You can do it, and it’s not as tricky as it sounds. Don’t get me wrong, you need to put a little effort in, but what a pay day. Here are 4 ways to rewire your brain.
I’m not talking about a rewire like Neo in The Matrix , although that would be incredible (plus I have a thing for Keanu Reeves) But there’s this other thing, it’s called neuroplasticity and it refers to your brain’s ability to restructure and rewire itself when it recognises the need for change.
And it’s not as tricky as it sounds. Don’t get me wrong, you need to put a little effort in, but wow, what a pay day.
Scientists used to think that our brains became fixed after a certain age, but that’s been proven wrong. Today’s science shows that our brains continue to develop and change throughout our lives and are actually designed to improve with age. Which of course is wonderful news.
Sadly for some however, as with my own mother, Alzheimer’s can come along and drop a bomb on that whole concept. But putting this dreadful disease aside, we can continually change, rewire and improve our brains.
Deepak Chopra once said, “Most people think that their brain is in charge of them. We say we are in charge of our brain.”
Back to The Matrix for a moment. Morpheus, Neo’s mentor, tells Neo he must “free his mind” and let go of the limiting beliefs that convince him the tasks he’s set are impossible. We really are all limited (or freed) by that which we believe to be true. The key word here is believe. It would be difficult to say the least, if you try to change something, but deep down inside you believed it was impossible. And so, by changing your core beliefs, you can rewire your brain.
So how can you do it? (Without plugging yourself into The Motherboard as did my beloved Keanu)
Here are 4 ways to rewire your brain.
- Check your belief system. Your subconscious mind does not differentiate between a real event and an imagined one, nor does it judge your beliefs as being negative or positive. This being the case, if you continually imagine (visualise) things going wrong for you, your subconscious mind will attract to you, those things which will validate your belief. Make sense? And so first thing you can do is become aware of how you see (imagine, visualise) a future event or a life goal. It might be a job interview or a career change, a romantic date, driving a new car, buying a house, being more confident, happier, whatever it is you want, but believe you can’t have or be, start to visualise the positive end result. Hold it in your thoughts for 5 minutes every day. Don’t cheat, flag or give up, there are no short cuts to success. Commit to spending 5 minutes every day to visualise your positive outcome, you will begin to believe in your abilities and so will be far more likely to reach your goal.
2. Begin every single day with a 60 second ritual. You read that right. Not only will this take just 60 seconds of your precious time, but nothing could be simpler. Deep diaphragmatic breathing. Try it, you have nothing to lose but so much to gain. Breathe in as slowly as you possibly can, in through your nose, take the breath deep down into the pit of your stomach. Try not to think about your chest, you want to direct your breath deep down into your diaphragm by expanding your ribs and pushing your stomach out. Breathe out through your mouth as slowly as you possibly can, control the breath and empty your lungs completely. Do this 5x and stretch the exercise out so that it takes you at least 60 seconds. By doing this you will kick-start every day with a boost of serotonin, oxytocin, dopamine and endorphins. Happy days.
3. Read more books. There is a growing body of scientific evidence showing that reading is like a workout for the brain, an empathy workout in fact. Reading gets you to take the perspective of another charter or characters, other than yourself. Say for instance a character in your book is driving at 100 miles per hour in a fast car, areas of your brain that would light up if you were driving at that speed yourself, are activated. If the character is terrified or mortified, your EQ (emotional intelligence, the ability to understand and manage your own emotions) is activated in your brain. The material you read is obviously important. Reading positive books, stories with happy endings, fantasy, success stories will all go towards a positive rewire. A good place to start is here… (well I would say that wouldn’t I) https://www.amazon.co.uk/Health-Wealth-Hypnosis-beautiful-life/dp/1913479234
4. Meditate. You’ve heard this one before and so you should. Meditation hasn’t been practiced for thousands of years for no good reason. Daily meditation practice has been shown to produce measurable changes in brain regions associated with memory, sense of self and empathy. You can mediate in silence or listen to binaural beat music or indeed any soft, calming instrumental music. Don’t judge your mediation. Let it be whatever it is in the moment. If you overthink it with thoughts like “I’m sure I’m not doing this right” or “I can’t stop thinking about dinner/the dog/the kids/the cat/ work/the deadline…” you will simply interfere with the process. Let your thoughts come and go, don’t focus on them and just let time pass by.
There are more than just 4 ways to rewire your brain. We are constantly updating and rewiring our brains by learning new things, having adventures and new experiences, listening, having meaningful conversations, travel are a few. By opening your mind you open yourself to new ideas and opportunities.
Gail Marra is a Clinical Hypnotherapist, Mindset Coach and Author of Health, Wealth & Hypnosis – The Way to a Beautiful Life.
Download your FREE breathwork audio here: https://gailmarrahypnotherapy.com/downloads/
To schedule an appointment follow this link: https://gailmarrahypnotherapy.com/contact/
