This week: A Tedx talk by neuroscientist Dr. Richard Davidson, “How mindfulness changes the emotional life of our brains.” He’s the founder of the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin- Madison, and the author of the NY Times Bestseller: The Emotional Life of Your Brain: How Its Unique Patterns Affect the Way You Think, Feel, and Live —and How You Can Change Them.
“Why is it that some people are more vulnerable to life’s slings and arrows, and others more resilient?”
According to Dr. Davison, it’s because some people demonstrate characteristics of a “healthy mind.” The good news: because our brains are malleable, we can all cultivate and deepen these qualities.
He begins with some negatives researchers are increasingly observing:
47% of the time, the average American adult is not paying attention to what they are doing, which research shows leads to greater feelings of unhappiness.
Increased loneliness, which is shown to be incredibly damaging to both our physical and mental health.
Increased negative beliefs/ self-talk, which is linked to depression.
YET we have the power to rewire our brains to become more resilient by developing the following traits:
Awareness: knowing what our minds are doing.
Connection: nurture good relationships in our lives, through appreciation, kindness, compassion, and having a positive outlook.
Insight: noticing how we talk to ourselves and realizing that our self-beliefs are just thoughts.
Purpose: believing that our life is headed in a meaningful direction.
For change to happen, according to neuroscientists, we need to both read about these characteristics (declarative learning) as well as PRACTICE them (procedural learning). We can learn about kindness, for example, but it doesn’t make us kinder.
Help getting started . . .
The Take Two Journal includes prompts touching many of these characteristics: mindfulness, offering kindness to others, identifying self-talk and limiting beliefs, and showing compassion, and offers an opportunity to practice them. If you would like additional support using the Journal, Take Two developed an online course that guides you through it, which includes videos, additional writing prompts, illustrations to more easily explain the research, and guided meditations.
May we all find these practices as we need them.
- Kate
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This blog is created by Take Two: a Journal for New Beginnings, a self-guided journal that shares tools, activities, and writing prompts designed to build resilience. We also offer a 28 day course to guide you through the journal with videos, additional writing prompts and guided meditations. The Journal will be released July 28, 2020 and is available for pre-sale. Published by Chronicle Books.
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