Self-Directed Neuroplasticity: Tilting the Mental Spiral Upward

Summary:  Rewire for wellness with repeated neural “operations.” 

Time: 10 minutes (initial), 10–30 seconds (ongoing)

Trust Required: Low-medium

Keywords: caring, cognitive, choice, emotional, empower, foundational, gratitude, hedonia, integration, lifeplay, mindfulness, prep-free, resilience, short-’n’-safe, support

1. Cue (1 minute): Look for positive life experiences, especially small ones. When this happens, proceed to step 2. As you practice, you will be able to detect and utilize a wide variety of positive experiences as cues:

1. • anything positive in the present moment: a silly joke, hearing the happy birthday song, a donut shared, sunlight coming in a window; 

   • remembering good memories of the past;

   • anticipating good things to come in the future;

   • feeling gratitude for a bed, clean water, or loved ones;

   • luxuriating in the pleasure of a hot shower, luscious chocolate, or fun game;

   • marveling at beauty in nature, art, or anything awesome;

   • elevation in witnessing inspiring acts;

   • basking in pride after getting praise, loving oneself, or any accomplishment.

2. Operation (2 minutes): “FARM” the joy and goodness in the immediate aftermath of the positive experience with these steps:

   • Focus fully by putting complete attention on the emotions, body senses, or thoughts arising from the experience to intensify and immerse oneself in it. Physical postures, such as spreading arms like wings to mimic a bird in flight, or smiling broadly, may help in deeply becoming the experience.

   • Associate the experience with other memories—noting what is new, different, or meaningful about it—to help make stronger neural connections.

   • Remain in the experience, even after the event itself has passed, for 5 seconds, 15 seconds, 30 seconds, or more to increase brain wiring time.

   • Marinate in it all, letting all the goodness permeate, sink in, and wire the brain. Use a visualization, like warm light, or just let it happen naturally.

3. Repeat (1 minute × repetitions): Frequency of practice is the surest way to lasting change. While long-term memory is aided by association or strong emotions, these are not always available, so repeat, repeat, repeat. The following strategies can aid repetition:

   • At home: continue to notice and harvest good experiences, repeating steps 1 and 2, but with more creativity and personalization of what feels good to you. 

   • At work: use self-directed neuroplasticity in different contexts to see how positive experiences permeated life. 

4. Working with Negativity: Harmful or unhelpful thoughts can also be cues to retrain the brain, whether in school or out. The table below offers ways to do this using the same “CORE” steps as the joy farming above. In this way, negative thought loops become opportunities to wire in more positive patterns. Adding a positive twist to a negative experience is not always required. Just noticing harmful thoughts and stopping their momentum can help. As thinking tilts upward, negative cues will occur less often. The most vital step— repeat—is shown for emphasis.

5. Safety: Positive effects may be reduced if there is excessive comparison: such as with other people’s lives, a peak event from the past (which may never happen again), or a feeling that something better should have happened. Be selective about which experiences genuinely feel positive to you, whether past, present, or future. There are choices about which practices feel good, so encourage the dropping of practices that don’t seem to help, and take a break or try something else.