We think we’re in control of our brain, right?
Well, check this out.
Lift your right foot up of the floor and move it in a clockwise direction.
Now with you hand draw a 6 in the air.
Did you notice what your foot just did?
For most people you’ll find that your foot began to move in an anticlockwise direction as soon as they draw the six.
This is a good example of the phenomenon of neuroplasticity; when we use a particular set of pathways together, the brain connects them up. As a result we very quickly become creatures of habit.
Imagine you’re stirring an imaginary cup of tea or coffee; notice which way you stirred it to start with? You may not be aware of this but you do this every time.
Imagine you are brushing your teeth; as you place the toothbrush in your mouth, you will find you brush the same teeth in the same order each time.
This is because your brain likes to take shortcuts, it doesn’t want to have to choose what you’re doing each time. But this short cutting can cause problems, especially if we into get habits or consistently stimulate brain pathways that don’t get us good results in our lives.
There’s also plenty of evidence that one of the ways to prevent a decrease in brain function as people age is to do new things to stimulate new pathways.
Today consider what is that you do habitually, and do it a bit differently. It may be that you take a slightly different route home, or that you do things in a different order, or use it in a different chair when you’re watching TV. That is the effect of doing this you probably find that you feel a bit different bit more alive a bit more awake a bit more vital.
Please leave a comment and let me know what you changed and anything else that you would like me to cover in these blogs.
Phil
NLP Trainer
Intrigued? Then check out my NLP podcast which covers this subject in much more detail
