Over the next few blog posts, I’d like to give you some practical tips on how to make the most of your brain’s amazing abilities to make your life more purposeful and meaningful.
Fortune and opportunity are available to everyone. But some are able to seize those opportunities; some are not. It all depends on the habitual patterns of thought and behavior that are encoded in the neural and muscle connections throughout your brain and body. If your usual habits get in the way of your goals, it’s time to rewire.
Unlike an electrician fixing a wiring problem in a house, you can’t go in and rewire your neural and muscle connections with your hands. You have to do it indirectly. All the information you receive through your five senses, all movement of your bones and muscles, and all the foods you consume affect your brain and give you the power to change it. Appropriate exercise, in particular, increases the flow of oxygen to the brain, contributing to the growth of new brain cells, as well as new and/or stronger connections between cells. It also increases production of neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin, which play an important role in cognitive function.
Yoga,
martial arts, dancing, and the like include many novel body movements that are very good for stimulating the brain. I want to emphasize the importance of physical training for developing brain power, in particular. You cannot produce good results, no matter how excellent the designs and plans your brain creates, if your body doesn’t support you with the strength to carry them out.
Work to develop a body full of vitality. Make it so that your body can support the goals you establish. Learn at least one skill you can use to train your body yourself and steadily practice it. Set a goal and continuously practice overcoming your physical limitations.
Staying in shape not only promotes good physical health, but it’s also a good way to develop self-control, integrity, responsibility, and willpower. In the course of training your body and
awakening its sensitivity, you develop the focus to observe your own thoughts, emotions, and preconceptions. Through this process, you gain the ability to identify where and how your body feels uncomfortable, what types of emotion easily ensnare you, and when and how your consciousness is not yet free.
This is the beginning of change.
Change begins in an awareness of what parts of you must change and be healed. It is only when you become aware of previously unknown discomfort and lack of freedom in your body, emotions, and consciousness that you begin to change.
At first, start with small changes. Through repetition you will soon recover health and eliminate bad habits. In the process of improving your physical condition, you develop the power to look at yourself more deeply, closely, and objectively. This becomes a new discovery of who you are and brings you a new understanding of yourself. It also broadens your vision on life.
How do you move your body in your everyday life? What did you discover from it?
In my next post, I’ll write about the importance of trusting your brain in order for it to work at its best.