Self-Directed Neuroplasticity: Tilting the Mental Spiral Upward
[This activity/article is adapted from the cognitive well-being chapter of Flourishing Classrooms. For all 144 activities from this book, covering every domain of well-being, click here.]
“The truly important manifestation of will, the one from which our decisions and behaviors flow, is the choice we make about the quality and direction of attentional focus. Mindful or unmindful, wise or unwise—no choice we make is more basic, or important, than this one." ~ Jeffrey M. Schwartz
Our mental travels are often circular, so a small tilt up or down can make all the difference. After getting 32 percent on his first physics quiz, Luka has a cognitive train wreck: not only will he fail the course—and all of school—but he himself is a failure, with no chance for success. His teacher Ms. Moussa has been assigned physics for the first time and is feeling like a bit of an imposter, at first. She keeps focusing on adapting positively and has reached out to another physics teacher in the district for support. Her habit is to see struggle as emblematic of courage and resilience, which is why she was given this new opportunity in the first place.
Both Luka and Ms. Moussa have woven a mental pattern by habit— one harmful, one helpful—which literally changes their brain. This incredible capacity for self-directed neuroplasticity arises from several key qualities.
• Will: our human capacity to choose and maintain attentional focus
• Plasticity: the brain’s changeability throughout life, not just in youth
• Association: the tendency for neurons that fire together to wire together
• Patterning: the streamlining and strengthening of mental patterns through repetition
• Decay: the diminishing of inactive neural connections
These qualities combine to rewire the brain for wellness over time through repeated, non-invasive, brain “operations.” These operations can flexibly groove positivity or mitigate a host of cognitive challenges like stress, anxiety, depression, bias, addiction, or even the brain’s own inherent negativity bias. Months after practicing self-directed neuroplasticity significant increases in positive emotions persist, while negative emotions decrease.
On the positive side of self-directed neuroplasticity, “savoring” involves noticing, intensifying, and integrating good experiences. These experiences could be happy memories, the anticipation of future goodness, or a healthy focus on what’s good right now. On the side of negative experiences, self-directed neuroplasticity can downregulate negativity, pivot thinking upward, or engage in the crucial—and cognitively purifying—practice of complete acceptance. Rewiring negativity can boost well-being even more than savoring, especially where a negativity bias is strong. The activity below suggests a positive practice with which to begin and then several options to work with negativity using the same core operations of self-directed neuroplasticity:
cue (an event which initiates a mental operation);
operate (doing the self-directed neuroplasticity operation itself); and
repeat (repetition makes new patterns over time, tilting the mental spiral up).
Self-directed neuroplasticity benefits also extend to other wellness domains beyond the cognitive, boosting physical health, emotional regulation, and eudaimonic self-determination. Sharing what’s good with others, and asking about their goodness, capitalizes socially on cognitive practice. In a world of immediate gratification, students and teachers can learn to appreciate the long-term empowerment that comes from self- directed neuroplasticity. Habitual cultivation of healthy thinking becomes a lasting trait that tilts the spiral of mental activity 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
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:
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.
Operate (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.
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.
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.
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.
Notes
Schwartz, Jeffrey, and Sharon Begley. The Mind and the Brain: Neuroplasticity and the Power of Mental Force (Harper Collins, 2007).
Jose, Paul E., Bee T. Lim, and Fred B. Bryant. “Does Savoring Increase Happiness? A Daily Diary Study.” The Journal of Positive Psychology 7, no. 3 (2012): 176–87; Klein, Tim, Beth Kendall, and Theresa Tougas. “Changing Brains, Changing Lives: Researching the Lived Experience of Individuals Practicing Self-Directed Neuroplasticity” (2019). Retrieved from Sophia, the St. Catherine University repository website: https://sophia.stkate.edu/ma_hhs/20.
Hanson, Rick, Shauna Shapiro, Emma Hutton-Thamm, Michael R. Hagerty, and Kevin P. Sullivan. “Learning to Learn from Positive Experiences.” The Journal of Positive Psychology (2021): 1–12.
Larsen, Randy J., and Zvjezdana Prizmic. “Regulation of Emotional Well-Being: Overcoming the Hedonic Treadmill.” In M. Eid and R. J. Larsen (Eds.), The Science of Subjective Well-Being (Guilford Press, 2008), 258–89.
Gable, Shelly L., Harry T. Reis, Emily A. Impett, and Evan R. Asher. “What Do You Do When Things Go Right? The Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Benefits of Sharing Positive Events.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 87, no. 2 (2004): 228.
“Brain CORE” is one way to remember these steps. Another mnemonic is to “RECUPERATE mentally,” also encapsulating the steps (reCUpErate, recUPERATE, REcuPErATe) with uperate as a play on operate, tilted upward.
Hanson, Rick, Shauna Shapiro, Emma Hutton-Thamm, Michael R. Hagerty, and Kevin P. Sullivan. “Learning to Learn from Positive Experiences.” The Journal of Positive Psychology (2021): 1–12.