Put simply, porn’s effect on the brain can be broken down into two categories:
Sexual Conditioning
The first way porn conditions people sexually is by teaching them that, “This is how people have sex, and this is how I should do it.” Porn gives people all sorts of inaccurate concepts about sex: What women are supposed to like, what men are supposed to like, how a sexual exchange is supposed to happen. Even when knowing that what you’re watching is fake, it’s been documented how watching porn conditions people’s understanding and expectations regarding sex.
The second way porn conditions people can be summed up by is, “This is what turns me on.” Continued porn use provides porn-induced preferences/fetishes. People come to believe that certain kinds of people or things naturally arouse them, but that’s simply how they’ve been trained, especially if from a young age. Then, as porn use becomes more severe, people get to the point where porn is literally the only thing that turns them on. Porn becomes more exciting than real sex, and the only way to stay aroused is by clicking from one video to the next.
Addiction-related brain changes
You don’t have to experience a full addiction to experience addiction-like affects. The most universal impact that porn has on brains across all levels of use is called sensitization.
Sensitization occurs when the brain wires together the sights, sounds, smells, sensations, emotions, and memories associated with a big reward, such as masturbating to porn – creating a pathway that can blast your reward center in the future. When activated by cues or triggers, this pathway creates powerful, hard to ignore cravings.
Bingeing on anything that induces high levels of dopamine (porn, junk food, TV) gets interpreted by your brain as, “This activity is really valuable. You need to do it more often.”
Your brain gets sensitized to porn-use as a rewarding activity, which then gets reinforced by each use.
The info for this lesson comes from Gary Wilson’s work at Your Brain on Porn.
This is a fantastic article you can read to further understand porn’s effect on your the brain.
During this event Benjy Uyama will be sharing his thoughts on a topic that he is very passionate about: High Noon’s role in the future of our movement! He will be explaining how High Noon fits into the grand goal to bless 30,000 people in the next 7 years, and even what we can do as individuals. You won’t want to miss this inspiring and informative talk.
There will be small breakouts to discuss this topic and to interact with your fellow volunteers. In the latter half of the event, we will be having a split facilitator and AP time where you can ask questions and receive support.
We would love to see you all there!
It is our commitment to create a safe place where all facilitators and accountability partners are welcome. As this event is all about connection, please come prepared to show your face and to talk.
We want to respect everyone’s schedule so we will be starting promptly at 4:00 pm EST and ending at 5:30 pm EST (10:00 pm – 11:30 pm CET).
HN could not have the impact it has had without the committed and consistent support of our group facilitators and accountability partners. We want to up our support for all of you, and focus on creating a feeling of community amongst all the volunteers.
That is why we have decided to begin a new initiative: a monthly Ascend Volunteer Event! This event will include time to get to know your fellow facilitators and APs, share testimonies, receive education and tips, and have meaningful discussion.
More details will be released soon!
ただいま日本語のビデオコースの作成中です。完了次第ご連絡させていただきます。
祝福を受けて5年以内の女性を対象としたグループです。
連絡先:atsue@kr.highnoon.org / LINE: atskpk
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Richard & Mari Curry have been Blessed in married since December 2005 and have four children. They love working together as a team and are passionate about caring for others, especially in the realm of marriage development. After Mari received her Masters of Divinity from Cheongshim Theological Seminary, she and Richard served as co-pastors in Florida. Since then, they moved to New Jersey and over the years have happily served in a variety of ministry roles from music to education. All the while, working together to serve the Blessed Marriage Project and now High Noon Couples. They were a part of the founding team in 2013 and have been a part of it ever since. They currently serve as the directors of Highnoon Couples. They love the Energize! Retreats because they help realize True Parent’s desire for healthy couples and reminds us of Heavenly Parent’s love and hope for us all!
Contact Mari at: mari@kr.highnoon.org |
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Crescentia & Leighton DeGoede have been Blessed in married since October 2010, and have three children. Crescentia is currently serving as the District Pastor of district 3 and local pastor of the Clifton Family Church. Previously Crescentia was the Director of the National Blessing and Family Ministry of FFWPU for six years. Both Leighton and Crescentia currently serve as Matching Supporters. Prioritizing their marriage, while juggling children, work, and community service has been an exciting challenge. But they continue to find that the more they invest in their marriage, the more they have to give in all areas of their lives. They love giving other couples the opportunity to infuse their marriages with love deposits through marriage enrichment programs. |
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Christoph & Lena Yasutake have been Blessed in marriage since April 2002 and have three teenagers. They are both equally passionate about marriage education and helping blessed couples create happy and healthy families. The Energize! Retreats are one of their favorite ways to share this passion. They served in the Young Couples ministry for six years and are frequent guest speakers at Blessing Workshops. |
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Kate Pugnoli has served as the Community Liaison and is also responsible for generating our monthly newsletter. A former journalist, she has a Masters of Religious Education from the Unification Theological Seminary where she took focused her studies on counseling courses. She has also had experience facilitating small groups. The mother of two sons, now Blessed in marriage, she lives in Tucson, AZ with her husband Simon Herbert. She is committed to working with the Blessed Marriage Project in hopes that marriage enrichment will be available to communities across the country and particularly to bring the Energize! Couples Retreat to as many couples as possible. |
The Blessed Marriage Project (BMP) is an independently funded, grassroots initiative by Blessed couples for Blessed couples. Its programs welcome Blessed couples and married Blessed family members of every age and at every stage of marriage, and from every part of our Unificationist families community.
The mission of BMP is:
The initiative was conceived by two families in 2013, and formally launched the following year, with the donor couple generously giving $100,000 to cover annual expenses. Now their contribution has been over $200,000 annually, to include the related PureMind.Online initiative. (Read more history.)
The BMP is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt non-profit organization (meet the Board of Directors). The programming is led by professional Unificationist marriage educators.
In 2015, the Project began experimenting with new retreat formats, and expanding its menu of educational resources, most notably, PureMind.Online, to help combat the threat that pornography represents to Blessed couples.
Currently, the primary offering of the BMP is its Energize! Couples Retreats, which are designed for Blessed spouses to experience God’s love through a refreshing opportunity to learn useful information and tools, bond and enjoy each other as spouses, and to connect with other Blessed couples. To anchor the benefits in couples’ lives, the Retreat launches an opportunity for a local Small Group experience, and ongoing educational and supportive events and resources.
The purpose of the BMP also includes training young Unificationists to learn to carry out such programming in the future. In addition, the Project provides for training volunteers to facilitate Small Groups and Seminars among past participants and other married couples in their local church communities. The team is looking for other young people with a passion to support couples to join our staff, as well as older members to partners with us and contribute their skills.
The Project is offering Energize! Couples Retreats in 2017 depending upon what hosting communities contribute in terms of funding and local staff, and how their open dates coincide with the availability of BMP staff. We encourage interested communities and potential donors to contact our staff.
Please contact Mitsue Wolfenberger at mwolfenberger@gmail.com.
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