Friday, July 10, 2020

Stop the Recurring Negative Tape in Your Head

There is a process in our brains called neuroplasticity whereby the brain reorganizes itself based on learning, experiencing new things, and even brain injuries. Now the bad part – neuroplasticity is in action with our thoughts. If you are obsessed with COVID-19, politics, etc., your brain is rewiring to think this way and you become a running, recurring tape of negativity that will damage you, physically and mentally. And neuroplasticity happens fast. Research has shown that the brain can start to reorganize neurologically in hours!

Put a stop to this rewiring of your brain toward negativity. One way to do this is to completely eliminate reading and writing negative posts on social media. Do not respond to negative narratives whether they are something aligned with your views or not. Even if you are responding to something that you're allied with, if it is negative the result to your brain is the same - you keep rewiring the negative tape that eventually sets up a harmful pattern of conceptions that have very real mental and physical consequences.

Turn off the news! I realize that in this 24/7 world of digital information streaming to all of your devices it's almost impossible to not see the bad things that are going on. But you can filter info out on these platforms. I just went through my Google account preferences and eliminated all news sources. Most of the news now is not news anyway, it's not journalism - it's a narrative slanted toward a particular orientation. Worse, it's usually a negative spin on whatever storyline is being presented - and that just keeps that negative tape rolling and reinforcing your brain's unhealthy rewiring.