👿Your brain is the headquarters of your entire being, it has control over what you do, say, and believe. You may believe that your bad habits stem from poor external situations, or people -- things you can't control. But I want to reveal to you, that your bad habits are a result of what fertilizer you have been giving your brain. Let me explain: Let's say you have a garden, and it sits in your back yard. The Garden has beautiful fruit trees and the like, but you don't tend to them. What happens? The garden dilapidates, grows with weeds, and snakes, animals eat what fruit you have, and it begins to ruin. - 🧠Likewise if you don't tend to your mental garden, you're essentially giving it poisonous fertilizer, the kind that, when grown, is near impossible to tear down. Now let's say you are so proud of your garden and the fruit that it bears that it is unreasonable to not keep it. You tend it, sometimes night, most times day, it becomes a habit of yours and you find peace in that. All that you could ever want comes from tending the mental garden, and once it's grown, you are overwhelmed with the output of it all that your cup overflows. This is the aim of healthy new high: establishing good habits that tend to the garden -- Working out, eating brain rich foods, communicating more etc. -- and also to tear work as hard as possible to tear down the weeded, ruined garden so we can start building it back up -- sometimes it can take weeks, sometimes years. Patience is key. ⚔️HNH lesson: work every day like your brain is a growing garden, capable of producing fruits to the limit at which you can imagine through time.

⚔️Harnessing Neuroplasticity: Strategies for Personal Development How can you deliberately shape your brain to improve your life? Aka Self-directed neuroplasticity. meaning you intentionally engage in habits that remodel your brain in positive ways. 🏹Practice, Repetition, and Habit formation: Every time you repeat an experience or action, you reinforce the neural circuits involved. Over time, what was difficult becomes automatic - that's neuroplasticity in action. If you want to form a new positive habit (say practicing piano, or daily exercise), consistency is key. Neuroscientists often summarize this as "Use it or Lose it" and "Use it and Improve it". Skills that you don't practice will weaken, but skills you rehearse frequently will strengthen as the brain "wires" them in. 🔁Repetition literally makes tasks easier for your brain as one expert says "repetition is extra practice for your brain" that helps a behavior become second nature. So, whether you're learning a new language or trying to adopt a new morning routine, deliberate frequent practice will carve out more robust neural pathways to support it. The flip side is also true: Be mindful to avoid reinforced unwanted habits. The same plasticity that encodes a good habit will also wire in a bad habit if repeated. - Luckily by understanding this, you can work to replace negative routines with positive ones, knowing your brain will gradually adjust. 👟The body and mind are deeply connected, and what's good for your body is often great for your brain's plasticity. Aerobic exercise, for example, has been shown to increase levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a protein that supports the growth and survival of neurons. Often dubbed ("Miracle Growth for the brain". 🏃‍♀️Studies in both animals and humans suggest that regular exercise can promote the birth of new neurons in the hippocampus, and improve cognitive function, essentially keeping the brains circuitry more vigorous, and adaptable.

🧠What if your brain isn't "set in stone" after childhood, but continually changing and adapting every day? Well Neuroscience now shows that our brains can rewire and grow in response to our experiences -- even into old age! This ability is called Neuroplasticity (1: Neuro - Neurons + 2: Plasticity - capable to be molded = Power to shape your own mind!). 👁️In Today's Skool posting we will simplify Neuroplasticity and see how it enables life-long learning and growth. We'll also highlight exciting scientific findings and practical strategies - from building new habits to practicing mindfulness - that you can use to leverage Neuroplasticity for Personal development. What is Neuroplasticity? - ♟️The brain's ability to change its structure and function in response to experience. 🧬 Think of your brain as a network of billions of neurons (brain cells). These neurons communicate through connections called synapses, forming circuits for everything you think, feel, or do. 🏋️Neuroplasticity means those neural connections can be strengthened, weakened, or even newly formed through learning a skill, form a memory, or break a habit (basically weightlifting, but for your brain). ➡️Each time you show up to form this new habit, or break one, your brain is altering its wiring pattern! As phycologist Dr. Grace Tworek explains, "New synaptic connections form between the billions of neurons in your brain as you take in information. It's a constant process". Lifelong change: Recent Scientific Findings ✨The Brain remains plastic throughout the lifespan. 👶Childhood = highly adaptable, and high density for fresh connections. 👨‍🦳Older = slowed down processes and declined volume. But "decline" does not mean stuck forever, in fact, emerging research shows that even in middle age and up, the brain retains an "incredible capacity for change" (mcpress.mayoclinic.org) Dr. Prashanthi Vemuri of Mayo Clinic notes that although the number of neurons may decrease slightly with age, neuroplasticity allows the brain to adapt both structurally, and functionally throughout life -- meaning you can always form new neural pathways and even "retrain your brain" to learn skills at any age.