Brain Drain
An interview with Charles F. Glassman, MD



Barbara DeGraw: For those of our readers who may not know who you are,
who are you?
Charles Glassman M.D.: I have practiced general internal medicine in
Pomona, NY for the past 21 years.  Five years ago, I founded the NY Center
for Longevity & Wellness so to focus on what I feel is most important in
healthcare: a consideration of the totality of a person's being - mind, body,
and soul.  I have been fortunate to have been recognized as a New York
Metro Top Doctor for the past five years, featured in Hudson Valley Magazine
as top 60 doctors from Albany to New York City, and recognized by the
Consumers' Research Council of America as Top Physician.

BD: Why did you write “Brain Drain?”
CG: In early 2007, I began writing a weekly e-mail message for my patients
and many others. It all started with a discussion I had with a patient. He told
me how motivated he always felt after talking with me, but that somewhere
between our conversations and his immersing himself in his daily
responsibilities, the motivation seemed to fade. He asked if I could find a way
to motivate him between visits. I decided to send him a weekly inspirational
kick in the behind. As I began writing these messages to him over the first few
weeks of 2007, I realized that the issues I was discussing were no different for
him than for many others. So, I began compiling an e-mail distribution list of
my patients and distributing my messages every week. I had no trouble
coming up with topics-every time I sat down to write, I looked within myself and
as I sought solutions for personal challenges and questions, I found ideas
that resonated with my readers. I wanted to explore what it was that made us
lose momentum and derail us from the motivation that we feel after, for
example, hearing or listening to a motivational speaker or reading
inspirational literature or attending a spiritual place of worship. It seems that
this motivation wears off, as it did with my patient after speaking with me.
When we lose that steam, something seems to drain our spirit; hence
ultimately affecting our health and outlook on life. I experience this myself,
and writing the weekly messages helped me figure it out. In many respects,
my writing is a form of self-therapy.
Many of my readers encouraged me to turn my weekly message into a book.
In the summer of 2007, I had the inspiration to develop another business,
outside my private practice. The business would provide corporations with
wellness education, addressing stress, nutrition, and fitness. For almost a
year, I worked on this project with a partner. We developed what I believed to
be a program that was both dynamic and positioned for growth. But in May
2008, my partner, for personal reasons, decided she could no longer go
forward with the business. She called me on a Saturday morning to discuss
this, and we agreed to end our business. Just like that, almost a year of work
went down the drain. That morning I felt a little sad. This melancholy mood
lasted about two hours. I took a shower and began my meditation. As I drifted
deep into meditation, I met, as I always do, my inner guidance. The meditation
lasted particularly long, nearly 25 minutes. What stands out most from it is
what my inner guidance directed: “Turn your weekly messages into a book,”  
“You don't need anyone but yourself,” and “Meditate every day.” I believed,
trusted, and took direction from this calling and have brought a book, which I
believe, can help others live a fully satisfying life in body, mind, and spirit.

BD: You discuss our automatic brain as that part of us that perceives danger
and threats acts accordingly, how does that part of us form? Does it happen
in our childhood?
CG: This is the primitive brain that has been with humankind for about
250,000 years. It is reactive and its only purpose is to protect our physical
body from danger, threat, and vulnerable situations. We carry some danger
awareness from genetic imprinting, but our automatic brain learns the vast
majority of its triggers during childhood. In fact, there is no time greater in
human brain development than our first twelve years of life. Therefore, it
makes sense that we learn most of our dangers during this time.

BD: If we experience an emotion too early, like being frightened, does that
program our automatic brain?
CG: Yes.

BD: Besides our familial dynamics programming our automatic brain, can we
experience a feeling that is just plain uncomfortable to us that we wish not to
experience again?
CG: Yes. Think about what it would be like for you as a four or five year old,
to be abandoned from your home. Your brain learns early on, automatically
below your level of consciousness, that leaving the “nest” is dangerous.
Therefore, for most of us, going outside our “comfort zone” in many things is
enough to trigger the automatic brain to make us fight or flee those pursuits
that take us into this “dangerous” territory.

BD: How can we tell if our automatic brain is in control?
CG: Great question. The physical sensations that we get after seeing a police
officer in our rear view mirror or being called upon to speak are easy to
recognize. The more subtle signs are behaviors and thoughts. Anytime you
get a thought that pops into your head (a zinger I have called them) that is
self-deprecating, that tries to  disrupt a peaceful moment with some future or
past responsibility, or that is hurtful and judgmental toward another are all
examples of the automatic brain in action. This brain only reacts to danger,
threat, or vulnerability. Therefore, whatever you are doing at the time of
these thoughts has somehow triggered your automatic brain.  The automatic
brain only reacts by fight or flight. Anger and rage is the fight and always
means the automatic brain has been activated. Some danger trigger flipped
the switch on. In my estimation, depression is withdrawal and represents the
flight from some yet to be discovered danger trigger, with suicide being the
extreme example of when the automatic brain leads to a flight to escape
danger, threat, or vulnerability. Suicide also is proof that the lure to follow our
automatic brain to protect us is a devious one, ultimately leading us to the
thing from which it is trying to protect (i.e. against hurt of our physical body).

BD: Can we really override or move past our automatic brain?
CG: The automatic brain operates 24/7. Figure that in order for Homo
sapiens to survive for a couple hundred thousand years, the system to
protect us must have been very effective. The problem is that now in the 21st
century we really do not need to follow this brain as our primary protective
source.  Why? I believe that sometime around the time of biblical creation
(around 6 - 8000 years ago), our higher mind came to us. This mind is
reflective, insightful, and is able to consider spiritual and philosophical
concepts as where we might have come from, why are we here, and where
might we go with the death of our physical body. This mind is more suited
than the automatic brain to guide us and to recognize true danger. The
challenge is not to trust, believe, or take direction from the automatic brain
but to take steps, as I lay out in my book, to cultivate our mind.
An example I like to use is from the film A Beautiful Mind. Russell Crowe plays
the brilliant mathematician, John Forbes Nash. Nash suffered from
schizophrenia, which is an extreme case and an extreme of the automatic
brain. Nash saw and heard delusions, but later in life he was able to
recognize that these delusions were not real. In his later years, as he strolled
the campus of Princeton University, his three main delusionary figures-a small
girl, a college friend, and an FBI agent-walked along side him, chatting with
him as they did his entire life. The difference was that by this time he no
longer believed them, trusted them, or took directions from them.
Similarly, the less we follow the ever-present automatic brain, the less
influential it becomes. Yet, it will always be around.

BD: I see a possible future for me, I can see it uses all of who I am, a perfect
almost too good future that uses all my talents, fulfills all of my desires, and
excites me down to my belly. It is so real I can almost touch it. I take a two
steps towards it an stop, then I gain some courage and gather enough
energy to take one more stop and then something inside slooows me down to
a crawl. I am guessing by now this is my automatic brain at work.  How do I
override my automatic brain once and for all and manifest that my incredible
future?
CG: You better believe it is your automatic brain! It might be that this beautiful
future, that which is right for you, is actually triggering your automatic brain.
For instance, many people who grow up with a lack of abundance (whether it
be love, wealth, or spirituality), form a danger trigger to these things. That is,
the unfamiliar (abundance in this instance), is unknown and the unknown is
genetically imprinted in our automatic brain to represent danger. So this
unknown of abundance is constantly triggering your automatic brain to fight
or flee it, even though it is a false danger and one toward which you want to
move.
I like to share this story I once read in a martial arts book. A 10-year-old boy
wants to learn karate. He goes to a popular sensei (karate master) at a
nearby dojo (school) and asks, “Sensei, how long will it take me to get my
black belt?” The Sensei replies, “Ten years, my son.” Quizzically, the boy
responds, “Ten years? If I train day and night, seven days a week, how long,
then, will it take me?” The Sensei looks into the boy's eyes and replies,
“Twenty years.” Confused, the boy responds, “Even if I come to live in the
dojo, make it my home, and train side by side with you and all the top
instructors? How long, then, will it take?” Now the Sensei looks deep into the
boy's eyes and says, “Thirty years.” Disappointed and perplexed, the boy
admits, “I don't understand.” The Sensei explains: “You see, my son, if you
have one eye on your goal, you have only one eye on the path in which to
find the way.”
Always having one eye on our future reveals the pesky and distracting nature
of the automatic brain; hence, its nature to sabotage the mind's ability to
attract into our lives everything that is right for us. When we focus on the
present, we position ourselves to attract the future that will be right for us.
That is not to say that having a goal is not important, but simply that looking
up that hill, as I did during marathon training, literally took my breath away. As
I focused on my individual steps, I achieved success. When I began the
process of writing this book, the idea of being where I am today, seemed
mind-boggling. Focusing on writing in the moment created the goal. This is
how we begin to understand how our mind works.
I break from the tradition of many motivational leaders who encourage people
to visualize their future. My believe is that what is right for us will come to us
when we do not believe, trust, or follow our automatic brain, which usually
pulls upon the past and future for data to deal with the present. I suggest
dealing with each small issue as it arises and keep a Daily Magic journal. A
daily magic journal is keeping attuned to the daily circumstances that occur
that we usually explain away as coincidence. Jot down all unexpected
occurrences without judgment as to whether it is positive or negative. For
example, when my business partner suddenly decided to break off our
business relationship, I consider that as an example of daily magic - seemed
bad at the moment, but it led to my book. When my agent dropped me last
year, that is daily magic - seemed bad at the moment, but it led to me
developing my thoughts and book much better and whatever follows will be
right for me. Be compulsive at recognizing the special daily momentary
occurrences and everyday becomes a source of magic and the potential to
deliver to you a future that is right for you. And one more thing - what is right
for us is always abundance (the definition of which is different for everyone,
but is just right).  

BD: What is one action we can do today to begin making friends with our
automatic brain and begin to end our Brain Darin?
CG: To stop brain drain, it is essential to cultivate and believe in the power of
our mind - a power that every human possesses and represents a portal to
our individual spirituality and personal power. To begin this pursuit I suggest
you start by turning your back to the news - television, radio (including talk
radio), and newsprint. Instead listen to music and look for humor. Although
your automatic brain may have you think that you will be less informed, you
will be happy to learn that all the news you actually need to know will find its
way to you and you will actually be more sensitive to human suffering.

Charles F. Glassman, MD, FACP, graduated Phi Beta Kappa, magna
cumlaude, from Hobart College in Geneva, NY. He received his MD degree
from New York Medical College in Valhalla, NY. Dr. Glassman served an
internship in General Surgery at the Albert Einstein School of Medicine
affiliated hospitals in The Bronx, New York, and completed his
residencytraining in internal medicine at Westchester Medical Center,
Valhalla, NY.
For the past 21 years, Dr. Glassman has practiced general internal medicine
in Rockland County, a suburban community 30 miles north of New York City,
designing his practice to be patient-centered instead of problem-focused.
He has appeared on ABC news, Bloomberg Radio, National Public Radio, and
The Wall Street Journal Radio, speaking on his unique approach to health
care. Dr. Glassman's numerous articles and letters on health care have
appeared in The New York Times and other publications.
Mindful of the limitations of conventional medicine, Dr. Glassman has been
able to integrate alternative practices to bring his patients the best potential
for health and longevity. In 2005, Dr. Glassman founded the New York Center
for Longevity and Wellness. The goal of the Center is to balance mind-body
concepts with conventional medicine to deliver a comprehensive approach to
health and wellness. Since the Center opened, Dr. Glassman has been
featured in many local publications, notably the regional Hudson Valley
Magazine, which has repeatedly named him one of the top doctors in the
Hudson Valley (spanning an area from Albany to New York City). In addition
to appearing as the subject of feature-length articles, Dr. Glassman has been
named by Castle Connolly as a New York Metro Top Doctor for five
consecutive years and has been recognized by the Consumers' Research
Council of America as one of America's top physicians.
Dr. Glassman began distributing a weekly motivational email message to
patients and friends in January 2007. By May 2008, his distribution list had
grown so much-as people on the list told others about it-and interest in his
messages had become so high-Dr. Glassman decided to turn his philosophy
and advice into a book. That's how Brain Drain came about. Starting in May
2008, his weekly messages-now distributed to an even larger audience-
formed the basis for chapters of this book.
To date, Brain Drain has won in the Spiritual category at the 2009 Los
Angeles Book Festival and received honorable mention at the 2009 New
England Book Festival.Dr. Glassman lives in Rockland County, NY with his
wife Melanie and their four children (and dog, Ginger).
Charles F. Glassman, MD
The NY Center for Longevity & Wellness 7C Medical Park Drive Pomona, NY
10970 (845) 362-1110
www.CharlesGlassmanMD.com
www.YouTube.com/CharlesGlassmanMD
www.CharlesGlassmanMDblog.com
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