Retrain Your Brain: Neuroplasticity

The surface of the earth is soft and impressible by the feet of men; and so with the paths which the mind travels. How worn and dusty, then, must be the highways of the world, how deep the ruts of tradition and conformity!
      – Henry David Thoreau

Do you have behaviors, reactions, or habits that you wish you could change?

I’ll freely admit there have been times when I lost my patience and overreacted to my son when he was young and exerting his independence. In the past, I used food as a source of comfort; to buffer my negative emotions and self-doubt. All of us have things we wish we could change about our behavior; how we respond to situations in our life.

Perhaps you find yourself frequently:

1. Personalizing – blaming yourself when things go wrong
2. Polarizing – Seeing things only as good or bad; no shades of gray
3. Magnifying – Focusing on the bad or negative; dismissing the positive
4. Catastrophizing – Expecting the worst; one negative event leads to a cascade of increasingly bad outcomes in your mind 

Have you found yourself saying, “I can never change, that’s just who I am”?

Here’s the good news …

You can CHANGE the way you respond, react, and handle stress and triggers. While these traits are formed deep inside our brain … and how we react or respond is often developed in childhood … they are not permanent. With mindful, persistent effort, you can change your brain. You don’t have to live in a rut of tradition or conformity. You can travel a new path.

Neuroplasticity – Our Brains 🧠 Are Malleable!

A neural pathway is a connection between neurons in your brain that elicits a response. Sometimes the response is desirable (good)! Sometimes the response isn’t very flattering (bad)! If we repeatedly respond in the same way to stimuli, it becomes a habit. It’s like driving to work. Most of us drive the same route to work every day and eventually we switch to autopilot. Sometimes we arrive at work totally unaware of how we got there! Now imagine there is a big construction project along your usual route to work and you’d like to avoid it. So you purposefully change the route to work. But there will be times when you forget – your autopilot kicks in and takes you down your old route. But with deliberate attention and repeated practice, your new route can become your new routine! The same is true for our brains. You can build a new neuronal pathway, a new route. The more you practice, choosing to respond differently, using mindfulness and visualization techniques, the more it becomes a habit. This process of “re-wiring” our neuronal circuits is called neuroplasticity, which is:

…the capacity for learning and memory, and it enables mental and behavioral flexibility. Research has firmly established that the brain is a dynamic organ and can change its architecture throughout life, responding to experience by reorganizing connections—in short, by wiring and rewiring itself.
      –Psychology Today

Years ago, scientists believed that after you reached adulthood, your brain didn’t produce new neurons. But this isn’t true! There are two major regions of your brain that continually give birth to new neurons (throughout your life) in a process called neurogenesis.

1.  Hippocampus (long-term and spatial memory hub)
2.  Cerebellum (coordination and muscle memory hub).

Granule cells have the highest rate of neurogenesis and the hippocampus and cerebellum are packed full of granule cells!

The number and strength of the neural connections in your brain affect your emotional, mental, and physical functioning. Anxiety and depression arise from repetitive thinking patterns that become habitual in nature. If your brain has been slowly wired over time to be tense, anxious, stressed, and depressed, then it can be re-wired to diminish and even eliminate those unfavorable patterns of thinking. Stress, fear, anger, sadness, and many other emotions are all normal and appropriate. These emotions lead us to experience the broad spectrum of highs and lows in life. They can help us to take action! However, when we are stuck in a habitual loop of negative emotions, that’s not healthy. For example, anxiety is an overreaction to a perceived threat. But we can retrain our brain using techniques like cognitive behavioral therapy.

Retrain the Brain – Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

CBT can modify neural circuits involved in the regulation of negative emotions. Here are some common techniques to help you respond differently to triggers.

1. Notice Self Talk Traps. Negative predictions can turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you find yourself thinking negatively, reframe your thoughts to be more balanced and positive.
2. Prove yourself wrong. When your brain tells you, “you can’t do X”, look at the behavior change or goal as an experiment and a challenge. Each time you successfully prove your negative predictions wrong, you’ll train your brain to see yourself in a different light.
3. Use a mantra. Adopt a short statement or phrase that helps tune out and turn off the negativity. Like “You got this” or “I am enough.”
4. Check-in with your emotions. Notice when you are feeling stressed, anxious, and afraid.

Pause and Reflect

You can reframe your language to be more kind and supportive to yourself. Remember you are human and acknowledge things, as they are, without escalating emotions. As you go about your day, notice when you are saying harsh words to yourself. Try to reframe your language to be more self-compassionate.

Follow the Listen, Learn, and Think Model

Listen

What events, people, or scenarios encourage positive vs negative self-talk?
What would a friend or loved one say if they knew you talked negatively to yourself?
Can you see any common threads in your self-talk?

Learn

What thoughts come to mind most often?
Why do they arise?
How does negative self-talk hold you back from achieving your goals?
How would you feel if you shifted from negative to positive self-talk?
What could you achieve if you practiced more positive self-talk?

Think

Might I be overreacting to a situation?
Are my thoughts and conclusions based on fact or opinion? Whose opinion?
Am I making assumptions?
How accurate is this thought?

The more you practice thinking realistically (but positively), the more you build new neuronal pathways.

Changing our identity and our belief about ourselves is the quickest and most effective way to change our habits.
      – James Clear

Synergy with Exercise

Physical activity can facilitate neuroplasticity. But just like becoming physically fit, consistency is key. You are building your mental muscle. Physical exercise can also enhance your mental clarity while lowering stress and anxiety.

Yoga is a great way to increase your flexibility — mentally and physically. Consider subscribing to the Yoga Apothecary YouTube Channel to get a regular dose of positivity in your life that will nourish your mind, body, and soul.

Cheers-

      Seena