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Do you talk to yourself? What is the conversation like? Do you ever consider the things your brain wants during these internal chats?
Talking to yourself is a good thing!
Next time you have an internal conversation, take a couple of minutes to listen to your brain. It might just tell you the following five things:
Working constantly isn’t good for your brain health. Dopamine levels decrease when you work continuously which results in feeling sluggish. Dopamine is an essential neurotransmitter that allows messages to move from one brain cell to another, and if it can’t do this, then you work slower.
Give yourself a boost of dopamine by taking a break from the task at hand and focusing on something else for a couple of minutes. It will reduce your stress levels and help your brain to refocus on your work.
Set a timer to go off every 20 minutes while you are working. When it rings, take a 20-second break during which time you look at an object 20 feet away from you.
Repeating this exercise frequently during the workday decreases eye strain, as you are looking away from your computer screen. Your eye muscles can relax for a few seconds before continuing with work.
Take a slightly longer break every couple of hours, even if it is just for five minutes at a time. Use this time to get away from your desk or as a break between meetings so that the scene changes entirely.
Spend your short breaks doing something that gives your mind space to reset; brief physical activity during this time is a good option. Jog on the spot for a few minutes, walk briskly around the block, or do some stretches.
Alternatively, use your breaks to do something that improves your well-being. Meditate, do deep breathing exercises, or eat a piece of fruit.
Your brain does its best work when it is healthy and free of stress. Explore these concepts with us at the Brain-A-Thon where top brain experts share their tips to improve your mind using scientifically proven methods.
During any circumstance or when you have a specific thought, your brain focuses on its default settings and only considers what is right in front of it. Many times, it is something negative such as a long to-do list, an unhappy customer, or a missed gym session.
Don’t give in to your brain that wants to concentrate on this negativity; instead, reframe the situation so that your brain sees the bigger picture and identifies the positives.
When disappointment or negativity strikes, pause for a couple of moments and do some deep breathing exercises. Identify the emotions you are feeling and name the problem.
Next, allow your brain to zoom out from the focal point and see the object’s placement within the bigger scene. Immerse yourself in all the other details of the picture instead of focusing on a single element in isolation.
Now that you have a better perspective of the situation, search for the positive aspects or opportunities. Your long list of things to do could be in preparation for a big birthday party; an unhappy customer will help highlight an area for improvement in your business; and you can make up for the missed gym session by walking with your dog later that day.
As soon as you consider the bigger picture and identify opportunities in it, you give yourself the power to improve brain health. Your brain learns that the current issue isn’t the end of the world, and you are more motivated to continue with your day.
Join us at the Brain-A-Thon and learn how to see the bigger picture from brain experts. It’s only one day of virtual training, and the world will open up at your feet, as your brain expands.
Your brain wants you to know that it wants to be positive, but that’s difficult when emotions overrule logical thinking. It wants you to make a conscious effort to speak more positively to it instead of letting negative thoughts rule the conversation.
Make this happen by talking to your brain much more. Start the conversation as soon as you open your eyes in the morning and end it at night as you get ready to sleep.
Anger, disappointment, and frustration are natural emotions, but they prevent you from thinking logically, as they suppress neurotransmitters responsible for clear thoughts. To overcome this issue, you need to distance yourself from your negative emotions.
The best way to get over negativity is to call yourself out by your first name. When your brain hears your name, it dissociates itself from the negative feelings instead of wallowing in them. Try it next time you have negative feelings—say to yourself, “(Insert your name here) is angry/ frustrated/ sad.”
As you speak to yourself more, you also want to encourage positive emotions so that all the feel-good neurotransmitters kick into action and boost your logical thinking.
When it comes to positive thoughts, talk to yourself by using “I” more frequently. Doing so encourages psychological connections to optimism.
Emphasize your happiness and open-mindedness even more by smiling as you talk to yourself. The brain and facial muscles have a direct connection, so it releases even more positive neurotransmitters.
Your brain changes greatly when you focus on constructive thoughts and solve problems. At the Brain-A-Thon, we will share techniques to enhance your positivity even when it feels the odds are stacked against you. Sign up for free today and help boost your brain health.
Neuroscience is the study of the brain and how it works. Although there is still a lot to discover, your brain wants you to know that it can be rewired to work better.
The brain is neuroplastic which simply means it can change, but this doesn’t happen automatically. You have to put in the time and effort to think differently so that you establish new neural pathways.
One of the common pieces of advice when it comes to changing your thoughts is to think of three positives for every negative thought. It’s a good strategy, as your brain is overwhelmed with constructive thoughts.
We like to make thought changes even more permanent by embedding them in neural patterns that alter the brain’s pathways. It requires reframing, visualization, repetition, and the formation of habits. Use the video below to get you started with these changes.
Changing your brain takes time, but it doesn’t have to be an obstacle. By using just 10 minutes a day or switching up your activities, you wake up your brain, force it to adapt to a new situation, and put it through its paces. All of these factors make it function better.
For a start, identify one routine activity you do daily and swap it out with something else tomorrow. If you always have a sandwich for lunch, then eat a salad instead. If you usually jump out of bed and begin working immediately, then sit outside and meditate. These small changes awaken all kinds of neural pathways in the brain and teach you to cope with the stress of different circumstances.
You don’t have to be a neuroscientist to understand the brain. Register for the Brain-A-Thon and get access to all the groundbreaking research that neuroscientists use to get the most from their gray matter.
Sleep is essential if you want your brain to function efficiently. When you are fatigued, your brain is cluttered with thoughts about all kinds of things. It causes stress, and the lack of sleep diminishes your performance the next day.
Your brain never switches off. When your eyes close and your limbs start to rest, your brain continues to function. It constantly sends messages throughout your body reminding you to breathe, sensing the activities around it, and staying alert for impending danger.
When you sleep, you give your brain a chance to rest. It cannot work hard continuously, so it needs time to recuperate from all the thinking you’ve done during the day.
A computer, which has been likened to the brain, becomes slow when its internet browser continuously has to remember the websites visited and the tabs that were opened, sometimes for several days at a time. You have to clear the cache occasionally so that the browser can function properly.
The same is true of your brain. As you sleep, your brain clears out the clutter of thoughts and gives you the potential to think clearly the next day. Try to get at least eight hours of sleep each night to reduce stress and think clearly.
Your brain is a complex organ that has lots more it wants to tell you. We know that communicating with your brain can be challenging, especially if you aren’t working toward the same goals. We are here to help get the message across during the Brain-A-Thon. Sign up today—your brain will thank you.
