Neuroplasticity, Habit Formation, and Intention Setting

Neuroplasticity, Habit Formation, and Intention Setting

Recent findings in neuroscience research have shown that our brain development doesn’t stop at a certain age, as previously believed. Our brain, far from being static or fixed in its potential, can change throughout our entire lifespan. We now have a better understanding of how the brain works, how it grows, and how we can purposefully shape it through practice. No matter how old you are, you can actually sculpt new healthy pathways in the brain and prune away old, unhealthy ones.?

This discovery of brain neuroplasticity affirms our remarkable capacity to adapt and grow, not just when we’re young, but at any time. In every moment of your life, you have the capacity to change the physical architecture of your brain. You can grow new neural connections, strengthen existing ones, and eliminate connections no longer useful. It’s never too late to change, grow, learn, and develop. You have the choice and the power.?

Now, this isn’t like flipping a switch that instantly turns off the bad and lights up the good. Change requires commitment. It requires repeated practice.?

What you practice grows stronger. The real question is what do you want to grow?

You can consciously direct our brain by focusing on?which neural pathways you want to grow and develop, and which you want to prune away. There’s a phrase well-known among neuroscientists: neurons that fire together wire together. When neurons are activated and “fire” together, those neural connections grow stronger. This neurophysiological process—called cortical thickening—refers to the new synaptic connections resulting from repeated practice. As we intentionally practice something—be it a physical activity or a thought pattern—the neurons associated with that activity become more connected, and the brain becomes stronger and actually changes.?

For example, research by professor Sara Lazar and colleagues at Harvard used fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) to look at the brains of people who practice mindfulness. They found that the areas of the brain related to attention, learning, and emotional processing were bigger and stronger. Not only that, the researchers concluded that mindfulness practice might slow the aging process of the brain: “meditation practice may slow age-related thinning of the frontal cortex.”?

I like to think of neural pathways as roads that can take us in any direction. We all have well-grooved superhighways of habits that we’ve practiced for decades. These might be automatic emotional reactions, like quickly losing one’s temper. They might be ingrained belief systems, like believing you’re not good enough. Or they might be willpower-quashing behaviors, like repeatedly hitting snooze and missing that morning workout.

As we become aware of these superhighways of habit, something important happens. We put ourselves back in choice. Each time we recognize that we’re about to take one of these superhighways, we find ourselves at a choice point. These choice points give us the opportunity to consciously, intentionally carve out a new neural pathway instead of mindlessly taking the same old route.

Think of these new pathways as country roads. The country roads are less traveled and initially not as fast. But they are the pathways of evolution, bringing us to new places and experiences. If we keep using the same old superhighway, we’ll end up in the same old spot, unable to find the new place we want to go for one simple reason: our superhighways don’t go there. As the saying goes, insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

To go somewhere new, we must carve out new country roads—practice new neural pathways. As we travel down these country roads more frequently—as we practice—they gradually become their own superhighways. The key to neuroplasticity is deciding which pathways you want to grow – This is where the power of intention comes in. Our intentions?helps us recognize and zero in on what and why we want to change.?Intentions are not vague, spiritual or mystical concepts, they are neurochemicals. When we intentionally choose to make a change, chemicals are released in the brain that signals to the rest of our nervous system that the thing we are about to experience is worth paying attention to.

Intention Setting?

Our intention sets the stage for what is possible, helping us stay connected with our personal blueprint for what we value most in life.??Like the rudder on a sailboat, our intentions keep us on course, reminding us where we want to go.

And yet we forget so easily. Swept away by life’s business and daily chaos, we lose touch with what is most important. Intentions help us stay connected with what we value most in life, so it is not lost or betrayed.??Remembering our intention puts us back in choice. It reconnects us with our heart, and what truly matters.??

Begin by sitting quietly and allow your attention to rest on the natural flow of the breath rising and falling in the body. Feel yourself grounded and present. Invite in an intention for this journey.??Ask yourself: What truly motivates me at this time? What do I care about? From a place of dedication and true motivation choose a habit you would like to change. Choose something definitive and compelling. When you are ready, write down the habit you want to change and why you want to change it. This is the first step in creating a new healthy habit.