The Malleable Mind - The Power of Neuroplasticity Part Two

Part One can be linked to here: http://bit.ly/1GvTPqt

....With each new thought you begin to create a new neural pathway.  This is analogous to walking through a field of tall grass.  When you look back you can distinctly see the path you have taken.  The grass is bent and broken where you have trodden.  If you continue to take the same route through the field it will eventually become a well-formed path.  This is no different with the brain.  Every time we repeat a thought or an emotion we reinforce a neural pathway. 

Over time we become more efficient, more adept and more skilled at playing the guitar, swinging a tennis racket or speaking a foreign language.  It becomes automatic and forms a fixed pattern of behaviour.  These habits of thought and action become a part of us.  We literally become what we most consistently think and do.  In essence, neuroplasticity underlies all learning.

Winston Churchill is often quoted for saying, “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it”.  From the perspective of the brain by simply recalling a specific event from our past we activate a neural circuit in the brain whereby it enters into a malleable state.  This means the activated circuits are in a state where they can be rewritten so they are no longer unhelpful, unadaptive and inflexible but instead helpful, adaptable and flexible.  We can literally learn from our past and use the principles of neuroplasticity to physically rewire the brain from being fixed in thought to being fluid in thought.  

The important idea is that the brain has not evolved to stay in a static and unmodifiable state.  Rather it is always a “work-in-progress”.  The brain is continuously learning, adapting, and changing consciously and unconsciously in response to what we attend to and what we experience.

On an unconscious level we respond to the world based on prior experience and learning.  To some extent we are mindlessly and automatically going through the motions of thinking, feeling and doing connected to a particular situation or person.  Think back to earlier today when you got out of bed and went through your morning routine.  You brushed your teeth, got dressed, toasted your bread, locked your front door and any number of other actions.  Most of it, if not all of your routine, was carried out in automatic state of mind. 

On a conscious level we are mindful of our actions and where we place our attention.  For example, when we learn to play a new instrument, memorise the lines in a play or comprehend the key principles behind a scientific idea.   In this conscious state, we are directly and actively shaping our brain to how we want to develop and grow.  We use the process of neuroplasticity to our advantage.

Part Three to follow....

Interested to find out more about MINDtalk coaching and workshops?  Visit us at www.MINDtalk.no