Meet Your Amazing Brain
/Want to know how big your brain is?
Follow these steps:
Make a fist with each of your hands and hold them out in front of you with thumbs pointing to the sky.
Now bring your hands together so your knuckles touch.
This represents the two hemispheres of your brain and the size of your brain is close to the size of shape your hands just created.
Most people think their brain is larger than it actually is. But it is the most complex and powerful part of your body. It weighs around three pounds and is responsible for keeping you alive, all of your behaviors, the words you speak, your skills, who you love, the stories you tell, the things you create, how you interpret the world around you - basically everything you experience in life is processed in this beautiful bundle of cells inside your skull.
The human brain may truly be the most amazing engineering project in all of creation.
But, why aren’t we taught how to use it? I joke that when I got a new car, they taught me more about the climate system in my car than anyone had ever taught me about my own brain.
Working with your brain is one of the secrets to living a happy, peaceful, hopeful, and compassionate life. The more I have learned about neuroscience, the more compassionate I have become with myself and every human being on this planet. We all have very complex brains and aren’t taught how to use them - I think understanding how our brains work might help us solve a lot of humanity’s challenges.
Here are some very simple descriptions of a few parts of your brain and how to work with them:
The amygdala - this part of your brain is the size of an almond and sits deep in the middle of your brain - it is responsible for processing fear - it is where your fight or flight responses are triggered.
A quick tip: when you feel afraid, make a plan. In functional MRIs, only the amygdala or the frontal cortex can be lit up (not both at the same time), which means when you feel afraid and then make a plan, you are shifting out of your amygdala and into a different part of your brain, thus reducing your the feelings of fear. Afraid to walk into that meeting? Make a plan for where you will sit, what you will say first, how you want to be perceived, and what time you will leave. You just helped your brain feel less afraid.
The limbic system - the pieces and parts of this system can be complex, but it is helpful to know that this is where our impulsive behaviors and temptation come from.
A quick tip: when you feel tempted to do something you promised yourself you wouldn’t do, talk to your limbic system. Something like, “I see you trying to tempt me to act impulsively, but I don’t want to do that right now.” Think of this part of your brain like that person who wants to get you into a little trouble because it is fun to watch - tell it no - you are more in control of this than you think you are.
The frontal lobe - this is the front and top part of your brain behind your forehead - it is responsible for decision making, problem solving, reasoning, planning - consider this part of your brain to be your wise consultant.
A quick tip: think of the front of your brain as the wise leader of the other parts - when the amygdala feels anxious like a lizard darting in and out of the wood pile, imagine the frontal lobe assuring the lizard it is safe to calm down and lay in the sun or when the limbic system is tempting you to do something you know you shouldn’t do, imagine the frontal lobe giving you greater perspective on the long term affects of this decision.
Okay, that is a quick fly over, but I hope it inspires you to become a little more familiar with your brain this week. Remember, you control your brain. You tell your brain where you want it to focus, what you want it to process, and how you want to react to your circumstances. Just like you adjust the climate system in your car to keep you comfortable, work with these parts of your brain to shape your day the way you want to.
Learning how to manage your brain helps you manage life.
You have an amazing brain full of potential for helping you get where you want to be.
From my busy brain to yours,
