Each Spring, when the annual trend of cleaning closets and windows rolls around, why not use the fresh season’s regenerative energy to re-energize your brain? While three-quarters of Americans report cleaning their homes each spring, it is also a prime time to scrub old mental patterns and lay ground for new neural pathways.
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“Normal brain development is a staggeringly beautiful and wondrous thing,” says Kendal Broadie, Ph.D., a Professor of Neurobiology, Biological Sciences, and Pharmacology at Vanderbilt University in a powerful Vanderbilt article titled The Fine Art of Brain Development.
“The brain is not static, it constantly changes itself in response to its environment.”
Changing your environment—whether that is cleaning, setting up new routines, or beginning different practices—changes your brain, too. “Your heart doesn’t do that. Your liver doesn’t do that. That’s the property that makes it so special. That’s what makes the brain, the brain,” says Broadie.
Around 86 billion neurons run throughout your brain, communicating information through electrical and chemical signals. In a process called Neurogenesis, new neurons are constantly forming, and new thoughts and actions are constantly creating new neural pathways.
The point is this: your brain changes. Your thoughts, actions, and habits will directly affect your brain function.
So, how do you use this “staggeringly beautiful and wondrous” power to Spring-clean your mind? With a smart plan and mindful practice, you can change the pathways of your brain, cleaning out the tired, habitual patterns and building new ones that serve you better. Think of it as a clean sweep for your mind.
Related reading: "5 Ways Brain Fitness and Behavioral Health Are Optimized by Healthy Habits."
Fundamentals for Building a Healthier Brain
Heartmanity will focus on the four fundamentals for building new brain habits. Check out these topics as well as tips for implementing them into your everyday life:
Dream Big; Start Small - how to turn your dreams into achievable steps.
Make Your Plan Powerful - why visualization should be one of your first steps.
Build Your Own Momentum - why repetition is vital for a healthy brain.
The Willpower Effect - how making decisions can make, or break, your success.
Stay tuned for more on brain health and healthy brain habits! Here's to your mental health and brain fitness.
To get specialized support or for more information about Heartmanity programs, please visit our resources page.
