Of course you know that your thoughts are generated by your brain. But you may not have considered that in many very real ways, your thoughts create your brain, too. Let’s see how this can be so.
How Thoughts Change Your Brain
Every thought creates a neural connection. If you think a thought often enough the neural connection will grow strong, particularly if there’s an emotional attachment to it. Conversely, if a memory has little use, is rarely stimulated, or has no emotional attachment, eventually those neural connections will largely wither away from disuse.
Thoughts also change your brain by stimulating the production of brain chemicals which can change the structure and function of your brain.
A good example is what happens to your brain under stress. When a situation you perceive as stressful occurs, it increases your level of the stress hormone cortisol.
Prolonged exposure to cortisol literally excites some of your brain cells to death, particularly in the hippocampus where memories are stored. This alarmingly can cause measurable shrinkage in this part of the brain.
Conversely, stress feeds the amygdala, your fear center, causing it to grow, leaving you more fearful and anxious.
Excess cortisol halts the formation of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a protein which acts like fertilizer to the encourage the growth of new brain cells.
Research suggests that chronic stress stimulates proteins that might even be the cause of Alzheimer’s.
Thoughts That Don’t Serve You
Psychologists have labeled certain negative thought patterns as cognitive distortions. These are common ways your mind will try to convince you of something that isn’t actually true.
See if any of these thought patterns sound familiar to you:
- Obsessively dwelling on an unpleasant event.
- Seeing everything as black or white with no middle ground.
- Using words like “always” and “never”.
- Jumping to conclusions.
- Catastrophizing – seeing the worst in every situation.
- Taking things personally.
- Blaming others for your problems.
- Blaming yourself for things outside of your control.
- Being driven by “shoulds”, “shouldn’ts”, and guilt.
- Going to any length to be right.
Most of us think this way at least some of the time. It’s pretty easy to see how these kinds of thoughts are working against not for you. They can lead to a lot of unhappiness, not just for you but for those around you.
But changing your thinking is hard. Are there any fool-proof ways to make it easy?
Don’t Believe Everything You Think
Besides years of psychoanalysis, is there anything that you can easily do to change negative thought patterns?
You can take some wise advice from an unexpected source – a popular bumper sticker that says “Don’t Believe Everything You Think”.
Next time you catch yourself falling into one of these patterns, remind yourself that you don’t have to believe it just because you thought it. Recognize a negative thought for being what it truly is – a cognitive distortion – and challenge it instead.
You may recall a popular self-help book from the 90s – You Can’t Afford the Luxury of a Negative Thought. The next time you find yourself thinking negatively, remind yourself that this is true.
Your thoughts are powerful.
They create brain chemicals that are either adding to or subtracting from your brain health, ability to cope with life, and happiness.
Quiet Your Mind with Meditation
One of the simplest and most effective techniques to gain control of your thoughts is with meditation.
Over 1,000 studies have been published proving the health benefits of meditation. People who meditate have stronger neural connections between different parts of the brain. Their brains show less atrophy due to age and have more neural synapses.
Regular meditators experience improved focus and concentration, greater creativity, stress reduction, better sleep, and even improved immune function. Meditation can make you happier, smarter, and more resilient to handle life’s ups and downs.
Continually monitoring yourself for negative thoughts and challenging them is no easy task. You have to be vigilante and you must be willing to look at yourself with unflinching honesty.
But being a “mind warrior” is worth the effort. Gaining control of your thoughts is one of the best things you can do to improve your brain, your happiness, and overall quality of life.
SOURCES:
Depression Doing the Thinking at PsychologyToday.com
Building the Evidence for Meditation at EvidenceBasedLiving.human.cornell.edu
Brain fog, lack of focus, anxiety, insomnia, feeling overwhelmed, or not being happy are signs that your brain is not working as well as it should. Deane Alban teaches how to keep your brain operating at peak performance throughout your life at BeBrainFit.com. Stop by to learn how to avoid the most common and dangerous brain mistakes that almost everyone makes, then sign up for her free newsletter and special report “5 Causes of Brain Aging“.
Erin shows overscheduled, overwhelmed women how to do less so that they can achieve more. Traditional productivity books—written by men—barely touch the tangle of cultural pressures that women feel when facing down a to-do list. How to Get Sh*t Done will teach you how to zero in on the three areas of your life where you want to excel, and then it will show you how to off-load, outsource, or just stop giving a damn about the rest.
A round of applause for your blog article. Really thank you! Really Cool.
viagra generic viagra best place to buy generic viagra online
cialis samples request buy cialis online generic names for cialis and viagra
best place to buy viagra online viagra without a doctor prescription viagra online canada
viagra without a doctor prescription prescription drugs online without doctor pharmacy drugs
viagra walgreens buy viagra online viagra online canada
prescription drugs online without doctor
viagra 100mg price cheap ed pills generic viagra online for sale
real viagra without a doctor prescription usa
viagra online usa canadian pharmacy viagra viagra cheap
cheap pet meds without vet prescription
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I really appreciate your efforts and I will be waiting for your further write ups thanks once again.
when is the best time to take cialis buy tadalafil cialis coupons 2019
Im obliged for the blog article.Thanks Again. Will read on…
generic cialis bitcoin cialis going generic in 2019 in us canada price on cialis
Hello to every one, the contents existing at this website are in fact
remarkable for people knowledge, well, keep up the good
work fellows.
my website – we just did 46 hat
I’m really enjoying the theme/design of your blog.
Do you ever run into any internet browser compatibility problems?
A couple of my blog readers have complained about my site not
operating correctly in Explorer but looks great in Opera.
Do you have any ideas to help fix this issue?
Also visit my web page – we just did hat
viagra without a doctor prescription cheap medication online new treatments for ed
pet meds without vet prescription
prescription drugs canada buy online generic ed pills ed help
psychological ed treatment
amoxicillin 800 mg price amoxicillin 500 mg purchase without prescription
valtrex 500 mg coupon valtrex order uk
buy generic drugs from canada medications online pharmacy
payday loans direct lenders payday loans direct lenders
buy generic drugs online buy generic drugs
buy tadalafil tadalafil online
Definitely believe that which you said. Your favourite justification appeared to be at the web the simplest thing to remember of. I say to you, I definitely get irked even as people consider concerns that they plainly don’t recognize about. You controlled to hit the nail upon the highest and also defined out the whole thing without having side effect , other folks could take a signal. Will likely be back to get more. Thank you|
I constantly spent my half an hour to read this weblog’s articles or reviews daily along with a mug of coffee.|
ed pills online https://sildenafilxxl.com/ cheapest generic viagra
herbal remedies for ed online pharmacy canada ed aids
buy cheap prescription drugs online canada drug pharmacy drugs online
what is the best ed drug erectile dysfunction treatment online drugs
is cialis generic available cialis for sale is generic cialis safe
how to buy viagra viagra viagra without a doctor prescription canada
viagra without a prescription: ed pills vacuum pump for ed
anti fungal pills without prescription: ed medications list cheap drugs online
viagra cialis is there a generic viagra viagra no prescription
prescription meds without the prescriptions canadian pharmacy online pumps for ed
buy generic 100mg viagra online viagra cost online viagra
natural treatment for ed online pharmacies in canada cheap erectile dysfunction pills online
zithromax 250 mg australia where can you buy zithromax zithromax 250 mg tablet price
treating ed canadian pharmacy online prescription drugs
п»їcialis 30 mg cialis what happens cialis at a discount price
certainly like your web-site but you have to check the spelling on quite a few of your posts. ラブドール リアル
Iím impressed, I have to admit. Rarely do I come across a blog thatís both equally educative and amusing, and let me tell you, you have hit the nail on the head. The problem is something which not enough men and women are speaking intelligently about. I’m very happy that I stumbled across this during my hunt for something concerning this.
Great article. I’m going through a few of these issues as well..
This is the right site for everyone who hopes to find out about this topic. You realize a whole lot its almost hard to argue with you (not that I really will need toÖHaHa). You definitely put a new spin on a topic that’s been discussed for decades. Excellent stuff, just wonderful!
에볼루션코리아
094vbTHfi/”^
에볼루션카지노
914BEOGiK]_<
에볼루션바카라
276QQCeMS?&:
에볼루션룰렛
160VdtvCO;|;
에볼루션블랙잭790eernVa:*=
The best as well as most popular of all the items.
See to it you don’t miss out.
You have such an contagious laugh! Your hard work as well as devotion are exceptional.