The Brain’s Way of Healing summary

Our brain’s ability to overcome ailments doesn’t stop at chronic pain.

For another impressive achievement, let’s look at South African accountant John Pepper. After being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, John believed he could fight the disease by increasing his exercise regimen. Yet, despite his best efforts, every week he had to lower the weight he lifted and reduce the time he spent on the treadmill.

There are other exercises that can help rewire our brains, and one of them comes from a rather unexpected source.

In June, 1940, a physicist named Moshé Feldenkrais fled Nazi-occupied Paris and resettled in England. On this journey, Feldenkrais carried secret papers and plans for building bombs, which, doubtless, was a nerve-wracking experience – and perhaps that’s why he dedicated the rest of his life to a method based on soothing movements.

We’ve heard some pretty astounding stories about how the brain can recover from serious setbacks. But what about other types of ailments, like blindness?

This is the question that IT consultant David Webber was faced with after losing his eyesight and his job. Luckily for David, he found that there are indeed eye exercises that can remedy vision failure when practiced diligently.

If you’ve ever heard someone talk about “the healing powers of the sun’s rays,” chances are they weren’t talking about its power to heal brain injuries. But new discoveries are suggesting that this is exactly what targeted exposure to light can do.

Just take the case of a Canadian professor who sustained a serious brain injury in a car crash.

Lasers aren’t the only technological advancement that can help the brain heal.

Ron Husmann, a celebrated Broadway singer during the 1970s and 1980s, with a voice that didn’t need a microphone to enthrall audiences, is a case in point. His voice started to fail him in his 40s, and he discovered he had multiple sclerosis (MS), a disease where the immune system attacks the central nervous system.

As the old saying goes, “Music soothes the soul.” But, nowadays, we know from research that music can do a lot more than that. In fact, it can help heal the brain.

Music is proving especially helpful in healing dyslexia, a learning disorder that can affect a person’s ability to read and write.