Comb your mind | Ms. Ruchi Sharma | TEDxHeritageGirlsSchool
URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tupC1eiJI38 Video ID: tupC1eiJI38 ============================================================ In 2009, Eric Garland and Matthew Howard published a study in the Oxford Press Journal. They literally showed that adult brain can form new neural connections well later into life if they're exposed to repeated learning and practice. Now that literally means that our brain is never stuck. It's an ongoing draft and you're holding the pen. Every action, every thought, every choice is like casting a vote in your brain. The pathways you take most get stronger. The ones you don't fade away. and your brain. You know, we think that these votes might feel insignificant alone, but together they add up and we still dismiss the small because it does not feel dramatic. But our brain is a machine of compounding interest and every repetition is a deposit and those deposits those deposits shape who you become. So these tiny thoughts you know every like meditating for 5 minutes or just reading a single page or even choosing a kind of thought may not just shift your mood for the day. It is actually reprogramming your brain. It is sculpting who you become. Now let's talk about everyone's favorite Instagram. You know, let me tell you a story of Mera. Uh, it's a pseudo name, not a real one. So, Mera was a friend's daughter. She was 15 and she was visiting me a few years ago. You know, every morning, what I would notice was Mera would just pick up her phone and start scrolling on Instagram. When I would ask her to move out, she would say 30 seconds, just a quick scroll. But you know what? Your brain was learning wake up, compare, seek approval. This loop was becoming automatic in her nature. She was not choosing anymore. The buying was choosing for her. And in neuroscience, we study this loop and it is called reward prediction error. Reward prediction error is nothing but a gap between your expectations and what actually happens. When the reward is greater than what you expected, the uh dopamine, the chemical which is responsible for mood and motivation shoots up. But when the reward is lesser than what you expected, dopamine drops. Wolf shows at the University of Monkeys. He gave them juice as a reward. Now, at first the monkeys brain would lit up at whenever they had the juice. But then he did something interesting. He added a cue, a sound which would signal that the juice was arriving. Now the monkeykey's brain would just lit up when they would hear the sound even before the juice arrived and then they were just anticipating the reward. But when the juice never came as a cue showed up the monkeykey's brain did not just dip they crashed leaving the monkeys agitated and restless. Now what this means for us is very simple. We do not just respond to rewards. We respond to the expectation of rewards. And when that reward is unpredictable, for example, the ding of a like or a ping of a comment, our brain gets cooked. The uncertaintity is exactly what strengthens the root. And that's why Mera's 30-cond scroll was rewiring her brain for that unpredictable hit of validation every This is basically the negative compound effect. Mera was waiting for that reward. But when that reward did not come, Mera's brain did not just dip. It crashed. And you know, she would keep refreshing. She would keep checking her phone. She would keep waiting for that unpredictable hit of validation. You know what that was doing? Mera's brain those 30 secondond of harmless scrolling was rewiring her brain for a you know years of validation and comparison as compared to presence and self- agency and the negative compound effect if that is done for for the next 5 years imagine waking up to someone else's life before your own positive or negative your brain does not care. It cares what you repeat. So let me ask you, what is it that you repeat every single day? Is it the way you start your mornings? Is it the way you set your intentions? Is it the way you talk to yourself? Or is it the way you comb your thoughts just like you comb your hair? And if you repeat that for the next 5 years, where does it lead? Does it lead? Does it shape a version of you that is kinder, lighter, more at peace? Or does it pull you in the opposite direction? This is a proven, and this is not just theory. I once worked with a 16-year-old girl who did not like the way she looked. Every morning, she would look into the mirror and hear the same harsh script. I am not good enough. Now her brain was laying down tracks where self-criticism became her default talk. A 16-year-old brain. So many of you are so close to 16 years 16 years of age. It's bursting with possibilities. But repetition can make even a lie sound like a truth. And you know her reflection was less about the mirror and more about the script she was rehearsing. Now compare that to a 65 year old woman I worked with. She was rebuilding her life after a divorce. She started incredibly small. She would write notes of self- appreciation. She would write notes of self- appreciation every evening. It almost felt laughable, but she would write stuff like, "I went for a short walk. I cooked a decent meal today. I sat with myself." It felt trivial but but those notes were not about the size of the action. Those notes were about repetition. And neuroscience backs this up. For decades, scientists believe that adult brain was fixed. But research overturned that. In 2011, a in a study conducted by proceedings of National Academy of Sciences, it was believed that just eight weeks of mindfulness training can increase gray matter density in areas of the brain responsible for memory, learning, and emotional regulation. And that is physical proof that repetition rewires the brain. It is also a proven science in uh it is also a proven idea in neuroscience called Heb's law. Heb's law is something which states that neurons that fire together wire together. Now uh Donald Heb a Canadian psychologist introduced that in 1949. It only means that when two experiences show up together your brain links them. This is the reason why whenever a particular song plays, you think of a certain person or whenever you smell a dish, you're transported back to your childhood. That's Heb's law at play. And it's not just about music and memories. It can also show up in your everyday life. You know, how you react to feedbacks, how you react to a certain tone of voice. You might get defensive. That's Heb's law at play. Now, let me just leave you with three simple practices because you might be wondering what to do with this idea. Number one is write one short line each night. It could be as small as I helped a colleague today or I stayed calm in traffic. This would actually train your brain to look for progress rather than mistakes. Number two, take a deep 30-second breath in an entire day. Whenever you're about to reply to a stressful email or when you know basically your mind feels scattered, just pause, inhale for four, hold for four, exhale for four, and hold for four. That is it. Studies at the University of Cambridge and uh California show that repeated mindfulness practice can actually reduce stress and strengthen preffrontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for focus and regulation. And last but write an affirmation each day. Repeat it daily. Affirmations are nothing but positive statements about yourself that you repeat to reinforce identity. They're very different from manifestations. Manifestation is about projecting desires outward. Affirmation is about shaping your inner narrative. For example, I am kind to myself. I treat myself with kindness. I am resilient. And I'm capable of growth. Affirmations are like mental reps at a gym. Nothing will happen if you do one rep. But when you repeat it daily, those repetitions will add up. Nothing actually at what I said today is not going to change you in a day. Only when repeated over time, these habits will act as deposits. So the real question isn't can I change? The real question is what am I rehearsing? Because you know it tracks back to what I asked you in the beginning. Do you comb your hair? We never think about combing. Never think before combing our hair. But how often do we think before combing our minds? Because if we do not tend to them, left them unchecked, they will tangle, they will not they will take a shape of their own. But if you tend to them carefully, regularly, consistently, they will feel lighter, easier to carry, easier to sort. And they will not just shape your thoughts, they will shape who you become. Thank you.