Neuroplasticity is a technical word, but when you break it down, it’s easy to understand. In this context, Neuro refers to the physical architecture of your brain, while Plasticity simply means ‘easily shaped or moulded’. Put together, neuroplasticity refers to the capacity of your brain to be shaped and reconfigured.
Your brain is the physical structure through which your mind processes everything: your thoughts, feelings, memories, perceptions, conclusions, decisions, attitudes, etc. Neurons are the tiny threads of tissue that act like pathways along which your thoughts and feelings travel.
There are 100 billion neural pathways inside your head! Your brain is a magnificently complex superhighway of connected routes.
Is your brain hardwired?
Scientists used to believe the brain was hardwired, that once specific neural pathways were laid down and strengthened by usage, these routes would remain in place permanently. But recent advances in neuroscience have found that this isn’t true.
We now know that the brain reshapes and behaves more like a group of muscles. When you exercise a particular muscle consistently, it becomes stronger and more capable. Neglect that particular muscle and it wastes away.
The same is true of the neural pathways laid down in our brain. The more you use a particular neural route, the stronger it gets and the easier it becomes for a thought pattern to travel down it. The less you use that route, the weaker and less effective it becomes until it is unusable - like a broken-down road.
It's time to focus on creating new and better roads. Because you can - any time you choose.
Neuroplasticity: for better or for worse?
Neuroplasticity works for good and bad thoughts, for good and bad feelings, for good and bad actions, memories, perceptions, conclusions, decisions, attitudes, etc. If you lay down neural pathways and repeatedly use them, your brain will organise itself to make it quicker and easier to use those mind-routes. That’s called automation.
It’s why many of us get stuck. It’s also the way to get free. What you need are the tools and know-how to break up the unhelpful mind-routes and replace them with neural pathways that lead to quick and easy change.
I can help you with that.
Understanding neuroplasticity is a foundational part of my coaching. By giving you the knowledge and tools you need to work with your magnificent brain, I can help you make the lasting shift you've been looking for.
