Brain Yoga, or Who's Driving your Mental Bus?

I love the field of neuroplasticity. It’s so empowering. It basically states that your brain can be molded like plastic — and it can be reshaped and rewired by you. Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz’s latest book, You Are Not Your Brain, written with Rebecca L. Gladding, M.D., is a great example. It’s in the area of what he calls self-directed neuroplasticity. In short, virtually any habit can be changed with the help of the four-step process he explains in his new book. You can now end your self-sabotage or any other poor habits. You can break free. If you're not your brain, who are you? I interviewed Dr. Schwartz for my Hypnotic Gold members. This medical doctor, psychiatrist, and researcher exudes high-energy, has deep faith, and loves his work. He was adviser for Martin Scorsese’s film, Aviator, about Howard Hughes. Now Schwartz is helping people like you and me learn to rewire our brains so we can get the results we want and become the people we long to be. At the heart of his breakthrough approach is the understanding that you are something other than the material. That’s why you can be separate from your brain, mindful of it, and actually rewrite it. Hence the title of his book. Dr. Schwartz is a man of science, wrote a mesmerizing science-based book in 2002 called, The Mind and the Brain: Neuroplasticity and the Power of Mental Force, and yet he is also a spiritual man, and isn’t afraid to say so. He doesn’t declare where thoughts come from, but suggests some of them serve you and others are “deceptive brain messages.” The latter you can learn to hear but not obey. I told Dr. Schwartz that in most of my books, such as The Attractor Factor, I call limiting beliefs what he calls deceptive brain messages. Both are thoughts that don’t serve your highest goals. You Attract What You BelievernDr. Schwartz explained that in his work with OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) patients, brain scans revealed that they were obeying messages firing in their brains that were hurting them. It wasn’t a problem with the patient, though, it was a problem with their brain. With new skills, they could learn to retrain their brains. (Dr. Schwartz wrote about OCD in his first book, Brain Lock.) But this is true for all of us. Our brains may not always be helping. The message for us is that no matter what the struggle, you can change it. It’s learning how. Dr. Schwartz’s four steps are a universal solution that apply to everything from BlackBerry addiction to compulsive shopping to bulimia to junk food addiction, cheating, procrastination, to how to stop going back to your toxic ex, and more. In short, here are the four steps: Step 1: Relabel. Identify deceptive brain messages and the uncomfortable sensations; call them what they really are. Step 2: Reframe. Change your perception of the importance of the deceptive brain messages; say why these thoughts, urges, and impulses keep bother you. (”It’s not ME, it’s just my BRAIN!”) Step 3: Refocus. Direct your attention toward an activity or mental process that is wholesome and productive—even while the false and deceptive urges, thoughts, impulses, and sensations are still present and bothering you. Step 4: Revalue. Clearly see the thoughts, urges, and impulses for what they are: sensations caused by deceptive brain messages that are not true and that have little to no value. For the details, you can go to the book’s site (right here) or just get the book from Amazon or wherever you buy books. (It’s also on audio.). The book is a breeze to read, and you can grasp his steps easily. I highly recommend it. The point is, you can exercise your body, and you can exercise your mind. I’ll call it Brain Yoga for now. This information teaches you to be the pilot of your brain, and not a passenger letting it fly you into walls. Books and research by such neuroscience pioneers as Dr. Schwartz excite and inspire me. They prove that you can have what you want with persistence, intention, and strategy. That said, what do you want for you? Are you ready to take action right now? PS – Pack a lunch and go visit Dr. Schwartz’s info packed site on neuroscience and conflict resolution at http://westallen.typepad.com/brains_on_purpose/about_jeffrey_m_schwartz_.htmlrn