Rewiring the Brain: 5 Simple Ways to Optimize Your Neuroplasticity by Adora Winquist

Whether you want to build a new habit or get rid of an old one, neuroplasticity literally rewires your brain. And while rewiring your brain might sound pretty complicated, it's absolutely something you can do at home.

Neuroplasticity is the brain's capacity to change and adapt. Understanding how this works will help you meet your goals. The concept of neuroplasticity is based on the understanding that your brain is always in flux – constantly changing shape according to your experiences and environment. When you engage in a new activity or start a new routine, it becomes easier to repeat similar actions because the synapses associated with that activity grow stronger – literally rewiring your brain.

It’s a process that can be enhanced with healthy habits and positive thoughts. Here are my top five tips to optimize your neuroplasticity:

1. Essential Oils: The use of pure essential oils via Inhalation supports anti-aging, neuroprotection and emotional repatterning. Created by Adora, Aromatic Neural Repatterning™ (ANR) is a modality to rewire the brain for positive experience expectation and to clear past traumatic patterning with specific essential oils and mindfulness techniques. Essential oils such as eucalyptus and lavender have been shown to lengthen attention spans and recall capacity.
   
2. Meditation: With a versatile range of benefits from lowering stress, inflammation and increasing emotional resilience and productivity, structural differences can be seen in the brains of long-term meditation practitioners. Cultivating a consistent, daily meditation practice of 20 minutes a day can offer significant mind-body benefits.
   
3. Diet: Eat up, it could help your memory functional connectivity! Specifically, consuming blueberries, which are high in antioxidants (ability to “soak up” toxins in the body), can maintain and even grow new brain cells. Certain types of foods also help produce healthy neurotransmitters such as serotonin (seven-hydroxytryptophan) which helps keep you calm and relaxed, but gives you energy at the same time! Brain foods like healthy fats like cod liver oil and other essential fatty acids (EFA), superfoods like turmeric and goji, and whole foods. Try adding a few walnuts, high in omega 3 fatty acids, to your favorite smoothie or salad.
   
4. Exercise: Consistent exercise supports more than just a fit body. It supports neurotransmitter release including endorphins to keep the brain, body, mind and heart feeling good. Three to five workouts a week of your favorite type of movement will generate greater clarity and immunity as well. It can be a daily jog around the neighborhood, yoga followed by meditation, playing catch with the kids or dancing at a club. Movement is proven to increase brain power, while tension and stress can actually rip apart the neurons and release toxins that damage synapses. Don't take your movement for granted!
   
5. Music: Listening to your favorite music can be more than uplifting. Research shows that consistent, long term musical immersion supports the brain to release dopamine. Have you heard of the Beethoven effect on brain enhancement? Give your favorite concerto a go for 10 minutes a day for a week and notice the changes in your mental and emotional outlook and response.
   

Consistency is key. Like most things in life, the more you practice the better you become. In this case, building lifelong healthy habit practices as early as possible, builds your neural networks and strengthens your synaptic connections. Carpe diem and start making positive changes that will benefit your future health and happiness.

Note: The content on 30Seconds.com is for informational and entertainment purposes only, and should not be considered medical advice. The information on this site should not be used to diagnose or treat a health problem or disease, and is not a substitute for professional care. Always consult your personal healthcare provider. The opinions or views expressed on 30Seconds.com do not necessarily represent those of 30Seconds or any of its employees, corporate partners or affiliates.

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