic. Okay, all of this really is
a massive topic, and none of this episode, but especially
when we're talking about a big thing like addiction. I
am not here claiming that this podcast episode is going
(20:32):
to solve addiction or even close to being a substitute
for getting actual help and support, right, I'm simply here
to help you understand a bit more about maybe you
know why you do what you do, and of course
invite God into this conversation.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
Right.
Speaker 2 (20:46):
And I know this is a massive topic. It's loaded
with emotions and history and oftentimes trauma. So please don't
hear what I'm not saying. Okay, My hope is just
to help you understand so that you can approach your
struggles with compassion and care rather than judgment or shame.
So back to the acc So I'm going to kind
(21:07):
of describe this cause and effect cascade that happens in
the brain. And I'm actually going to use sugar for example.
But you know, let's be honest, sometimes it's wine. Sometimes
it's Netflix, mindless TV, online shopping, scrolling Instagram, anything that
really numbs you out, distracts you, you know, causes you
to procrastinate, like drugs, you right, and again, like we
all have our own drug of choice. There's no there's
(21:28):
no shame in that, right, but just no, Like, this
really is a small snapshot of how your ACC works.
And of course I'm giving you the very oversimplified version,
but I wanted to kind of lay out this cascade
for you. Okay. So when you're reaching for your drug
of choice, your social brain, like your ACC, is actually
looking for oxytocin, okay. And oxytocin is the love and
(21:51):
comfort and emotional or psychological safety hormone, and the ACC
has one of the highest densities of opioid receipt in
your brain. And I want you to remember that because
it's going to be important. So here's the thing. Your
ACC or social brain as I call it, will get it.
It will get oxytocin. Okay. Like I said, it's not
(22:12):
just something that your ACC desires. It requires oxytocin. But
it becomes a matter of what you feed your brain
because here's what's also happening, and a lot of times
it's happening without you knowing it. So, like I said,
your brain requires connection oxytocin, that safety love connection hormone
that we talked about instead in those moments because our
(22:35):
brain doesn't know or maybe it's misfiring. We feed ourselves,
you know, food or mindless TV or mindless web scrolling
or compulsive shopping, or maybe it's actual drugs or alcohol, right,
but really it's any activity that numbs or distracts or
comforts in that moment. So in turn, instead of giving
our brains what it really needs in that moment, which
(22:55):
is oxytocin, we are giving it endless amounts of this high,
like a synthetic high of the drug itself, which is
actually not an oxytocin payoff. It's actually creating a dopamine
serotonin payoff. But in those moments, what our brain is
truly craving is connection and oxytocin, and in turn, our
social brain it stays hungry, like it's still hungry for
(23:19):
that oxytocin because it's still not getting it because we're
giving it endless amounts of dopamine instead. So essentially we
are feeding loneliness and sadness and shame and stress and
boredom with like fake connection like TV and food and
other drugs, And in turn, we remain overfed, but we're undernourished,
(23:40):
and we stay undernourished because our brain still craze that oxytocin.
But again, the pattern keeps going. And this is the
vicious cycle that keeps happening over and over and over again,
and it's fired and wired in your brain. And that's
why willpower or trying to outmotivate or white knuckle your
way through it probably isn't working, or it doesn't work
(24:01):
very long, because that problem is never going to be
solved with logic reason because it is emotional. It's in
your brain. In fact, your brain is just doing what
it's been programmed to do. Require oxytocin and expect to
get that hit of dopamine in return. Okay, But also
this is the perfect place to invite God into the
(24:23):
conversation because in reality, this is your brain screaming at
you to feed it what it really needs. And here's
a hint. It's oftentimes a spiritual need and an emotional need.
But in the moment, your brain thinks it wants sugar
or Netflix or drugs or alcohol or sex or whatever.
But in reality, it doesn't want that thing. It wants
(24:45):
oxytocin and heart soul spirit connection. But it's just been
programmed and fired and wired to get that other thing.
It's been programmed to live in a state of being
overfed yet undernourished. So I really want you to start
seeing being this through the eyes of like what spiritual
need and emotional need am I filling with my own
(25:06):
drug of choice? Okay, just think about that, Like, what
when I'm finding and feeding my drug of choice, what's
the emotional and spiritual need that I am really filling
right there? And we're gonna come back to that when
we talk about the faith brain connection, because it's so important.
But first let's look at that third piece of this puzzle,
because it actually totally overlaps and is very related to
(25:28):
what we just talked about, the addiction coping mechanism kind
of things, because you can't look at the pleasure seeking
side of your brain without looking at the counterpart that
manages or soothes pain. Right. So there's pleasure seeking and
then there's like pain relieving.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
Right.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
So the ACC also has one of the highest densities
of pain receptors as well in your brain. Okay, So,
like I said before, if I hurt my shoulder, the
injury itself is in the shoulder, but a lot of
the pain I'm experiencing is being processed by the ACE
in your brain. And this is where I'll also say,
(26:03):
and I'm not going to go too deep into this
today because it's also a really big topic. But there's
also a lot of evidenced based research that's been done
on the social emotional pain that humans experience, where they're
finding that emotional pain is actually manifesting as physiological pain. Okay,
so emotional pain is being experienced, but it's manifesting as
(26:25):
physical pain. And so for example, you know, take something
like fibromyalgia, and this is fascinating to me, and I
won't go too deep into it, but this is a
great example. So if you take something like fibromyalgia, which
is typically regarded as a physical pain disorder, a lot
of times it's called a fan, it's called phantom pain
disorder because a lot of times doctors it's unexplained, so
to speak. But there's been studies that show when a
(26:48):
FIBROMIALGA sufferer is placed under an fMRI machine, the brain
scan shows that the acc is essentially like firing and overdrive.
And that same study that I'm that I'm referring to,
it showed that the number one treatment for fibromyalga pain
in that study was not physical therapy, and it wasn't
pain meds or pain management. It was getting these people
(27:11):
connected with other fibromyalgia sufferers. It was getting them in
community and connecting their ACC social brain to other humans
going through the same thing. Okay, aka, getting their social
brain that oxytocin social connection. And what this study concluded
was that fibromyalgia could very well be a social disorder,
(27:34):
not a physical one. In other words, the ACC was
essentially in pain and there was what could be considered
like kind of a sensory mismatch, meaning the emotional pain
centers were firing in the ACC, but it was manifesting
physiologically because remember those emotional pain centers and the physiological
pain receptors are all predominantly in the ACC. And when
(27:57):
they attended to the social emotion pain in the ACC,
the physiological pain decreased significantly, way more than with meds
or PT, and so feeding and taking care of the
social brain is what helped the most with their physical pain. Okay.
And this is so fascinating, right, Like, just this brain
(28:18):
stuff to me was revelatory because again it made me
realize like, Okay, I'm not crazy or weak willed or
weird or different. I just need to learn to take
care of my brain just like I take care of
my body. But if you think that's cool, then let's
look at all three of the important aspects of the
ACC that we just talked about, and let's look at
(28:39):
it through the faith lens. Okay, and let's directly invite
God into this conversation one by one. Let's look at
all three of the important aspects of the ACC that
(29:00):
we just talked about, and let's look at it through
the faith lens. Okay, and let's directly invite God into
this conversation one by one. So first, let's look at
self image and self perception and where faith meets science, like,
let's see what God's got to say about it. So
first I just want to mention there was a national
(29:20):
study conducted by the Association of Religion Data Archives, and
it concluded that worship, attendance and prayer, and the specific
act of someone committing their life to Christ like, this
is what the study said. It said the specific act
of somebody committing their life to Christ was all related
to higher self esteem when the individuals reported a close
(29:42):
relationship with and I'm quoting here a divine being who
cared about them. A divine being who cared about them. Okay.
And the sociologist that conducted this experiment said that when
humans have what they called the ultimate friend on their side,
it made a big difference when it comes to self
respect and self worth. Guys, this is literally a study
(30:06):
to see the impact of faith on self image and
self worth. And what they concluded was that and I quote,
a sense of divine support is a robust predictor of
self esteem. It is a robust predictor, robust, robust potato potato,
but it literally is predicting self esteem. Okay. And here's
the thing I really want you to take away from
(30:27):
this study. Because language we've talked about is so important.
Notice the kind of relationship with God in Christ that
this study specifically talks about. In their language, they referred
to having a relationship with Christ where he was like
the air quote's ultimate friend and a divine being who
cared about them. This is about relationship, Okay. It's not religion.
(30:49):
It's not a punishment or shame driven God. It's a
relationship with a loving, redeeming God and a heavenly father
who sees you and loves you just as you are,
and you don't have to earn it or work for it.
And as Kevin Queen distinguished a few episodes ago, there's
a big difference between religion and faith, right, the big
distinction being that religion is rules and faith is relationship.
(31:12):
And this study just shows that faith as a relationship
with God and Christ as the ultimate friend and someone
who cares about you is scientifically proven to improve your
self esteem and self worth. Now, let's look at what
God's got to say about it by going into his
word like this from First Samuel sixteen seven. It says,
(31:33):
but the Lord said to Samuel, don't judge by his
appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord
doesn't see things the way that you see them. People
judge by outward appearance. But the Lord looks at the heart.
The Lord looks at the heart. I love that, Like
how often are our self image is based solely on
what we look like or quantifiable things like money and
(31:56):
bank balance and scale weight and gene size and all
those things. The Lord looks at the heart. Can you
imagine if you walked around reminding yourself of that? Or
this one from First Peter chapter three, verses three through
four reminds us of something similar. It says, don't be
concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry,
(32:17):
or beautiful clothes. You should clothe yourselves instead with the
beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a
gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God
and to me. This is about working on your inner beauty,
because what you see is who you be, and the
beauty within you that has nothing to do with the
worldly ways that we comprise our self worth is so
(32:40):
so precious to God. And of course this one from
Tewod Corinthians five seventeen, This means that anyone who belongs
to Christ has become a new person. The old life
is gone, a new life has begun. And this just
reminds me that you can take on a new story
and a new identity any time you chose. And like
(33:01):
I've shared throughout this entire podcast, I tried on the
story that God sent his son Jesus to die for
all my sins so that I didn't have to live
in my own burden and shame any longer, and I
could be a new creation in Christ and that when
I chose to follow him, the old is God and
the New has come, and that I can take the
pen and I can rewrite my story with God. And
(33:23):
when I tried on that story and I literally just
asked God to show me who I really am and
show me how he sees me, everything transformed because what
you see is who you be. And when I started
seeing myself through his eyes, Wow, it completely transformed my life.
And yeah, it started with me going down the brain
(33:44):
and science rabbit hole, but when I started asking, you know,
what's God got to do with all this self imaged
stuff and what's God reflecting back to me in the
mirror of my own self perception, what happened is beyond description.
And yeah, I use words like miracles because that's what
it felt like after thirty years of toxic shame and
having self rejection and self abandonment as my emotional home.
(34:07):
And really, that's why I'm inviting you to try this on.
Try on that you're not crazy or weak willed, You
just have a brain, and ask God to fill you
with new beliefs and new elements of your identity and
step into your own rebirth because what you see is
who you be. And keep in mind, I am just
giving you examples of scripture that resonated with me. But
(34:30):
like we talked about in last week's episode, resonance is everything,
So it's important that you find scripture that resonates with you.
So for the next part, remember how I also said
that the ACC was a big player in coping mechanisms
or you know, feeling dependent or out of control or
even outright addiction. So again this is a big topic
and obviously not someone and done conversation, but I also
(34:53):
want to say this again just to reiterate. You know,
you are not crazy, and you are not weak willed,
and you are simply do what your brain got fired
and wired to do. But this is also a brain
that God created and God gifted you with. And if
you feel lost or in the dark, then this is
the perfect place to meet God and invite him in there.
(35:14):
So let's see where faith meets science when it comes
to addiction or feeling out of control or you know,
relying on coping mechanisms. So a national study by the
Association of Religion Data Archives where they basically corelated one
hundred and eighty five different studies on faith's impacts on
different things such as you know, depression, mental health, you
(35:34):
name it. But they concluded that out of the one
hundred eighty five studies that they located, eighty four percent
of them, eighty four percent of them found that faith
reduced the risks of drug abuse. This you know, study
of studies, as I'm calling it, it's literally called belief,
behavior and belonging. How faith is indispensable in preventing and
(35:57):
recovering from substance abuse. And it's no wonder that seventy
three percent of addiction treatment programs in the USA include
a spirituality or faith based element, and it's part of
twelve step programs. And of course it was initially made
popular by alcoholics anonymous, where a lot of its core
principles emphasize relying on God or a higher power to
(36:18):
stay sober. But as you learned, when we talk about
that acc that social brain, it might not necessarily be
drugs or alcohol or sex, or maybe it is those things,
but it can also feel like we're addicted to food
or social media or dating apps or fill in the blank.
And again, yes, it's a conversation of taking radical ownership
and responsibility and doing the work to rewire your brain.
(36:41):
But it's literally proven that inviting God into this conversation
will miraculously help and speed up recovery, and I'll add
keep you on the path. So that's what science says
about the faith brain connection for this, But let's take
a look at what God has to say about it.
Let's go to God's word. So from First Corinthians ten thirteen,
(37:02):
it says, the temptations in your life are no different
from what others experience, and God is faithful. He will
not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand.
When you are tempted, he will show you a way
out so that you can ender. And this is where
I'll say it again. You are not crazy, You're not
weak willed. You are human and your temptations are also
(37:26):
the human part of you. But God will not allow
the temptation to be more than you can stand. And
if you feel lost or in the dark or out
of control, this is the perfect place to meet God
and ask him to meet you there. First Corinthians six' twelve,
says you Say i'm allowed to do, anything but not
(37:46):
everything is good for. You and even Though i'm allowed
to do, ANYTHING i must not become a slave to.
Anything so there's a difference between, yeah you're, allowed but
not being a. Slave and that reminds, me, yeah we
have free, will, right but not everything serves. Us and for,
me this was about looking at WHAT i was a slave,
to like what owned me, Right AND i was a
(38:08):
slave to so many things over my, life, food opinions of,
others we, relationships, alcohol, friendships dating, sites you name. It
BUT i finally did just have to acknowledge, like, wow
this does own me And i'm not really. Free AND
i had to get to that point WHERE i, said you,
KNOW i refuse to go another day without figuring out
how to heal. This and it's not just about giving
(38:30):
it To. God it's about radical personal responsibility and ownership
WHILE i give it over To god and have him
help me sort it. Out BUT i feel like that
in itself is an important, distinction like taking personal responsibility
and ownership of your struggles while you Invite god in
and surrender it over To. God, right it's not one
of these things of, like Oh, god just do it for.
(38:51):
Me it's, like, no you have to do the work.
Too but when you Invite god into that, again miracles.
Happen and in One peter five, ten it, says in his,
Kindness god called you to share in his eternal glory
by means Of Christ. Jesus so after you have suffered
a little, while he will restore support and strengthen, you
(39:12):
and he will place you on a firm. Foundation, Okay
so to, THAT i, say even if you feel like
you are at rock bottom or you're, suffering or maybe
you feel, unhelpable or like you're a lost cause or
just destined to struggle with your vice, forever there is a,
restorative healing power in the name Of jesus that can
strengthen you and give you a new healthy. Foundation god's
(39:37):
love will restore support and strengthen, you and he will
place you on a firm. Foundation and, again don't just
take my word for it. Blindly try this on. Right
Ask god to fill you with new beliefs and new
faith and new elements of your identity and step into
your own rebirth. Right and of course yes you have
(39:57):
to take radical ownership and change what's going on in your.
Brain but, again Ask god to meet you. There And
i'm just giving you examples of scripture that resonated with.
Me but, again resonance is, everything so make sure that
you find scripture that resonates with. You. Okay and, last
but not, least let's look at where faith meets science
when it comes to physical pain and What god's got
(40:18):
to say about. That so there's a study out Of
canada that they did it in two thousand and eight
and it was thirty seven thousand people that were fifteen
years or older and the study concluded that faith based
individuals and they literally defined faith based individuals as measuring
it by worship frequency together with the importance of spiritual.
(40:39):
Values so having spiritual values and worship in. Prayer. Okay
so faith based individuals based on that definition were associated
with lower levels of chronic pain and fatigue. Syndromes but
on top of, that frequent warship attendance was also associated
with better psychological well being in the populations that suffered
(41:02):
from chronic pain and. Fatigue faith was associated with the
use of positive psychological and positive physical coping. Mechanism so
again they also saw this alignment where where again it's
connected to what we talked about in our last section
of the coping. Mechanisms faith also changed how people cope,
Okay and again this is the evidence based science is
(41:23):
pointing to the fact that having a faith life and
a relationship With god and a prayer life and worship
is a pain. Reliever so let's take it even further
by looking To god's word and seeing What god's got
to say about. It so From psalm six to, two it,
says have compassion on, Me, lord FOR i am. Weak heal, Me,
(41:43):
lord for my bones are an. Agony and this is
literally a. Prayer. Okay this is an example of Asking
god for healing and strength and for relief from the,
agony which we just learned that faith and prayer is
scientifically proven to help alleviate, pain and The bible aligns with.
This philippians four thirteen, says FOR i can do everything Through,
(42:05):
christ who gives me. Strength FOR i can do everything Through,
christ who gives me. Strength and this just reminds me
to look To god for. Strength and, yes don't hear
What i'm not, saying, like definitely do all you can
do for yourself physically and to heal from what's ailing.
You but to, me this reminds me to Let god
do the heavy lifting in my, head, heart and, spirit
and he gives me true inner strength WHEN i might
(42:27):
feel physically, weak FOR i can do everything Through, christ
who gives me. Strength and, then of course there's this
scripture that has given me peace in so many different.
Situations BUT i feel like it's so relevant to. This
it's From psalm thirty four, eighteen and it says The
lord is close to the broken. Hearted he rescues those
whose spirits are. Crushed because let's be, honest pain and
(42:50):
unexplained illness or physical mental emotional distress can be soul
and spirit, crushing you know WHAT i. Mean and even
when the circumstances feel like it's more than you can,
bear this scripture reminds me that this is When god
is closest to your. Reach The lord is close to
the broken, hearted and he rescues those whose spirits are.
Crushed and, again, like just reach, Out like try it,
(43:13):
On try reaching out To god when you're broken. Hearted
try reaching out To god when your spirits are. Crushed
and you, know these are just obviously some of the
examples of the healing power Of god's word and the
healing power of faith and the healing power Of. Jesus but,
again it's up to you to Meet god. There, Right
that's All i'm inviting you to. Do and really the
big point of this, conversation, like what if you simply
(43:36):
started looking at your mental emotional health and your beliefs
and self image and your coping mechanisms are parts of
your life where you feel bondage and, yes even your physical,
Pain and what if this was all A god? Conversation?
Right this is the kind of stuff that is happening
in our social, brains whether we are aware of it or.
(43:56):
Not but this is also the part of the brain
THAT i believe if we Invite god in absolute miracles can. Happen.
Right our minds can be, renewed identities can be, reshaped
and hope and healing in our mental emotional health can
be something that we can continually Invite god into the.
Conversation and as, always EVERYTHING i share is simply an
(44:17):
invitation without, expectation to just try on a new story
or new perspective and see what meets you where you
are in your own. Journey, so if you're wondering What's
god got to do with your mental and emotional, Health
i'm here to tell you, everything everything you know and
everything you didn't. Know you didn't. Know we'll be back
(44:40):
with More What's God got To do With? It but
in the, MEANTIME i would definitely love to hear from,
you so just tell me where you are in your
story or maybe what questions you, have like where do
you feel you need clarity or support or wisdom in
your own. JOURNEY i definitely want to hear from, You
so head on over To What's God got To do With?
It dot com and scroll down to the form to
(45:03):
share your, thoughts your, questions your, feedback and you can
do that. Instantly So What's God got To do With?
It dot? Com you'll find all the ways to do.
That and if you like this podcast and want to hear,
more go ahead and, follow, like and subscribe wherever you
listen to podcasts to get your weekly dose Of What's
God got To do With? It new episodes drop every Single,
(45:24):
tuesday and while you're, there be sure to rate and
review to show your. Support it really means so. Much
What's God got To Do With? It is an iHeartRadio
podcast on The Amy Brown Podcast. Network it's written and
hosted by Me Leanne, Ellington executive produced By Elizabeth, fozzio
post production and editing By Houston, tilley and original music
(45:47):
written By Cheryl stark and produced By Adam. Stark
Host
Leanne Ellington
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