Brain Juice — The importance of Experience
Neuroplasticity refers to the brains essential ability to change and grow new connections within itself. The brain is tremendously plastic and incredibly suggestible which means that everything you are exposed to in the external world and every experience you have, shapes and moulds your brain and the person you become. The brain is constantly responding to the way you interact with the world, the more diverse and complicated your interactions, the more neural connections, your brain will make.
In simple terms, the more new experiences that you involve yourself in, whether it’s meeting a new person, reading a book, travelling to a new city or learning a new fact or skill, perhaps even learning a new language. You stretch your mind by literally creating new neural pathways. And like the saying goes, once a mind is stretched, it can never shrink. This is where maturity comes from. The more you do, the more synaptic connections you develop. Resulting in a healthier and more dynamic brain and perception of life. This interconnectivity gives your brain a youthful vitality.
However, the less you do and more you repeat your monotonous daily routine, the more vulnerable the brain will become. Increasing the likelihood of memory loss and the feeling of ageing and disease.The less enriched your environment and experience, the less neural connections your brain will make. Depriving the brain of new stimulation and interesting activities can cause some of the brains neural connections to wither away. Remaining stuck in a comfort zone, repeating patterns of unhealthy behaviour and exposing yourself to negative or toxic situations and relationships will contribute to the creation of an impoverished environment for yourself to develop your mind.
Repeating the same activities means that you hardly use your brain. To challenge your brain, you must take it out of its routine and familiar surroundings. ‘The brain awakens in the new.’ Do not forget that! The brain adapts to whatever you do, wherever you engage attention to, the brain will follow and change as a result. This demands hills of awareness when choosing which activities you take part in. From violent movies and video games to empty and cold lyrical music and negative, nasty conversions with people. Your brain is absorbing the images and the language creating your internal perception of the world. Choose wisely what you fill your mind with. The gift of nature has far reaching consequences.
Invest time in creating new experiences that open your mind and make you feel young and full of vitality. Create your own enriched environment. Never stop learning and doing new things to keep your brain active and healthy.
