Ep. #9: Neuroplasticity

In this episode, we talk about the science behind neuroplasticity - how scientists have found that the brain is mutable and that our thoughts have the power to rewire our brain.

What does this look like for us as women and/or members of marginalized groups who have told ourselves thoughts and stories that are limiting and negative? 

I break it down for you with some amazing garden metaphors and some tips:

• What visualization can do for you
• How to be more attuned with our feelings and flirt with our negative feelings, but not let them stay
• How we can shift our attention when we have these negative thoughts about ourselves 
• The key questions to ask ourselves so that we're consciously selecting and cultivating those thoughts that we want in our brain and our sanctuary gardens

Transcript

 0:37  
Hi, friends, I hope you're staying healthy and well and enjoying yourself. We are doing well here, my best friend came to visit. And that was such an amazing and loving experience. She's also the godmother of my kids. So they were just over the moon that she came to visit and spend time with them. I hope wherever you are, that you're able to spend time with those you care about, and who care about you in return.

  1:08  
Now I'm going to make my podcast shorter. That is my goal. But without compromising quality and depth. There's just so much I want to cover during each podcast. And the way I write my copy for the content is kind of like the way my mind works. It goes from topic to topic to topic. It's like okay, let me cover this idea. And then Ooh, that is so fascinating, too. And Ooh, I need to talk about this. And that. Oh, wait. That's another fascinating idea.

  1:43  
But it occurred to me, oh, I can break my podcast into multiple series like what a realization, right. So today, what I want to cover is on neuroplasticity in our brains, such an important topic, and gets to the heart of what thought work is all about. Scientists used to believe that our brains could not change, especially after a brain injury or traumatic experience. But scientists have found that this is not true. And that our brains can change based on the way we think. neuro means brain and plasticity means malleable or changeable. Our brains change based on the thoughts we think. So a really cool study that they did at Harvard, was based on these two groups. a neuroscientist asked one group who was told to play a little five finger piano exercise, he asked them to, to do the five finger exercise, and then sit underneath a coil of wire that mapped their brains. It's called the TMS, or transcranial magnetic stimulation test.

  3:08  
What was discovered was that the part of their brain but the motor cortex that control finger movements, that that part grew. But what's really stunning about the study is that a second group was asked to do the same thing. But imagine it and visualize playing that finger exercise on the piano, so they just visualized it, they played it in their heads, they held their hands while imagining moving their fingers. And then they also sat underneath the coil of wire, the TMS. And what they found will blow you away. The part of the brain that controls the fingers for piano playing in both groups grew the same. So the takeaway is just how powerful mentally visualizing something is that it's equivalent to actually physically doing it. And the result of focusing our mental energy on something actually rewires and changes our brain physically.

  4:24  
Your brain is changing my dear friends, whether you like it or not. So if you aren't conscious in shaping your own brain, the people around you and external influences will shape your brain for you. If you focus your attention on self hating thoughts, whether it's conscious or unconscious, your brain becomes more efficient at it. And so that it's going to become more hardwired around thoughts that are self critical and negative about yourself.

  5:00  
But what do we know, my friends, the brain is totally changeable. And so therefore, so are we

  5:09  
have you noticed how you've changed over time, sometimes it's hard to see because we tend to have myopic views of the way we are. And that's why I love journaling, to see the change. Or if you step back and reflect on key experiences that have happened in the last year or two years or five years, ask yourself, who was I then? What were my thoughts and feelings then during that time? And who am I now? What would my current self tell my past self? There, you will see the change. Change happens all around us, all the time, and change happens inside of us. Even for myself taking The MBTI test or other personality tests, I found that over the years, my results have changed drastically.

  6:10  
So be attuned to those changes, my friends, drastic or small changes are there, it is so powerful to see them and discern them because noticing these changes will instill in you the belief that your thoughts are also mutable. Yes, you your thoughts, you are constantly changing and evolving. And it's part of your journey.

  6:36  
So when I hear clients or friends say something limiting about themselves, they might say, that's just the way I am. I can never be successful, because it's just not who I am. Or recently, I had a client say, I'm just too old to change my thoughts about myself, this is who I am. And so I want to say, but your brain doesn't think so um, your brain is actually mutable and changeable. It might be resistant to change, but it's absolutely changeable. And to these statements, I also want to ask, how is thinking this way serving you.

  7:16  
Many of the limitations that we put on ourselves simply aren't true, right?

  7:23  
And then ask yourself, this is this where I want my mental energy to go. You know what, I imagine that my brain is like a garden. So during this pandemic, my family and I got into gardening, we got my kids into planting and gardening and getting their hands thick into the soil. It was wonderful. We learned about all kinds of tomatoes and other plants, where to plant them, and how to grow all kinds of flowers and vegetables. So this garden, it's your brain. And just imagine the thought, like a tomato plant or flower seed, I am not good enough or my whole life people have been out to get me. Just imagine what these negative and limiting thoughts about yourself would look like. If they were manifested into a seed, or plant or weed or something in your garden. And think whether you'd want it to bloom there.

  8:27  
does it bring peace and joy to you?

  8:31  
in your garden that's full of beautiful flowers and plants.

  8:37  
What kind of garden would you want? I know I would want mine to be blooming and vivacious and colorful and full of vitality and abundance and zest. I also really got into all kinds of varieties of succulent plants and

  8:55  
cacti and just recognizing just how gorgeous they are in their shape and textures.

  9:02  
So your garden can be filled with them to what would your garden look like? What kind of plants and flowers which you have? And imagine your brain as your garden and think about whether you'd want to plant certain thoughts in that sanctuary of a garden.

  9:24  
With those thoughts serve you would they encourage you to live according to your highest ideals with they enable you to act in integrity with they also allow you to be an example to others perhaps your kids, your friends, young people. Is this the kind of life you want?

  9:53  
With limiting thoughts and stories that we tell ourselves I don't think so. my lovelies

  10:00  
I don't think you'd want that in your garden, I really don't. It doesn't have to be that way you can change your thoughts and stories about yourself. And it all starts with this awareness. It is so powerful to be aware. Just notice when your brain starts telling yourself that you aren't good enough in some way. And there's no need to beat yourself up for having these thoughts. Because what you need more than anything, my love is to give yourself a big hug. And I want you to give yourself a warm embrace, and I want to give you a warm virtual hug.

  10:40  
There's so many reasons that society gives us as women to feel bad about ourselves, right? I mean, just watch commercials, or go on social media. And if you're part of any marginalized groups, like I am, being Asian American, and from an immigrant family,

  10:59  
there's even more external reasons that we have to feel bad about ourselves, right. So let's not pile that on, we have enough that we've been conditioned to think and feel, right. And so at this point, we want to as much as we can shower ourselves with glowing love, just envelop ourselves and compassion. Nurture ourselves as much as possible. give ourselves that warm, affectionate embrace, give your arm literally a kiss. marvel at your beautiful body. Marvel, it's something, anything about yourself that you love about yourself. And there's something, something that you love about yourself, whether it's your toes, or your smile, or the work that you do in your everyday life, or how you are with your kids, or how you are in serving your local community. Whatever it is, think about that for a second. And think about how amazing you are. Yes, all of you, all of you, including the part that can beat yourself up from time to time. That's okay, you're on a journey. We all are, and we're learning and we're growing and we're evolving. That's a good thing. Part of this journey is to learn to love ourselves and have our own back no matter what unconditionally. And we can do that by being aware of those moments, when we start to criticize ourselves, and just shift our attention ever so slightly towards something else, like what we love about ourselves.

  12:43  
Then I want you to think about some recurring thoughts and stories that you tell yourself that are limiting and negative.

  12:53  
go through each thought and ask yourself how you feel.

  12:57  
Write it down. When you think the thought for example, the world is out to get me for instance, how does that feel in your body? Close your eyes. visualize it? Does it take your breath away? Does it make you push your lips? What happens to your body when you think this thought and write it down? Write all these thoughts and feelings down?

  13:23  
You can use two columns on a paper one for thoughts, one for corresponding feelings, and just list them one by one.

  13:32  
What might you find? By looking at these thoughts that you listed?

  13:38  
You might find Wow. I am pretty mean to myself. I mean, are these things I would say to my best friend? Are these things I would say to a child?

  13:50  
Are these things I would say to myself if I were seven years old again, or 10 years old.

  13:58  
Or at my current age, right I wanted to be my own best friend is this way I would tell myself

  14:07  
and then again ask yourself are these thoughts

  14:12  
and feelings? are they serving you?

  14:18  
Then look at the feelings column and just stay with it. examine what you've written down. Ask yourself also are these feelings serving you? Is this how you envision wanting to live your life?

  14:31  
Now negative emotions our friends, my my dear lovelies. I don't subscribe to positive pop psychology that says we've got to silverline all the challenges in life and always look on the bright side, right? No, not at all. Not at all. I don't subscribe. I don't subscribe to that, my friends. That is actually called resisting your emotions. And that creates more suffering. It just prolongs and makes whatever negative emotions you have worse

  15:00  
Right, so breathing into that negative emotion and befriending it is the key, my friend, make friends with your negative emotions and your shadow self. We all have it, where there's light, there's also darkness. Welcome them with open arms.

  15:18  
But rather than allowing the negative emotion to linger or overstay, its welcome. you embrace it, say hello, say hello and let it move its merry way.

  15:30  
Now, this may look different for different people.

  15:33  
Some people like to do yoga and do breath work and allow to breathe in and out their negative feelings. I tend to carry negative feelings in my shoulders and jaw. And so self coaching really helps and massage like body work really helped me.

  15:55  
So what I do is I just have a short fling with my negative feelings. I flirt,

  16:01  
but I don't let them stay and I just move on.

  16:05  
I've also found for myself that having a dance party in the dark really helps. I am someone who loves to get physical and I find it very cathartic to dance, or to breathe hard or do some exercise that gets me moving that for me is more effective than sitting and meditating.

  16:27  
Either way, I'm breathing in and out. And I'm also just letting my

  16:33  
limiting stories and thoughts and emotions just visit and then go their merry way.

  16:42  
So remember, my lovelies embrace your shadow self, and your shadow emotions. be friends with them.

  16:51  
They're also here to teach us lessons in life.

  16:57  
To be more human, and empathetic and compassionate, first and foremost with ourselves. And then with others. The more we extend love to ourselves, the more willing we are to receiving it. It just opens up our hearts. When you give yourself that giant hug. Does your heart expand or shrink, I find myself expanding. When I pour love to myself, I find my heart expanding.

  17:31  
And in that process, I also find myself more open to giving even more love to others. We've got to fill our cups my friends before we can fill other people's cups. And it all starts with the stories and thoughts we tell ourselves whether we want to tell story where we're the heroine in our own story. And the story is one of love and gratitude and peace and justice and meaning and working towards the good of humanity. And that even when life is challenging, the story shows that love wins. And that when we take our last breaths on this earth that we've been used until every last breath to transform the lives of others for the better.

  18:16  
Is that the story you want to tell? You get to decide my lovelies, you get to decide what you want your thoughts and stories to be and where you want these thoughts to bloom in your sanctuary have a garden

  18:34  
cultivated carefully nurture it consciously as you would in your own garden and be mindful of the power of your thoughts and dreams and the results that they create in your life.

  18:54  
Alright, my lovelies, thank you for taking the time to listen again to the unleash your inner power podcast. I love spending time with you each time that I get to share something that I'm going through or that's may have learned. I enjoy spending time and doing this and just having you by my side. I appreciate it. Follow me on Instagram at Dr. Janny. Coach, find me on Janny Chang calm, sign up for my email list. And I've just recently put up a free download that you can get of my unleash your inner power manifesto and learn more about what I offer as a coach. I'm offering free one on one consultations right now. I'd love to talk to you about your stories and your life and where you're at. I'd love to hear from you. Thank you again and I will see you next time.