One of the greatest discoveries to come out of neuroscience in the past couple of decades is the concept of neuroplasticity. Basically, neuroplasticity describes the ability for our brain to rewire and restructure its neural structure and anatomy. A key phrase in neuroscience is, “Neurons that fire together wire together.” What this means is that over time our collective experiences and thoughts that we repeat about who we are and our environment become neurologically wired in our brain. In essence our psychology creates our biology. As we experience the various thoughts and feelings throughout our day, they actually leave traces behind in the neural structure of the brain. If you spend your entire day worrying about what others think about you or thinking about how miserable your life is, those very thoughts begin to form a neural network that wires together cementing that concept in your mind. Conversely, if we can cultivate more gratitude, self-forgiveness, and compassion toward ourselves, we can begin to rewire these “neural nets of negativity” into a healthy brain and being.
The neuropsychologist, Dr. Rick Hanson, nicely states, “The mind is like Velcro for negative experiences and Teflon for positive ones.” I’m sure many of us can relate to this idea, but why is that our minds tend to remember the painful, negative experiences but not so much the joyous, happy moments? There’s actually a neurobiological answer that has to do with something called a “negativity bias.” At the University of Washington a study revealed how a negative experience remains wired into our brain more strongly than a positive one. In fact, it takes up to five positive experiences to outweigh a negative thought! Neurobiologists believe that this “negative bias” of the human brain was an evolutionary trait that helped early humans survive by allowing the brain to react to, remember, and recall life-threatening experiences. Imagine you were an early human chased by a lion; your brain would store that information into a neural net, recalling that memory as a survival mechanism. The lesson is that in order to experience authentic happiness, we actively have to focus on the positive to overcome the negative experiences in our life that our brain has imprinted into our consciousness.
The last item to mention is that of mirror neurons. In the past 15 years, neuroscientists discovered that our brain possesses mirror neurons that are responsible for us to feel compassion and empathy toward others. There exists a part of the human brain known as the insula, which is the area activated when we tap into our internal feelings and sensations. So when we dance, do yoga meditate, focus on our breath, swim, run, or are in nature we begin to connect to the internal terrain of our body. The insula gauges how we’re feeling and what we’re experiencing within our body and mind in the present moment. Since neuroplasticity demonstrates that the brain is capable of growing at any age in life, we can enhance the development of the insula. So why is this so important, you may wonder? Brain scans reveal that people with more developed insula tend to have more developed mirror neurons, which enable us to become more self-aware, compassionate, caring, and empathetic toward others. It is this notion of compassion and empathy toward others that allows us to experience greater happiness and wellbeing on a daily basis.
The more we can begin to focus on all the abundance, gratitude, and joy inherent in our life rather than going through life in worry, doubt, pessimism, and fear, the more healthy and vibrant our brains become. When the human brain and body are healthy and strong we tend to cultivate the “four C’s” of calmness, contentment, caring and creativity. In the next entry, I’ll discuss specific ways in which we can entrain our brain to create more healthy neural pathways through daily exercises and techniques to cultivate a happy brain, body, and being. Finally, I leave you with this empowering message, “No external conditions are required for happiness. Happiness is who you are!” Until then, keep on thinking happy thoughts as you continue Living Your Light®.
Dr. Jay Kumar
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