One of my favorite bloggers of all time – Harvard neuropsychiatrist Jon Lieff, MD – wrote a fabulous article for MindBodyGreen about the 13 simple changes you can make to change your brain to have a healthier brain, and more happiness today. These are choices to change your brain and your life.
13 Small Choices That Can Change Your Brain and your Life In Great Ways:
Make Choices to Change Your Brain and your Life. Walk in Nature – it’s a detoxification for your mind.
Choices to Change Your Brain and Get Happy Now:
- Get plenty of sleep – Sleep allows the brain to clean debris between cells and increases memory.
- Take naps – Back to the sleep thing. Naps consolidate learning, increase memory and enhance learning.
- Practice positive remembering – Changing your memories can reduce the emotional impact of trauma.
- Get regular exercise – Exercise is critical for brain function and brain health.
- Eat real food – Processed foods can unbalance your brain chemistry the way a drug would. Eat real food, whole food. Things that grow and live on the earth.
- Focus on the Positive – What you choose to think about is what your brain becomes best at thinking about so choose well. You can learn optimism just like any other habit.
- Nurture positive relationships – Loneliness is a killer. Get out there and care about people.
- Do positive things for your community – Generosity and community service boost your immunity and just plain make you happier.
- Believe in your capacity for extraordinary experiences and talents (!!!) – that is all that needs saying about that.
- Know that nature is more intelligent than you realize – You are surrounded by intelligent animals, birds and even insects. Stop to marvel, just a little.
- Walk in nature – “Being in nature is like mental cleansing or fasting” It’s not just me that thinks so – this is straight from a Harvard neuropsychiatrist’s mouth.
- You have free will – use it! – Don’t fall prey to random media suggestions, advertising hypnosis and malicious gossip. You have free will and if you don’t use it, you’ll lose it. Making choices to change your life means making choices to change who influences you.
Can you see why I’m such a big fan of Dr. Lieff (here’s his blog btw)? Today is the day. Make one small choice to change your life. You will never regret making more time for nature. You will never regret loosening the hold of the office gossip mill or the advertising avalanche. Make choices to change your life just a little each day. Imagine how much everything could change in a month? A year? Five years? Choose to change your life now.