Rewire Your Brain: Think Your Way to a Better Life

By focusing on possibilities, you can see more than a potential light at the end of the tunnel. The light doesn't have to be at the end of the tunnel; it can illuminate an opportunity wherever you are.

Some researchers have proposed that experiencing empathy and compassion through the mirror neuron system is equivalent to having compassion for yourself. Thus, “giving is receiving ” is a brain-based truth. Insensitivity and selfishness are essentially bad for your brain and your mental health. In contrast, compassion and loving relationships are good for your brain and your mental health.

Thousands of years ago, when our ancestors encountered a predatory animal like a lion, it was best to react immediately and not stand around thinking about the lion, admiring its beauty or wondering why it was bothering them instead of tracking down some tasty antelope. Thus, the fast track to the amygdala kept our ancestors alive.

Cortisol works more systemically than adrenaline does. It triggers the liver to make more glucose available in the bloodstream while it also blocks insulin receptors in nonessential organs and tissues so that you get all the glucose (fuel) that you need to deal with the threat. Cortisol’s work is a long-term strategy of insulin resistance, which serves to provide the brain with a sustained level of glucose. However, you don’t always have a lot of glucose floating around, so cortisol works to stockpile energy. It converts protein into glycogen and begins to store fat. If the stress is chronic, the increased body fat is stored in the abdomen. If you have a growing bulge in your midsection, it may be due to cortisol working to store energy. Unfortunately, that’s not the way you want it to be stored. It’s better to burn off such stored energy by exercise.

Brain-Based Therapy with Adults and Brain-Based Therapy with Children and Adolescents.

Because the amygdala can become hypersensitive, chronic stress can make you more jumpy and anxious. This is why a war veteran with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) will hit the floor and cover his head when he hears the loud blast of fireworks. Before he has a chance to think about it, the blast reminds him of an improvised explosive device (IED) exploding or a gunshot. His amygdala triggers the fight-or-flight response—a false alarm. When you experience severe trauma or excessive chronic stress, the once-cooperative partnership between your hippocampus and your amygdala becomes skewed in favor of the amygdala. This is because the hippocampus is assaulted by excess cortisol and glutamate when the amygdala is pumped up. Cortisol and glutamate act to excite the amygdala, and the more it is excited, the more easily it is triggered.

There are seven general principles to follow to activate your parasympathetic nervous system. These principles make up hybrid yoga (but are common to prayer, meditation, relaxation exercises, and hypnosis as well) and can be referred to as parasympathetic meditation. Think

Not only does behavior change the structure of the brain through neuroplasticity; just thinking about or imagining particular behaviors can change brain structure as well.

shift your brain to a different attractor state (borrowed from neurodynamics)

Now that you have a better idea of how the brain works, let’s focus on a method of rewiring your brain that involves the following four steps: • Focus • Effort • Effortlessness • Determination

You need to pay attention to the situation, the new behavior, or the memory that you want to repeat or remember.

FEED Your Brain Now that you have a better idea of how the brain works, let’s focus on a method of rewiring your brain that involves the following four steps: • Focus • Effort • Effortlessness • Determination

Focus allows you to pay attention to what’s happening here and now, and this starts the process of neuroplasticity.

Effort shifts your attention from perception to action. Making a focused effort activates your brain to establish new synaptic connections.

In the beginning, it takes focus, effort, and more energy in your brain, but after you make the swing or say hello enough times, it becomes effortless. Thus, to rewire your brain you’ll have to stay with the new behavior long enough to make it become fairly automatic. In time, practice will make it effortless. Your brain won’t have to work as hard once you reach this level.

The final step in feeding your brain is staying in practice. Do the activity again and again. Being determined in this way need not be tiring and painful. If you practice the other three steps in feeding your brain, by the time you get to this one, it should come easily. That’s because effortlessness precedes it. Thus, determination simply means that you stay in practice. By being determined, you’ll complete the feeding process to rewire your brain.

Repetition rewires the brain and breeds habits. When