QDNA^® Living

Better Than Before | Powerful Neuroplasticity Principles
To Rewire The Brain For Heathy Habits, Emotional Intelligence
And Much More

By Marina Rose, QDNA^®

QDNA^® Living | Neuroplasticity | Emotional Intelligence

August 01, 2018

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand."
                    -- Albert Einstein

Psychologists describe a habit as anything that we routinely do without thinking about it-- which is precisely why most of us have so many of them.

And it’s the brain’s meticulous synaptic automation that makes this happen, literally hard-wiring our routine thoughts, beliefs, emotions and behaviors deeply below the surface where they are stored.

Once wired, the brain then routinely performs hundreds of habits each day—from the most mundane, like the route we drive to work or the precise place beside the bed we put our smartphones each night-- to the more disciplined habits we consider good, like practicing morning yoga or making a point to get a full eight hours of sleep.

In fact, the more we learn about the neuroscience of our brains, the more we understand the biology of why human beings by nature are designed to function so well as “creatures of habit”.

The Neuroscience of Habits

Uncovering the mysteries of our brains has long been a subject of tremendous research, and the latest neuroscience has shattered much of what we previously thought to be true.

Neuroplasticity, a term used by neuroscientists to describe the “plastic” or “changeable” nature of our brains, has revolutionized our thinking about the brain’s ability to adapt and change, ushering in an entirely new era of our understanding of the brain’s ability to reorganize itself throughout our lives, both physically and functionally, as a direct response to our environment, behavior, thinking, and emotions.

Although we’ve learned a lot about the fascinating mechanics behind the physical neuro-processes of the brain, we still have a long way to go, and we can only just begin to fathom how the brain’s patterns of chemical and electrical signals can produce such truly amazing things such as consciousness, intelligence or creativity. For as much as we have learned about the brain, so much still remains a mystery and there is still so much more that we simply just don’t know.

However, what we do know is nothing short of astonishing. Decades of research and cognitive studies have shown that only a mere 5% of all brain activity (decisions, emotions, actions, behavior) is actually performed consciously--whereas the remaining 95% is generated subconsciously.

Given that the human brain runs non-stop 24/7, 365 days of a year--even when we sleep—that’s probably a very good thing because at the very core of our astonishingly complex human anatomy—our heart, lungs, immune system—and every other component and aspect of the 50 trillion cells that constitute the incredible physiology of the human body—it’s the brain’s innate intelligence that runs and maintains it all, without the need for us to even think about it.

Far more capable than even our most complex and advanced computers, even the smallest piece of brain tissue no more the size of a tiny grain of sand actually contains more than 100,000 neurons and 1 billion synapses, all communicating with each other, managing and storing unimaginable quantities of data for every event, occurrence, emotion or circumstance of our daily existence.

Good luck trying to survive even a single second if we had to do all that consciously!

It’s a marvelous system that frees up our conscious thinking for a broad array of higher intelligence, which is of course one of the most profound characteristics of what it truly means for us to be human.

However, there’s a flip side to all of this finely tuned automation as “creatures of habit”.

Although it’s a good thing to have the complexities of our physical anatomy or healthy habits running smoothly and reliably in our subconscious mind, it’s not so good when we have deep seeded negative habits and beliefs running around on auto-pilot there. That’s when it takes a heightened of sense self-awareness and a healthy dose of self-discipline to recognize these hidden unconscious patterns and to “rewire” our brains so to speak, to think and act differently.

What’s more, many of our deepest unconscious habits can be extremely hard to recognize in that they are things that we did not consciously choose ourselves, but rather are habits arising from our environment, parents, family or culture, that if left unchanged, still operate on auto-pilot in our subconscious, constantly running the background. This is why we often become stuck in repetitive negative patterns without easily knowing why, and why even though the latest research in neuroscience tells us our brains are “plastic” or adaptable and able to change by nature, most of our bad habits are still extremely hard to break one they are wired—and are then notoriously easy to come back once broken.

A recent study led by Ann Graybiel of MIT's McGovern Institute, published in the journal Nature, might now provide some long sought answers as to why.

Research shows that important neural activity patterns that form the “coordination center” for habits are located in a region of the brain called the striatum, and these patterns change when habits are formed, and change once again when they are broken. However, surprisingly, these “habit patterns” can suddenly re-emerge quite quickly when something triggers an old habit – even though the original habit pattern took a great deal of time and effort to learn.

"It is as though somehow, the brain retains a memory of the habit context, and this pattern can be triggered if the right habit cues come back," says Graybiel. "This situation is familiar to anyone who is trying to lose weight or to control a well-engrained habit. Just the sight of a piece of chocolate cake can reset all those good intentions."

The striatum, the location of the brain where habit patterns are stored, seems to hold the key.

Located deep beneath the cortex where it forms part of the basal ganglia, this area is deeply connected to the brain’s prefrontal cortex, which is the center for higher-thinking, feeling, and sensory perception. It is also directly connected to the midbrain, the area that receives direct input from dopamine rich neurons--the brain chemical associated with sensations of pleasure-- providing feelings of enjoyment that reinforce pleasure-reward motivated behavior. And it’s this dopamine triggered pressure-reward response that seems to make breaking old habits so difficult.

In fact, when the striatum malfunctions, the dopamine neurotransmitters become imbalanced, and that’s when habits can easily become uncontrollable. This can manifest in behavior such as obsessive-compulsive disorders or at its worst, strong behavioral patterns of addiction.

Despite the challenges of breaking bad habits, there is good news however. The latest neuroscience supports the idea that just like bad habits can become “wired”, the brain’s synapsis can also be reorganized or "rewired” for heathy habits through the practice of self-discipline and the use of self-directed Neuroplasticity techniques. And guess what? Amazing positive results can happen much quicker than you might think.

Neuroplasticity To Rewire Healthy Habits

Most of us feel that change is hard and sometimes even downright scary. This is precisely why it’s so easy to feel discouraged, often before we ever even get stared.

So what’s the best way to begin to break a bad habit?

The most cutting edge research in Neuroplasticity gives us the best clues.

Neuroscientists tell us that the best place to start is by learning to recognize the trigger for your habit, then begin to override and rewire neuro pathways of that habit by consciously and mindfully replacing the bad habit with a healthy one instead.

Remember that the brain is very malleable and each time we replace a negative habit with a positive action it’s like laying down a new groove in our minds, and the more we repeat the positive habit, the deeper the grove gets, until eventually over time we’ll find that we’ve truly changed the way our mind behaves. It’s all about self-discipline and fully appreciating just how automated the brain really is once it’s wired.

Sound simple enough?

Surprisingly it actually is. Studies show that along with solid techniques to form new patterns of thought and behavior in the brain, a healthy dose of self-discipline, combined with a strong motivation to change is equally as important. Research also shows that it’s much easier and even faster to kick a habit for reasons that we feel strongly and passionate about, rather than if it’s done for external reasons such as pressure from others.

Evolve Your Brain For Emotional Intelligence

Albert Einstein once said that “imagination is more important than knowledge” and he often used visualization techniques to help solve some of the Universe’s biggest quantum mysteries.

Now, Neuroplasticity is not only providing techniques to break bad habits and replace them with healthy ones—but also paving the way to help optimize personal performance and to take the things that we already do good and help us do them even better.

At the core of our brain’s plasticity is its ability to change by creating new neural pathways and synapses in light of experience –but the kicker is that it’s not limited to only real-life experience—but it can equally change through visualization and imagination as well.

Research confirms the mind does not distinguish between what’s real or imagined, and using the power of visualization we literally light up our brains in exactly the same way as if we were actually doing. Using self-directed Neuroplasticity techniques, we can also create new neural pathways to optimize and increase our learning and performance. The key is using visualization to focus our attention towards a clearly desired outcome. Whether that’s learning to play an instrument or succeeding in business, the brain responds the same, evolving and optimizing the “mind-set” for achieving our goals—and visualizing or imagining something is just as good as actually doing it.

In a recent Harvard research study, two groups were provided with an unfamiliar piece of piano music. One group was told to practice the music live each day using a keyboard, and the second group was instructed to simply read the music and to visualize playing it. Brain activity from both groups was later analyzed, with each group showing significant brain changes with an expansion of millions of new neural connections in their motor cortex, even though only one group actually played the music and the other simply imagined doing so. This is a powerful reminder that visualization is a highly effective tool to increase personal performance in all aspects of our life. From health and fitness, to business or professional goals, visualization literally hard-wires our brains to succeed

And one of the keys to reaching beyond the ordinary to extraordinary is learning to develop our Emotional Intelligence. Visualization is a core component of it, along with creativity and mindful focused attention, which combine to assist us to step into a present moment awareness of our feelings and emotions--- as well as of the emotions of others around us-- because for better or worse, our emotions, especially those strongly felt and deeply sustained, are the single most powerful driving force in our lives. When we train our minds to stay focused, present, detached and objective, we are better able to increase our Emotional Intelligence by listening to that inner voice that speaks to us from a deep intuitive level. When combined with other techniques to balance body, mind and spirit --such as yoga, meditation and mindfulness—we create a whole-brain approach to living and begin to see Neuroplasticity in action with the power to evolve our brains to their greatest possible potential.

And the good news is that with even a small amount of daily practice using these techniques our brains can actually change in as little as just a few weeks--substantially enough to even be seen on a brain scan.

We quickly learn that we are not doomed by our genes and hardwired to remain as we are for the rest of our lives, but instead the new science of Neuroplasticity is empowering all of us to reach for and achieve our personal best by  showing us what’s truly possible—including being even better than before.

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To explore Neuroplasticity, Meditation, Mindfulness and other QDNA® Quantum Living techniques, follow the latest news, tips and resources at QDNA® What’s New and learn more about QDNA® Health & Living Programs held at locations world-wide each year.

For more information about Super Brian, the science of Neuroplasticity and scientifically validated self-directed programs that apply breakthroughs in brain research to enhance human performance and brain health, visit The Chopra Center, Super Brain: Cutting-edge research and age-old spiritual wisdom—linking the latest breakthroughs in neuroscience with aspirations for health, well-being, and spiritual realization.

Copyright© Written by Marina Rose
info@MarinaRoseQDNA.com www.MarinaRoseQDNA.com
PH: 310-358-2991 - 844-400-QDNA - 844-400-7362

Marina Rose is the founder and developer of QDNA®, Quantum DNA Acceleration®, a revolutionary new technique for quantum growth in life and business. QDNA® uses the latest cutting edge science in Neuroplasticity and DNA Reprogramming to develop plans of action that activate solutions for you and your business needs. It compounds Quantum Field principles, Positive Psychology, and Epigenetics, in a powerful new technique to assist you to achieve desired results. Accelerate your life and business now.

This article was featured in Health & Wellness on the Huffington Post.

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