Hello Friends and Colleagues,
I thought of so many topics I could talk about today but thought I would start with a basic principle that relates to all of our experience as human beings. The other day I was in a hurry to work, feeling irritated with a long commute, when I turned down a two lane street where a lawn service man was cutting grass near the road on a riding lawnmower. The next thing I heard was a crack when something hit my windshield on the driver’s side and looked like it left a chip in my glass! I was really angry and felt like I did not need another thing to get irritated about since I was already cranked up. I fumed over my bad luck for several minutes but, when I stopped at a light and stuck my hand out the window to touch the place that was hit, the mark just rubbed away as there was no chip or anything! I had to laugh at how my mind, (and body), in the agitated state it was in, created what we call in the trade a “catastrophizing” story. I think how often our brain generates these kind of thoughts throughout a day or a week, and how those thoughts, images, sensations, feelings, even memories take their toll on our mind/brain/ body balance. (Speaking of memories, the incident triggered another time/memory several years ago that I recalled, when after purchasing my first and only luxury vehicle, a huge rock or road debris hit my windshield while driving on a major expressway with my family in the car! (Of course this just added to my system marinating in stress chemicals!)
So here’s a basic principle I will be discussing in future Newsletters. In 1949 a man by the name of Donald Hebb, (Hebbian Theory), coined the phrase “cells that fire together, wire together”. It turns out that when a cell is activated and “infects” a cell near it, a chain reaction can start that creates a whole network of signals. My story with my car is a mini-example of this. I have witnessed many times, with someone I know or a client, describing after their first anxiety attack, how it just got easier and easier to generate more anxiety with accompanied fear producing thoughts. Imagine how often we create thoughts, pictures, self-talk, etc. in anticipation of something that is “going” to happen that is not happening right now or, that we think is happening, and how this reinforces the “wiring” of more networks for increased anxiety and worry.
The good news is, we can literally unwire these networks and create new, more appropriate links in the brain, since we now understand this concept called neuroplasticity. In the future I will be talking more about that, and ways we can change our “brain maps”. One such way I am really excited about, is called Brainspotting, which if you would like to know more about, check out that page on my website at harrynozicka.com or go to the developer’s website David Grand, PhD.
For now, try to keep in mind that negative thoughts, images, self-talk, etc. reinforce not only our negative emotions, but also keep strengthening the neuro-networks for more stress, anxiety, depression etc. We can learn to decrease the receptors for these pathways and increase receptors for new, more adaptive and creative networks and thus, actually change the structure of our brain!