Yes, You Can Rewire Your Brain!

Photo by Dierk Schaefer

We are all creatures of habit. Right from our physical habits, related to what, when and how much we eat, sleep or exercise, to our emotional patterns, of love, anger, envy, fear, happiness or sadness, they recur with great alacrity. Likewise, our mental responses, be it of judging or accepting, seeking perfection or wholesomeness and controlling or letting go are vastly conditioned. 

In essence, as we grow older, we become hard-wired to be a certain way. It is commonly believed that it is then challenging, perhaps impossible, to try and change any of these habits. However, latest Neuroscience research highlights how it is possible to introduce new wiring in the brain – thereby, effecting change and establishing new habits.

Whatever fires together, wires together

Neuroscience reveals that our deeply ingrained habits are indeed a form of physical hard wiring in our brain. It is akin to having established electrical circuits in the brain that make us react or behave in a pre-determined way. Similar stimuli then generate identical and predictable responses.

Brain messaging, of positive or negative thoughts, generates corresponding emotional sensation in us. Our instinctive response to these sensations, arising from our childhood experiences or inborn orientation, leads to a certain behavior. As we repeatedly behave in a certain way with a given type of messaging, the neural connections bonding the trigger and the response get set in the brain.

The neurons that fire together, wire together. That’s how the brain gets hard-wired – meaning the brain ‘memorizes’ the manner in which it needs to respond to a certain messaging. The more we repeat that pattern, the more the brain gets convinced and the stronger the hard wiring in the brain. For example, lets consider this scenario.

Armaan routinely thinks about his slow pace of career growth. As a result, he feels inadequate, sad and not lovable. As these feelings grow within him, he usually tries to counter them by turning to TV and eating sugary or fried foods. While this makes him feel good temporarily, the inner thoughts of being unsuccessful keep coming back and as he keeps responding to them in the same way, the brain learns and deepens its physical connection between this thought, emotion and the behavior.    

Latest theory behind forming new habits

While for a long time neuroscientists believed that the human brain largely stops developing after childhood, the latest thinking of neuroplasticity convincingly challenges that. Neuroplasticity suggests that the neural connections and pathways are evolving all the time and can change based on factors like new experiences, behavior changes and conscious effort, including with exercise and meditation.

As psychiatrists Jeffrey Schwartz and Rebecca Gladding describe in their book ‘You are not your brain’, the key to forming new habits (and breaking off from the old ones) is to create new neural pathways in the brain. It’s akin to the brain literally drawing ‘new lines in the sand’ – essentially creating new connections between the old negative thoughts (and the associated emotional triggers) and an alternate, healthier behavior.

If we can become aware of our unhealthy emotional triggers (such as the feelings of inadequacy and not being lovable in the above example) and can choose a new behavior to deal with them (instead of turning to TV or junk food, going for a run or engaging in a meaningful hobby), we start to form new circuitry in the brain. If we can repeat it for some time, the connecting pathways in the brain get hard-wired to automatically respond in a new way.

What you need to do

Here are four ideas that can be particularly helpful in your efforts at inculcating specific new habits.

1.     Building self-awareness

The key to rewiring your brain lies in building awareness about your personal negative triggers – the unwholesome thoughts and emotional sensations that get generated in your brain. Recognizing when you start to be judgmental, get anxious or angry, or feel jealous or left out and so forth can provide you the opportunity to respond to them in a new way.

2.     Exploring alternate beliefs

Having identified your recurring mental or emotional triggers, it’s worth examining whether the underlying personal beliefs that lead to these emotions are necessarily valid. Are you feeling sad because of your existing beliefs about career success and its importance? Are you feeling inadequate because of your beliefs about how others should treat you?

Simultaneously, you may want to consider what alternate beliefs might be more accurate and may serve you better in these situations. Is it that you are not climbing the corporate ladder fast enough or is your ladder leaning against the wrong wall? Do others not treat you well or do you not treat yourself well? For more details on this approach, you may want to read a related post on beliefs and habits.

3.     Making new choices

Having become aware of the beliefs that are at the source of your emotional experiences and considered alternate and healthier beliefs, it’s about taking responsibility towards making new choices in your actions. This is usually hard as we are competing with our well-ingrained instincts. However, if we can be determined to respond to our mental commentary in a healthier way, we can start the process of rewiring our brain towards healthier habits.

4.     Sustained practice

Neuroplasticity works best with the notion of what is called attention density. Attention density is the idea of sustaining focus and attention on a thought, emotion or action over and over again – it’s not only about paying attention but being able to do it on a repetitive basis. The more we can do that, the better the chances of forming firmer and longer-term new circuits in the brain.

Try one new habit this year

Many of us are inspired to turn a fresh leaf at the beginning of a New Year – we also feel motivated to draw up a list of resolutions to better our lives and those of others around us. I wonder if you would like to try applying the above ideas to any one of your new year resolutions, particularly if it requires forming a new habit – be it being disciplined about your diet or exercise, switching off from work when at home, managing your temperament, pursuing a hobby or connecting better with friends and family.

Further, sharing your resolutions with others raises your personal commitment towards making them happen. Additionally, the step of sharing sends out the signals to the universe and allows you to receive support from unexpected quarters. In that context, please feel free to share on this blog that one new habit that you would like to inculcate in 2013.

Wish you a very Happy New Year and look forward to hearing your thoughts!