I got my mom to start a mindfulness routine, which includes neurofeedback sessions using the device in the picture.
I feel quite happy that I can transfer over some knowledge of the brain, of habits and of behavior change to those around me.
In my case, I have to practice and experiment the things I learn in order to understand them better.
I can’t stress enough how important mindfulness practice is for the brain.
The amount of cognitive overload, stress, overstimulation we are exposed to is hard for the brain to cope with.
We rarely, if ever, (at least it was my case) think that we have to train our brain or that we have to rewire the rewards we give our brain 🧠.
Mindfulness is not about being in a calm zen state, because our environment isn’t that way.
Mindfulness for me is about consciously training your brain to focus, to be present, to not ruminate, to think but not get caught up in thoughts.
So what am I testing in my current routine?
-Meditation: my go to meditation is a body scan because it makes me focus on each body part and on the sensations I am feeling, which goes back to focus.
I also practice one called loving kindness, because sometimes we are too hard with ourselves, and we have to remind our brain about kindness.
-Mendi (Mendi.io) neurofeedback training, to help with focus. It is a great device and I also try and incorporate breathing techniques when I use it to increase bloodflow to the pre-frontal cortex. Although I know the CEO Moha Bensofia personally, this is probably the first time he finds out that I use it :) thanks for getting devices like these out and making them accessible.
-Yoga: I do stretching yoga,especially after work session online, as my body sometimes just needs movement.
-Exercise: I’m lucky to live in a country where you can bike everywhere, so just doing school drop off and pick up helps me do around 13k a day
-Nudges/Notifications: Most apps are by default set up to send us notifications, which means your brain starts creating habits around them - think the ding on your phone from an email (trigger), you open the email (behavior) , you feel something based on what you found out (result/reward) - do this enough and boom it’s a habit, which means every notification is now important (but are they really?)
I have started to turn off most notifications, because I realised they weren’t serving me and I was creating habits I didn’t want around them.
I haven’t broken the habit, but I am working on it.
-Small moments: I also try and stop for a few seconds throughout the day and do things like smiling breaths, feeling hands or feet etc, to give signals to your brain.
Just be mindful (no pun intended) that it takes time (can be a year or longer for some) to rewire your brain to create a habit of mindfulness, and as with any training, you have to keep practicing - but it’s worth it.
#Mentalhealth #mindfulness #behavioraldesign #behavioraldesign #selfcare #habits