I do a lot of reading on brain research. I don't claim to understand it all but it helps to inform my work with families with behavioral and emotional struggles. It also helps me manage my own brain/life! One of the things that keeps popping out at me (it is important to recognize the "pop ups" in your life when they aren't the internet ads on your computer screen) is the saying "neurons that fire together, wire together." I won't go into a lengthy description of this saying other than to explain that when you have an "experience" your brain fires various neurons in response to that experience. If these experiences are repetitive then your brain will literally rewire itself to accommodate that experience and changes its neuron structure.

Let that soak in for a minute...

The therapeutic value of that saying is huge! You can train your brain by engaging in repetitious experiences. Engage in positive experiences and you reap positive brain structures. Engage in negative experiences and you get negative structures. It is as basic as that. Your action plan to change your thoughts should start to become obvious as you meditate on that idea.

Here's a revelation I had today: I need to stop trying to redo old problems and reworking old issues. I need new experiences to form new brain structures.

Revelation #2: The more I form new brain structures, the more "capacity" I have to experience positive experiences. We will reflect on "capacity" at another time as that is a fascinating idea too....but for today, form your own revelations as you meditate on the saying: "neurons that fire together, wire together."

Share your thoughts by clicking the comment link. I would love to hear your feedback.

I was listening to a psychologist talk about how thankfulness can improve your brain! I won't go into the details, mainly because I can't remember them all :) Let's just agree to be thankful because it is a good idea and feels so much better than unthankfulness, alright?

Let's also make this easy...

List three things you are thankful for:

1. My health.
2. My spiritual community.
3. My family.

OK, let's make it a little harder. Take the three general things you listed and make them more specific (oh yeah, only state them in positive terms, as in what you like and not what you don't like ("I am glad I don't have a headache"):

1. I am thankful about how caffeine wakes me up and gives me such simple comfort.
2. I am thankful for my friend Larry's willingness to trust me.
3. I am thankful for the soup my wife made for dinner last night (chicken noodle!).

Try it yourself by clicking the comment link below!

Jonah Lehrer, in his blog Frontal Cortex, does a great job of explaining why stuff doesn't make us happy...at least after we get it. He points out that the brain stops firing those happy feelings when the reward is predictable. It is all about the chase apparently. He also ends his blog with a quote about "Riches leave a man always as much and sometimes more exposed than before to anxiety, to fear and to sorrow."

As a therapist I know that the process is usually more important than the end result. More benefit comes from the challenge of trying to work out problems or struggle with social interactions in a group. Although the brain may not be pumping out happy juice, it is actively engaged when life is unpredictable.

Read more on the Frontal Cortex and this post at http://scienceblogs.com/cortex/2008/08/unhappiness_and_advertising.php

Share your thoughts by clicking the comments link below...