neuroplasticity
neuroplasticity
unfracturing
an (unintended) exercise in neuroplasticity. Several years ago, I started adding agave and vanilla (with almond milk) to my coffee instead of creamer, so this has been a daily exercise for years.
A while back, I cleaned out the lazy susan and then reorganized some things, including swapping the position of these with the agave on the left instead of the right.
No big deal, right? Apparently, a big neuroplasticity deal. I found myself having mini struggles every morning in putting these back. I had them in the wrong hands or feeling like they were in the wrong order. Sure, I could have swapped the positions back, but I recognized that my brain was in a rut there and this simple swap was causing some synapses to reorganize.
Routines are super helpful. But if we don't shake them up, our brains and synapses become less flexible - which makes it harder to heal and/or to deal with change.
Neuroplasticity is the ability of the brain to form and reorganize synaptic connections, especially in response to learning or experience or following injury. It keeps our brain 'younger' and more adaptable to change.
For me, two of easiest ways to add some neuroplasticity to my life are (1) non-dominant hand exercises such as brushing teeth with left hand, moving my computer mouse to the other side, change the order of my daily coffee ingredients and (2) small routine changes such as driving a different way to and from work every day or doing a different morning routine such as add 5 minutes of stretching before coffee. I tend to try these things for a couple of weeks and then they'll taper off but that is usually enough to disrupt the pattern and allow new synaptic connections.
some science and additional exercises
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