Whole BRAIN: Whole GOSPEL PART 1
Three players on my JV squad quit last week. It got too tough. The losses mounted up too high. The coaching got interpreted as attacks. The perception of their peers became
crushing. Their brains freaked out. They
told the players it was survival time. As in…life and death survival time.
Fight or Flight baby.
FIGHT looked like
this:
After being taken out
of the game for being selfish with the ball (taking quick shots without sharing
the ball) one player blamed others, “Why don’t you take out X. He has been doing it all game!” Then to me, “You are soft.”
FLIGHT looked like
this:
After a rough loss, one
player got passive-aggressive: “Whoever doesn’t say ‘yes coach’ is a
<<bad word>>” I heard him say as I walked around the van. Then throughout the ride, I am profusely
shown deference by all players…over and over: “Yes coach… yes coach… yes
coach.” When I confront the player on
it, he acts confused, then gets out of the van. We were near his house. Finally, he tweets about quitting the team
and wonders how I might handle it.
Another one of them
skipped the hard conversation and just disappeared for 3 days. When I finally tracked him down on campus, he
indicated, “I don’t want to play anymore.
I am done. It’s not fun.”
Reactions like these are all too familiar in my household. Between multiple books and classes at Brain Highways, I have learned more than I ever anticipated about the brain.
Fight or flight reactions originate in the PONS, or the lower center of the brain.
The role of the
pons is actually important. It perceives threats and then communicates with
both hemispheres of the brain.
When
underdeveloped, the primitive reflexes of brain are fired off rather quickly.
But the lower brain should not be 'calling the
shots' in mildly challenging situations like these.
My players should be getting through these challenges using a developed CORTEX.
They should rationally work through the
competing messages in their heads and realize that things are not that
serious.
THIS
more clearly explains the dynamic.
But their brains are underdeveloped. It’s true. I’m not making light of it, or trying to provide excuses. But trauma in early childhood has real
effects. Most of my players suffer from some degree of trauma in their childhoods. This trauma stunts normal
brain development.
I was unaware of this physiological dynamic in years past. But parenting children with trauma in their
past has me learning at a rapid pace. Learning
cutting edge science about the brain is making me a better parent and a better
coach. Equally important, it’s making me a more hopeful Christian.
Here’s why:
The gospel is pervasive.
It can influence far more than our intellectual set of beliefs. It can change us. It has power.
The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is able to heal some of
the deepest wounds in our lives. It can
even help us use our CORTEX more effectively.
I am not suggesting that our brain functionality can be
magically optimized at the moment of conversion. But I do believe that,
science-based efforts to reorganize the brain can be part of the healing
process God might use this side of heaven.
Traditionally Christians have expectations of behavior
change in folks, once they start following Jesus. I do.
But now I am tempered by an understanding of the effects of trauma on
the brain. It makes me a more empathetic
coach and mentor. It helps me be more
strategic in my interactions with them.
And it makes me long for healing in their lives.
If the gospel is as potent as I believe it is, then
development and reorganization of the brain is a realistic hope.
***UPDATE: All 3
players indicated interest in returning to the team. All 3 apologized for their behavior and faced
individualized consequences. All 3 made
significant contributions in last night’s win.
