NEUROPLASTICITY Brain Training For A Better You

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1 Brain Training For A Better You LISA WIMBERGER

2 Imagine a time you found yourself thinking or acting in a way you thought you had outgrown Or had an outdated knee-jerk reaction when you no longer felt it represented you... Or gotten frustrated with yourself for failing to progress or grow because you were stuck in old thoughts or patterns... These are frustrating, but the good news is this is all quite normal. There is a legitimate reason why old patterns continue to show up even when you don t want them to. The answer lies in basic neuroscience:. 2

3 HOW THE BRAIN THINKS A THOUGHT Neurosculpting is a 5-step meditation process the can strategically help an individual release the grip of old patterns and entrain their brain to create new and more supportive patterns, habits, and behaviors. Let s consider how the brain thinks a thought. The brain has between billion neurons. (For perspective, that s as many galaxies as there are in the entire known universe!) Each neuron has dendrites, which look like tree branches and are made of grey matter. Dendrites tend to collect incoming information and send it to the cell body for a potential action. The cell also has an axon, which looks like a tail and is made of white matter. The axon tends to take the signal from the cell and guide its travel to an end point where it can jump a gap to reach another cell s dendrites. These dendrites and axons reach out to the next nearby neuron, which reaches out to the next, and so on, ultimately creating a neural pathway. Each neural pathway essentially becomes dedicated to a thought or pattern of thinking. When prompted, the neural pathway lights up and broadcasts that message. This is essentially the brain thinking a thought. 3

4 THE BRAIN IS A PREDICTION MACHINE So how does a neural pathway know when to activate? It predicts! The brain is a prediction machine. There is no mechanism in the brain that distinguishes thoughts as good or bad, healthy or unhealthy, desirable or undesirable. The basis for the significance of a thought pattern is simply usage. If a neural pathway is used frequently, the brain essentially marks it as important and makes it easily accessible on a physical, neurological level. Think of this as bookmarks in your Internet browser. If there are a few websites you use daily, you can bookmark them at the top of the page to reach them more efficiently. This is just like a frequently used neural pathway. The brain marks it as important or bookmarks it if it is visited often. You can also think of it like the auto-fill function when you begin to type in a website address of a site you frequently visit. The computer s prediction is based on your personal frequent activity. Your computer does not judge or evaluate the website; it simply predicts that path based on your past usage patterns. The brain operates primarily on efficiency and predictions. If you bring up the same thought pattern frequently, the brain organizes itself to make that thought readily available. 4

5 HOW EMOTIONS INFLUENCE To add to our efficiency, the brain connects associations wherever possible through strong emotions like fear, joy or love; the five physical senses, especially smell, or recognizable patterns of thinking. Predictions are easier with more reference points like these sorts of associations. This is known as Hebb s Law: Neurons that fire together, wire together! For example, if you ve smelled lavender in the past with positive emotions or a sense of calm then the next time the olfactory system detects the smell of lavender your brain may pull up the idea of relaxation. It detects the smell and reaches to predict the associative emotional response its referenced before. Or if a common pattern of thinking is This is hard. I can t do this how do you think you ll finish the thought next time if you encounter a task that s hard? Chances are you will respond to it with your default thought I can t do this. Our neuroplastic system can keep old patterns active long after we don t need them or consciously think about them. Anyone whose ever tried to change a pattern knows that this is the main point of frustration.

6 GROWING GREY MATTER Great news! It is completely possible to harness the power of this system and re-train old patterns into new ones. To break down how this is physically possible, let s examine what exactly happens in the brain during this process. Remember our dendrites: the tree-like branches growing out of a neuron that are made of grey matter? Neuroscience has discovered that grey matter has the ability to physically grow or shrink in response to usage. You might imagine this to be like working out muscles at the gym and watching the shape of your body change. When a neural pathway is used frequently, the dendrites connecting it will physically GROW more branches as well as further-reaching branches stretching out to more nearby neurons. The neural pathway takes up more physical space in the brain than it did before. This is measured by density changes in the brain. The growing pathway also connects to additional nearby pathways, creating more associations and becoming exponentially more accessible from other entrained patterns. It s physically easier to access this growing neural pathway due to its size and influence. It is literally, physically easier to think a thought the more often you think that thought. Even if you seek growth and change you are battling the efficiency and speed of old, familiar patterns you ve grown.

7 HOW TO RETRAIN OUR THOUGHT PATTERNS So how do you adapt an existing neural pathway or even train it into something completely new? Fortunately, if we can grow grey matter with use we can also prune it back with disuse. Just like when you stop going to the gym your muscles shrink. Grey matter often follows a Use It or Lose It rule. That means if you stop using a neural pathway frequently, it becomes less accessible. Imagine learning a language in high school that you don t use for ten years. You will have forgotten how to speak it even though at one time you might have been proficient. Your brain s goal is to be efficient. If a neural pathway is no longer used as much, the grey matter reallocates itself into something used more frequently. The dendrite branches prune back to be energy efficient. With fewer dendrites it s harder to activate the network; it becomes physically more labor-intensive to think that thought. This leads us to the amazing realization that we can literally rewire our brains! We can intentionally and systematically train which neural pathways become more efficient. We can choose which patterns of thinking or behaviors we want to develop. 7

8 Which outdated pattern are you ready to recycle into something new? Remember, our neural pathways are Use it or Lose it. That means one of the most important keys to success is: REPETITION! REPETITION! REPETITION! We cannot expect change simply because we have knowledge. The principles of usage require a practice with repetition.

9 DO THE TIME YOUR BRAIN WILL CHANGE You can t go to the gym once and expect the ideal body, right? We have to treat the brain the same way. Every day, practice thinking or behaving in intentional ways. Done frequently enough, the brain diverts resources to this new pattern. Consistent interruption of old patterns causes the brain to re-label those networks and devalue their importance or relevance. Frequent repetition dictates which patterns are given the most resources and the highest value. Yes, we can intentionally direct how the brain values our own thoughts! 9

10 WE CAN ENHANCE THIS EVEN MORE We can enhance this at even deeper levels to compliment this repetition practice. so that your desired pattern is readily available even if an object or trigger is not. Remember Hebb s Law: Neurons that fire together, wire together! Associations can be used as an additional way to mark an experience, thought, or behavior as significant. You can purposefully incorporate an association into your new pattern in order to strengthen its accessibility. You might choose a sensation trigger like a hand gesture. It is entirely possible to create a somatic link with something like a scent, sound, or object; however, it is not the best option because it may not always be available. Consider making a connection with something you always have access to In Neurosculpting, we rely on these association triggers. Using a simple hand gesture during a new thought pattern creates a somatic link to that pattern. Using that trigger by itself later can activate the pattern on a subconscious level, if not a conscious one. This means you get to exercise the neural pathway anytime, contributing to the repetition foundation. You can use it while driving in the car, shopping in the grocery store, working at the computer, or anywhere. This promotes an additional layer of accessibility to the new pattern. Consider these little moments of going to the brain gym. 10

11 DID CURIOSITY KILL THE CAT OR STRENGTHEN THE BRAIN? A final tip for neuroplastic success depends on our ability to be curious. Neuroscience has also shown us that an experience or thought is marked as more notable when the brain experiences it with a heightened state of awareness, awe, wonder or curiosity. That means creating novelty throughout your day can give your brain tiny moments of more neuroplastic exercise. One of the most common ways we like to engage this brain dynamic at the Neurosculpting Institute is by performing a familiar task with your non-dominant hand. Try brushing your teeth with your nondominant hand and feel how incredibly unusual this is. In this moment your brain is probably paying full attention to this new and novel experience. This heightened state of neuroplasticity. is an example of an experience that encourages the brain (particularly the Prefrontal Cortex) to pay particular attention to an experience. Other familiar activities done in a slightly interesting way could include trying to write your name upside down, brushing your hair with your non-dominant hand, or any other benign new experience you d like to try. This peculiar yet non-threatening type of action brings a heightened sense of awareness to any experience, helping you remember it better, encouraging the brain to assign it a higher value. 11

12 HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO CHANGE? Patience! Lasting change is a function of repetition over time. The brain attempts to provide you with what it assumes you want based on your familiar patterns. Patient re-direction of old patterns and repetitive use of new ones, frequently over time trains the brain to allocate its resources to the new, growing patterns. the brain s resources creates definitive, neurological change. Outdated or undesired patterns can be physically recycled into developing or favorable ways of thinking. These practices boost plasticity and become tools for purposefully re-wiring the brain. With genuine practice and effective repetition, a new standard of natural tendencies will emerge. With some practice, repetition, and additional tools such as associations and novelty, we can purposefully and methodically re-train our brains to our own design. The re-organization of

13 HOW TO BEGIN YOUR PRACTICE Additional resources for this endeavor can be found across the publications of the Neurosculpting Institute, including books, CDs, audio class downloads, online learning events, our memberships, as well as the NSI Learning Store and blog. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES Consider becoming a member of the Neurosculpting community with any of our premium membership programs. More details on our website: 13

14 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES Foundational Neurosculpting : Intro Audio Class- 3hr Enjoy this audio capture of most versatile class, Neurosculpting for Beginners. You ll learn the basic brain dynamics of a stress cycle and how to navigate those patterns. You ll discover the basic neuroscience of neuroplasticity and learn was you can enhance your brain s learning and focus. The Neurobiology of Goal-Setting and Motivation 1.5hr In this introductory audio class, you ll explore the neurobiology responsible for those moments when you ve motivated yourself to reach your goals AND the process behind those moments of self-sabotage and lack of motivation. Discover the amazing process of neural communication and learn ways to influence that chemistry and physiology. Warrior One: Immersion into Practical Neurosculpting Consider this a BOOT CAMP experience! This program is the direct curriculum outlined in, NEW BELIEFS, NEW BRAIN: Free Yourself from Stress and Fear. Neurosculpting is a cutting-edge modality integrating mindfulness and neuroscience into a simple five-step whole brain approach to heal trauma, rewrite limiting beliefs, and find wholeness. 14