Let's Work out!! Our Brains?
A few days have passed, and the initial excitement of making a change is already fading and I found it hard to finish this blog. The hardest part about overcoming the darkest parts of yourself is the lack of energy to do so, even when you logically know that action is needed to make it better. The best intentions sometimes still hold us back from acting on the things we wish to do. For me, the ease that I can fall back into old routines and patterns makes change easy to fantasy about but harder to apply. So, I made the time today and reminded myself the importance of this journey and finding my fulfillment in life and hopefully helping others find there’s. I put aside my fears and doubts of being exposed and remembered that becoming a writer that is able to be genuine and vulnerable is crucial to my personal goals. Here’s to staying true to myself and being bold!
First things first. Physical health. Over the last few years I have read 100s of articles about nutrition, health, and exercise. Honestly, I could probably write an entire blog about just that. But that’s not what I want the focus of this journey to be. Yes, I want to take care of my body and eat well and get exercise in but for anyone who has been in the same place as I, knows that diet and exercise is only part of the puzzle to fulfillment and happiness. A big part, but still only a piece of a very complex puzzle. So, while old me would be macro counting into an app, weighing my plate of food, and tracking every step I take; today I decided I have the knowledge of good health and I will continue to do so mindfully and treat my body with respect but without the rigorous framework I am used to. Therefore: app deleted, scale trashed, and tracker into a drawer. Maybe once I stop relying on outside measurements to tell me how I’m doing I will gain the ability to listen to my inner self. Let my body tell me what it needs.
But now what? The last few years I’ve focused only on physical health to find happiness. I have tried all the diets, spent hours researching meals, and religiously exercised six days a week with pre-planned work outs. If I decide to go with the flow and spend my energy elsewhere where do I start? In my pondering of where to start I found an interesting article online about brain function and how our brain forms new neurons and connections.
Warning!! This is about to get really science nerdy, but hang with me. 😉
I have always been fascinated with the brain and its capabilities. The article specifically was talking about the differences between the left and right functions of our brain. The left side is focused on logic, math, and procedures. The right side is focused on creativity, music, and spirituality. It further talked about the reason mediation is so effective is because in a 30-minute mediation they have found in brain scans that you start to activate both sides of your brain. I found myself wondering about this. Wondering about the idea of brain balance. The discussion of a balanced diet, balanced exercise and a balanced life are everywhere on the internet and it is well accepted that it is important to overall health. The question I wonder is what about a balanced brain? Is there enough emphasis on focusing on the commander that controls all the levels of chemicals responsible for happiness in and of itself?
Is that where I start? Focus on my brain and making it stronger by activating both sides daily?
The article talked about meditation, but I started to take it one step further. What if I put effort in every day to make sure I used both sides? What would that look like? Down the rabbit hole I went searching google for articles about brain function and what activities controlled them. I read, and I read until my bath water was ice cold. HA! In the end I realized that for me personally I work with numbers and analytics all day long, so the left side of my brain is always working. My personal growth needs to be in the right functions like creativity and imagination. After reading numerous studies about creativity being positivity linked to happiness and fulfillment, I made the decision to make direct my energy there.
Like I said in the first post, I am not sure where this blog will go, but today it is going to be about creativity and brain balance in the pursuit of happiness. I started a tab on the site for Creativity and will start posting things as I explore them. One of the things about creativity is it only truly accesses the right side of your brain and your imagination when you do something new and truly creative. So maybe let’s go painting, cook a new meal without a recipe, write out a new story, explore the artistic ways we can take photos, or anything that challenges the way we think. The brain may be an organ, but it acts like a muscle so let’s give it some exercise!
What side of the brain do you use daily? What could you do to activate the other side? Or do you find that you have a good balance already? I would love to hear your thoughts! Let’s see where this journey takes us together.