For much of human existence, people believed that our brains developed at an early age and could not be significantly changed after this period. We won’t blatantly yell “Wrong” (that’s rude)---but we are thrilled to share that this is only partially correct.
Our brains are strongly developed during the first few years of our life AND we can consciously change our brains at any age. Our brains are plastic! We can rewire our brain!
This may not be revolutionary news for most of you. For decades, there have been considerable research and studies that share this fact. Yet, this knowledge still excites us when talk about it.
Brain plasticity is a big reason why we decided to pursue our chosen coaching methods from NLP to the Divine Intelligence Process. It excites us! And, we are excited to share with you various aspects of how you can change your brain throughout this month.
We will dive deeper into these aspects later in the series. First things first, we want to share this with you again to reinforce this concept. Your brain is plastic AND you can rewire your brain.
Our brains are wired through a collection of neural pathways. You can think of these as roads and interstates. The pathways are strengthened by similar thought patterns, beliefs, feelings, emotions, and decisions. Or as Donald Hebb shared in his 1949 book, The Organization of Behavior : ‘Cells that fire together wire together.’
When we reinforce our beliefs and thought patterns, the neural pathways (or roads) become more developed (like interstate highway infrastructure). There is a tendency for us to take the path of least resistance or respond simply “out of habit.” This occurs because certain neural pathways(or ‘highways’) are so well developed.
Now, here is the empowering part: We do not have to travel the same roads. The human brain is made up of an estimated 100 billion neurons making a total of 100 trillion neural connections. This creates so much potential for us to reshape our brain however we choose. We can actually choose the neural pathways we want to develop. The more we develop these roads, the more our brain develops these pathways. Over time, these become the instinctive ‘highways’ we take by default.
What may be even more exciting to you is that as we shift our focus and decrease our usage of the neural pathways we wish to change, those pathways become weaker. Think of it as poorly maintained roads or interstates. The government chooses to invest in improving roads that are well trafficked. Your brain does the same thing. When a neural pathway isn’t utilized, our brain determines it is less important. Incredibly inspiring news for those of us who wish to consciously change our brain!
So, next time you find yourself reacting “out of habit” or “conditioning,” you have an opportunity to remind yourself of why that may be happening. And, now you can start changing your brain by consciously choosing to respond the way you actually want.
Don’t worry if this doesn’t happen overnight. It takes some time and certain techniques will help make this easier. If you are interested, feel free to reach out to us. We are excited to share plenty of both with you.
More to come. Stay tuned…
John Harrington
John dedicates his life to helping others deepen their connection with the Sacred in the world, nature, and within oneself. He is a Certified Spiritual Life Coach, Coach Trainer, NLP Practitioner, and Authorized Guide to John of God in Brazil. John currently lives in Boulder, Colorado with his fiancée,Cristina, and their wire hair terrier,Angel, who was found on the streets of Brazil.
Julie Muhsmann
Through her ability to listen and connect intuitively on a deep level, Julie guides clients to acknowledge and honor their own personal strengths to (re)discover their own unique spark and achieve their goals, both personal and professional. She is a certified Spiritual Life Coach and MBA currently living in Dallas, Texas with her husband and two rescued Labradors, Candy and Boom. Shine Bright!