December 7, 2015 - Written by: Yazmin Joy

6 Things You Should Know About Your Amazing Brain!

I don’t know about you but sometimes I get a bit fed up of all this positive thinking spiel. ‘Let it go’, ‘be happy’, ‘YOLO’, ‘peace mannn’. GAHHHH, STOP TALKING TO ME!

Often when I am in the midst of trials in my personal life I can get frustrated with positive mantras because I don’t really see how all these ‘good vibes’ are going to make a tangible difference.

I mean what actually happens when we think happy thoughts? How does this impact my external circumstances? DOES it make a difference or is just a ploy by the health industry to sell us overpriced cold pressed juices and adult colouring books? Is it just about perception or is there a physiological change?

Advancements in neuroscience are providing more and more concrete proof that our thoughts not only make us feel healthier, but directly impacts the architecture of our brains in a very real and significant way.

Switch On Your Brain by communication pathologist and audiologist Dr Caroline Leaf explains how we don’t have to be victims of our biology or by hereditary genetics. Using her research into neuroplasticity and calling on a history of patients who have shown dramatic recovery from everything from brain damage, depression & learning difficulties, the proof is in the pudding: you’re not stuck with the brain you have.

Your brain is the control system in the starship super vessel that is your body. It’s responsible for releasing hormones, chemicals and sending signals so your body can function healthily and correctly. Basically everything you do, everything you experience, everything you achieve in life starts in the brain. In light of this a few months ago I decided to get to know my brain a lil’ better – here’s some things I learnt…

6 Things You Should Know About Your Amazing Brain:

1. You are not a victim of your biology.

The greatest myth is that our brains control us. WRONG. Advancements in neuroscience are proving again and again that it is in fact our thoughts that determine our brain – NOT the other way around.

If you have anxiety, stress or depression it’s easy to fall into the trap of accepting this as concrete. If your family has a history of illness or disease then you might resolve to live in fear that you have the same fate. Yes, you might have certain hereditary genes or tendencies but whether or not that DNA is activated is down to your thoughts and how you experience your environment.

This is, of course, not to say there are not circumstances or afflictions beyond our control, but this does suggest that there is new hope in the way we treat and relate to our thought life that can help and improve our state of living.

You brain is constantly renewing itself, growing and changing and this is known as neuroplasticity – which means we each have the ability to be smarter, healthier and happier. Empire state of mind baby!

‘Neuroplasticity by definition means the brain is malleable and adaptable, changing moment by moment of everyday.’

2. Mind over matter: It’s real folks!

Okay, here’s where it gets all geekazoid! I’ll do my best to break it down from what I understand.

Basically when you think an electrical signal is sent to your brain. This signal passes though your cells and unzips a strand of DNA. Inside the DNA is a genetic code – which is needed to build a protein. Your brain reads the code and a protein called RNA (a sort of photocopier protein) makes a copy which acts as ‘an architectural plan to build the proteins inside the machinary of the cell. This is known as ‘genetic expression’.’

The key thing you need to know about genetic expression is that positive and toxic thoughts produce DIFFERENT qualities of protein. When you think a toxic thought the signal that unzips the DNA is disrupted and this causes an unhealthy protein to grow. Instead of being a healthy tree like structure the structure is contorted and kinda mangled.

The protein built from a toxic thought is physically different in structure to one produced from a healthy thought. It’s true – thinking actually changes our DNA! Why is this awesome? Because you my friend – have the power to change your own brain!

3. Love & joy can can help you fight disease.

‘Research shows that 75 – 98 % of mental, physical, and behavioural illness comes from one’s thought life’.

You can’t ignore it. Toxic thinking impacts our health in a very real and significant way. Negetive thinking can hinder your brain’s ability to cope with attacks on the body and can impact the immune system. But the good news is DNA codes can be reversed ‘by feelings of love, joy, appreciation and gratitude!’

Dr Leaf looks at the astounding impact of positive thinking on patients. Researchers have even found that HIV positive patients had 300,000 times more resistance to the disease when they engaged in positive thinking to those who did not. In less severe circumstances the act of positive thinking can also increase your capacity to learn – making you smarter!!

4. Everyday brings about new opportunity – a fresh start.

Did you know that every morning when you wake up new baby nerve cells have grown whilst you were sleeping? Every. Single. Morning. People. This miraculous occurence is known as neurogenesis. What does this mean? Every morning you have an opportunity rewire your brain with these fresh new cells.

5. If you don’t grow healthy proteins, you WILL grow unhealthy ones.

New proteins are constantly being formed in the brain and they will either be healthy or they will be toxic. There is no in between. Knowing this can empower you to take action and CHOOSE to practice positive thoughts – because hey, why not choose love?

6. Be the change you wish to see.

Changing a negative thought pattern takes approx 21 days. You see, we rarely stop and anyalyse our thoughts. Most thoughts occur on autopilot in our subconscious.

To stop them from being a habit we need to bring them into our consciousness to make them malleable. This can be done through prayer and meditation – because slowing down your thinking brings the thoughts into consciousness, making them adaptable. And the more you think in a certain way, the more entrenched this thinking will become in your brain.

‘It takes twenty-one days of this cycling for all the necessary protein changes to happen to create a long term integrated memory’.

(Image via)

It’s so easy to get bogged down by the daily grind of life and slip into toxic thought habits but the reality is – the way you think does determine the quality of life you lead. You have the power to monitor your thought life and change your brain. Now that’s some food for thought!