I recently heard yoga instructor, Eoin Finn, make the following statement: “The gift of yoga is that it teaches us to re-wire the stress response” and as soon as he spoke those words, I stopped what I was doing and wrote them down. Yes indeed, this practice has a toolbox overflowing with ways in which we can re-wire ourselves.
In my first class of the week I mentioned that our thought for the week was to re-wire, to which one of the students replied, “but we just unplugged a couple of weeks ago!”. Touche! But think about the situation when we have an electrical problem in our house, we don’t just reach on it to fix it…we unplug it first and then work on re-wiring the issue. Although I hadn’t initially thought of it until my student chimed in, it makes complete sense that for us to re-wire our own behavior, unplugging ourselves by turning inward is a terrific way to begin. We get so distracted by the constant external noise in our environment which gets compounded by the internal noise of our thoughts, that the need to change anything gets buried beneath the din. So luckily we recently talked about unplugging (click here to read the Unplugging post) and are all set to re-wire.
A growing amount of research has been demonstrating how we can re-wire the brain through something termed neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity can be defined as:
The brain’s ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections throughout life.
Neuroplasticity allows the neurons (nerve cells) in the brain to compensate for injury and disease and to adjust their activities in response to new situations or to changes in their environment.
And it’s showing these adaptations through the practices of meditation and mindfulness. Over the past 10 years, the evidence has deepened that the grey matter in different parts of our brain gets larger, rather than shrinking as we age.
Another way we re-wire is through making positive lifestyle choices which can affect the length of our telomeres. Telomeres are found at the end of our DNA strands and can be described as having an end much like a shoelace with a plastic cap on its end for easier lacing. As we age, our telomeres shorten or fray. We can accelerate getting older by doing too much of something, particularly smoking, overeating/over drinking, not moving or eating nutrient vacant foods. Practices of yoga and meditation have been shown to keep the telomeres longer for a longer period of time, in essence, slowing down the aging process. Our practices push us in the direction of more positive and affirming choices and instead of manifesting our given DNA (such as heart disease and cancer), the longer healthier telomere may mean these diseases never manifest.
The upshot is to make time on a daily basis to meditate…it’s a powerful way to strengthen your brain and create or re-wire a more optimal way of being.
The beauty of knowing about neuroplasticity and telomeres is that we can positively influence them through the daily choices we make. Approaching life from a sense of empowerment rather than settling for “what we’ve been dealt” gives a sense of doing the best we can to look after ourselves.
And not everything needs to be re-wired. We spend time creating affirming rituals and practices in our lives to keep us on track. When we turn in and get quiet, we can see where we might benefit from a bit of re-wiring. And for those of you who are reading this and have practices in place-fantastic! Keep going and keep opening to what might be next for you…perhaps it’s simply staying with it on a consistent basis. And for those of you who are reading this and thinking that sounds a bit too hard, start with just one thing each day. Spend more time in nature and less on technology, get to bed earlier, try that kale salad that your pesky health nut friend has been offering or pause and connect to your breath.
Over the past 34 years that I’ve been teaching people to move, one of my signatures is that I try not to teach the same class twice. Each class is a new experience and when we mix it up we fire up different neuromuscular connections, that is, our brain and body are in a new conversation. If we always do the same thing, over and over, it’s literally less stimulating. So keep it fresh, approach what you’re doing from a slightly different perspective and fire up those motor neurons!
Who knew you could be your own electrician! So, let’s unplug and get to work on those telomeres!
