Think Positive: "Neurons That Fire Together, Wire Together"

We have all heard the advice to "think positive" and most are at least vaguely familiar with "The Law of Attraction." But people, that is not just #wordporn.

Huffington Post just published a really interesting article by Dr. Travis Bradbury, "Complaining rewires your brain for negativity." In the article Bradbury explains neuroplasticity.

"When you repeat a behavior, such as complaining, your neurons branch out to each other to ease the flow of information.

To be more efficient, neurons grow closer together, and the connections between them become more permanent when you repeat activities.

Scientists like to describe this process as, 'Neurons that fire together, wire together.'"

(Article: HuffingtonPost.com Blog, Complaining rewires your brain for negativity by Dr. Travis Bradbury).

Then, consider the fact "it is the mind, itself, which shapes the body" (one of my favorite quotes by Joseph Pilates).

The same science applies to your movement.

Your mind, thoughts, and self-talk greatly impacts your movement and body.

When you repeat a thought or activity, complaining about tight hamstrings, for instance, neurons are actually growing together more closely to more efficiently support this thought or movement pattern.

Signals are being sent to your body and it doesn't matter how much you stretch or pull.

Your body will not change if your brain is not on board.

But if you attack from both ends: If you use thought patterns that SUPPORT your movement goals, THAT is when the magic happens.

Next time you find yourself complaining about "tight hamstrings," consider what affect this is having on your reality.

Is your self-talk supporting the goal you want to achieve?

The good news: you can also rewire your brain for positivity and that includes improving your movement experiences.

This is exactly what The Franklin Method teaches.

I can't tell you how many times a day, as a Pilates and Franklin Method teacher in Miami, I correct my clients when they start complaining about "tight hips" and "bad" body parts.

We use negative self-talk so often and these neural pathways become so established that before we know it, we are complaining without even realizing what we are saying.

If you are constantly telling yourself, "I am stiff and inflexible," then your brain is constantly sending that message to your muscles and connective tissues.

The Franklin Method uses scientifically proven tools and exercises to teach people to use mental training to achieve goals and create positive change.

As Eric Franklin, the method's founder says, we have somewhere around 80,000 thoughts a day... how many of those support our goals and desired outcomes?

If you are interested in learning more about Franklin Method, or attending a workshop, contact me at hello@pilatay.com.