- Rick Hanson
Identify it and set the Intention
“You can use your mind - To change your brain - To change your mind for the better!”
Last week I wrote a post about Neuroplasticity and getting rid of bad habits.The first step is to identify the habit you want to change and set the intention to break it. That sounds so simple. But the reality is that bad habits are hard to break, that's why we call them habits!Dr. Rick Hanson talks about self-directed neuroplasticity to break habits, or indeed just to change your mind for the better! Dr. Hanson explains that neuroplasticity is ongoing. Our brains are changing all the time. He says that
Neurons that fire together, wire together
So we can create good habits of the mind or bad habits. The secret lies in focus - do things with clarity, skillfulness and intention.
If we rest our attention routinely on what we resent and what we are dissatisfied with, or our bad habits - that is where we build our neural pathways.
When we change attention - to positive things, blessings, what we are grateful for - we build up a different neural pathway.
Have an intention - to redirect your attention! Attention is like a vacuum cleaner - it sucks whatever it rests up into the brain. New neural pathways are turbo charged when done with attention. So by mindfully internalizing positive experiences, you are consciously creating neural pathways. This is Self-Directed Neuroplasticity.
So by first identifying what the habit is that you want to break, setting the intention to break that habit, and then redirecting your attention from that negative habit to a something else, something positive, you begin to create a new neural pathway. New synaptic pathways can form in as little as 5 - 10 minutes!
It's only the first step, but it's an incredibly powerful one.
I want to close with another clip by Dr. Hanson, also on Neuroplasticity. This one called Take in the Good. Enjoy!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LDDzhDIqcM]
I’d love to hear about any bad habits you’ve broken, and how you changed the behavior. And as always, thank you for taking the time to visit. I appreciate it.