How Neuroplasticity Is Directly Correlated To How You Establish Your Health Habits

With every new thing that you learn and every different experience that you have your brain is firing and wiring away with brand-new neural synapses that become part of your identity.

And so what does it mean when you are at a standstill in your life? As in you’re stuck in the same loop of the same meals, activity habits, and thinking patterns?

Here’s the hard truth: you’re not progressing.

To change where you’re at in your life is to change your environment and internal programs.

Every mindful action you take is a step toward the healthy version of yourself you are meant to be.

What do I mean by that? Well, what I mean is to place a mindful interruption to your actions and chain of thought.

Put your left shoe on first before you put on your right. Sleep on the other side of the bed. Think about the feelings that arise before you step into your place of work. Are you numb? Or is there a touch of rage? Really notice what you’re doing when you’re completing a mundane task like washing the dishes.

Is the plate round or does it have corners? Is the water hot or cold… Or somewhere in between? Does the soap dry out your skin?

Your hypothalamus sends messages to your pituitary gland in your brain to feel certain emotions in your body.

If certain messages like depression, anxiety, or anger are sent often enough, your body will simply automate these emotions via hormones that communicate back to your brain in the form of “why are you even trying to do this?” or “you’ll never get it right.“

Your body thinks it’s automating something to make it easier on the brain for energy expenditure.

If you’ve become accustomed to feeling hopeless, this is why. Your mind and body have become so accustomed to feeling these emotions and thinking these thoughts that your body started to automate it like driving a car or putting on a sports bra.

Your body thinks it’s doing a good thing by releasing these chemicals/hormones in the form of self-deprecating thoughts so your conscious mind doesn’t have to expend the energy on doing it.

So how do you work around this?

Conscious effort.

It’s a mindful attention paid to the actions you take on a daily basis.

Use a different cup for your water. Notice the temperature of your coffee in the morning. Feel the sensation of your feet and the shoes you’re wearing.

Consciously interact with your environment on a daily basis.

Let’s say you wanted to start this even more slowly.

You can start by simply counting your breaths, inhales and exhales, one through ten and then back down to one again.

Pay attention to your body, notice sensations and feelings.

If you don’t change what’s going on in your environment, then how can you expect anything in your life to change?

Mindful presence is something that is practiced, not easily learned overnight.

A person who is mindfully present has an energy that commands the room. This person consistently engages with their consciousness and insistently makes it an open space for their own existence and others.

Without their consciousness being clouded by self-doubt and anger, they can create a space for other people to openly communicate without judgment.

Until we can master our own internal dialogue, there is a small chance of connecting to other people on a deeper level.

So celebrate the win when you throw in a cup of greens into your smoothie or drink apple cider vinegar before or with your meal.

Revel in the victory of going to bed before midnight.

Take five deep breaths (inhale for 4 seconds, pause, and exhale for 8 seconds) after you hear bad news at work.

Take note of the sensation you have before you impulse buy on Amazon or at Target and wonder where it may come from.

Notice the smoothness of your steering wheel on your way home from work.

This mindful way of noticing sensations can help you become more aware of why you do things a certain way.

When you have this sense of self-awareness, you become closer to the highest version of yourself and, thus, you can create the reality you want.

Every mindful action you take is a step toward the healthy version of yourself you are meant to be.

If you don’t believe me, continue to do the same things you do every single day and see if things change for you. If they do, let me know.