Transcript Slide 1

Brain Care:
The Neuroscience of Self Care
Esalen Institute
May 8-10, 2015
Linda Graham, MFT
[email protected]
www.lindagraham-mft.net
415-924-7765
Linda Graham, MFT
Marriage and Family Therapist – 25 years
Bouncing Back: Rewiring Your Brain for
Maximum Resilience and Well-Being
2013 Books for a Better life award
2014 Better Books for a Better World award
[email protected]
www.lindagraham-mft.net
Brain Care is Self Care
 Nourish and replenish brain; nourish and
replenish self
 Choose new experiences; harness
neuroplasticity
 Mechanisms of brain change: conditioning,
new conditioning, re-conditioning, deconditioning
Rewiring for Resilience
and Well-Being
 Rewire brain out of stress-trauma-negativity-
inner critic
 Recover resilience and resources – stability
and flexibility
 Choose new experiences; harness
neuroplasticity
 Move to thriving and flourishing
6 C’s of Coping
 Calm
 Compassion
 Clarity
 Connections to Resources
 Competence
 Courage
Kindness is more important than wisdom,
And the recognition of that is the beginning of
wisdom.
- Theodore Rubin
Share-listen-reflect stories of kindness received
Hand on the Heart
 Touch
 Deep breathing
 Positive Emotions
 Brakes on survival responses
 Restore coherent heart rate variability
 Oxytocin – safety and trust
 Relationships as resources
How to Replenish Human Brain
 Exercise-Movement
 Sleep – Mental Breaks
 Nutrition
 Laughter-Play
 Learn Something New
 Hang Out with Healthy Brains
Affectionate Breathing
 Sit comfortably; breathe slowly and gently.
 Incline your awareness toward your breathing
with tenderness and curiosity
 Let the body breathe itself; notice the natural
nourishing and soothing of the body
 Feel the whole body breathe
 Allow the body to be gently rocked by the breath
 Savor the stillness and peace in the body
Human Brain:
Evolutionary Masterpiece
 100 billion neurons
 Each neuron contains the entire human genome
 Neurons “fire” hundreds of time per second
 Neurons connect to 5,000-7,000 other neurons
 Trillions of synaptic connections
 As many connections in single cubic centimeter of
brain tissue as stars in Milky Way galaxy
Conditioning
 Experience causes neurons to fire
 Repeated experiences, repeated neural firings
 Neurons that fire together wire together
 Strengthen synaptic connections
 Connections stabilize into neural pathways
 Conditioning is neutral, wires positive and
negative
Neuroplasticity
 Growing new neurons
 Strengthening synaptic connections
 Myelinating pathways – faster processing
 Creating and altering brain structure and
circuitry
 Organizing and re-organizing functions of brain
structures
Neuroscience of Resilience
 Neuroscience technology is 20 years old
 Meditation shifts mood and perspective;
impacts immune system and gene expression
 Oxytocin can calm a panic attack in less than a
minute
 Kindness and comfort, early on, protects
against later stress, trauma, psychopathology
The brain is shaped by experience. And because
we have a choice about what experiences we
want to use to shape our brain, we have a
responsibility to choose the experiences that
will shape the brain toward the wise and the
wholesome.
- Richard J. Davidson, PhD
The field of neuroscience is so new,
we must be comfortable not only
venturing into the unknown
but into error.
- Richard Mendius, M.D.
Evolutionary legacy
Genetic templates
Family of origin conditioning
Norms-expectations of culture-society
Who we are and how we cope….
…is not our fault.
 Given neuroplasticity
 And choices of self-directed neuroplasticity
 Who we are and how we cope…
 …is our responsibility
Paul Gilbert, PhD, The Compassionate Mind
Pre-Frontal Cortex
 Executive center of higher brain
 Evolved most recently – makes us human
 Development kindled in relationships
 Matures the latest – 25 years of age
 Evolutionary masterpiece
 CEO of resilience
Functions of Pre-Frontal Cortex
 Regulate body and nervous system
 Quell fear response of amygdala
 Manage emotions
 Attunement – felt sense of feelings
 Empathy – making sense of expereince
 Insight and self-knowing
 Response flexibility
 Planning, decision making
Mechanisms of Brain Change
 Conditioning
 New Conditioning
 Re-Conditioning
 De-Conditioning
New Conditioning
 Choose new experiences
 Gratitude practice, listening skills, focusing
attention, self-compassion, self-acceptance
 Create new learning, new memory
 Encode new wiring
 Install new pattern of response
Between a stimulus and a response there is a
space. In that space is our power to choose
our response. In our response lies our growth
and our freedom. The last of human freedoms
is to choose one’s attitude in any given set of
circumstances.
- Viktor Frankl, Austrian psychiatrist, survivor
of Auschwitz
How you respond to the issue…is the issue.
- Frankie Perez
Shift from Self-Critical Voice to
Self-Compassionate Voice
 Loving awareness of breathing
 Let a moment of discomfort arise; notice
where you feel in the body
 Notice any critical self-talk; notice the words;
notice the tone of voice
 Use critical voice as cue to practice: “May I be
kind to myself in this moment; may I accept
myself in this moment exactly as I am.”
The curious paradox is that when I accept
myself just as I am, then I can change.
- Carl Rogers
Re-conditioning
 “Light up” neural networks
 Juxtapose old negative with new positive
 De-consolidation - re-consolidation
 New rewires old
Re-conditioning
 Resource with memory of someone’s compassion
toward you
 Evoke compassion for your self
 Evoke memory of someone being critical of you
(or inner critic)
 Hold awareness of criticizing moment and
compassionate moment in dual awareness
 Drop the criticizing moment; rest in the
compassionate moment
Modes of Processing
 Focused
 Tasks and details
 New conditioning and re-conditioning
 De-focused
 Default network
 Mental play space
 De-conditioning
De-Conditioning
 Default network
 De-focusing; loosens grip
 Creates mental play space
 Can open to worry, rumination
 Can open to plane of open possibilities
 Brain makes new links, associations
 New insights, new behaviors
De-Conditioning
 Imagination
 Guided visualizations
 Guided meditations
 Reverie, daydreams
 Brain “plays,” makes own associations and
links, connect dots in new ways
 Reflect on new insights
Compassionate Friend
 Sit comfortably; hand on heart for loving awareness
 Imagine safe place
 Imagine warm, compassionate figure –
Compassionate Friend
 Sit-walk-talk with compassionate friend
 Discuss difficulties; listen for exactly what you need
to hear from compassionate friend
 Receive object of remembrance from friend
 Reflect-savor intuitive wisdom
Practices to Accelerate Brain Change
 Presence – primes receptivity of brain
 Intention/choice – activates plasticity
 Practice – create new pathways, new more
resilient habits of coping
 Perseverance – creates and installs change
6 C’s of Coping
 Calm
 Compassion
 Clarity
 Connections to Resources
 Competence
 Courage
Calm
 Manage disruptive emotions
 Tolerate distress
 Down-regulate stress to return to baseline
equilibrium
Compassion
 Being touched, moved by experience of pain and
suffering
 Flow of kindness, tenderness, care and concern
toward experiencer of pain and suffering
 Wise action to alleviate pain and suffering
 One cannot live with sighted eyes and feeling heart
and not know the misery which affects the world.
- Lorraine Hansberry
 Compassion is a verb. – Thich Nhat Hanh
Clarity
 Pause, become present
 Notice and name
 Step back, dis-entangle, reflect
 Shift perspectives; shift states
 Discern options
 Choose wisely – let go of unwholesome,
cultivate wholesome
Connections
Increasing the social connections in our lives is
probably the single easiest way to enhance our
well-being.
- Matthew Lieberman, UCLA
author of Wired to Connect
Competence
 Empowerment and mastery from changing old
coping strategies, learning new ones
 Embodying, “I am somebody who CAN do
this.”
 You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to
surf. - Jon Kabat-Zinn
Courage
 Using signal anxiety as cue to:
 Try something new
 Take risks
 Move resilience beyond personal self
Keep Calm and Carry On
Serenity is not freedom from the storm
but peace amidst the storm.
- author unknown
Window of Tolerance
 SNS – explore, play, create, produce…. OR
Fight-flight-freeze
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Baseline physiological equilibrium
Calm and relaxed, engaged and alert
WINDOW OF TOLERANCE
Relational and resilient
Equanimity
 PNS – inner peace, serenity…. OR
Numb out, collapse
Hand on the Heart
 Touch
 Deep breathing
 Positive Emotions
 Brakes on survival responses
 Restore coherent heart rate variability
 Oxytocin – safety and trust
 Relationships as resources
Oxytocin
 Hormone of safety and trust, bonding and
belonging, calm and connect
 Brain’s direct and immediate antidote to stress
hormone cortisol
 Can pre-empt stress response altogether
A single exposure to oxytocin can create a lifelong change in the
brain.
- Sue Carter, PhD
Touch
 Hand on heart, hand on cheek
 Head rubs, foot rubs
 Massage back of neck
 Hold thumb as “inner child”
 Hugs – 20 second full bodied
Calm through the Body
 Hand on the Heart
 Safe, soothing touch
 Body Scan
 Progressive Muscle Relaxation
 Soles of the Feet
 Rewiring through Movement
 Power Posing
Calm – Friendly Body Scan
 Awareness
 Breathing gently into tension
 Hello! and gratitude
 Release tension, reduce trauma
Progressive Muscle Relaxation
 Body cannot be tense and relaxed at the
same time
 Tense for 7 seconds, relax for 15
 Focused attention calms the mind
Soles of the Feet
 Stand up; feel soles of feet on the floor
 Rock back and forth, rock side to side
 Make little circles with your knees
 Walk slowly; notice changes in sensations
 Offer gratitude to your feet that support your
entire body, all day long
Rewiring through Movement
 Body inhabits posture of difficult emotion (40
seconds
 Body moves into opposite posture (40
seconds)
 Body returns to first posture (20 seconds)
 Body returns to second posture (20 seconds)
 Body finds posture in the middle (30 seconds
 Reflect on experience
Power Posing
 Amy Cuddy TED talk
 Before important meeting or interview:
 Stand tall and straight, like mountain pose in
yoga
 Lift your arms in triumph
 or
 Place hands on hips (Wonder Woman)
Mindfulness and Compassion
Awareness of what’s happening
(and our reactions to what’s happening)
Acceptance of what’s happening
(and our reactions to what’s happening)
Two most powerful agents of brain change known
to science; both foster response flexibility
Rewiring that is safe, efficient, effective
Compassion Practice
 Mindfulness
 Awareness of what’s happening
 (and our reaction to what’s happening)
 Self-Compassion
 Acceptance of what’s happening
 (and our reaction to what’s happening)
 Compassion – Common Humanity
 Wise effort in response to what’s happening
 (and our reactions to what’s happening)
Self-Compassion
 Threat-protection system
 Cortisol driven
 Pleasure-reward system
 Dopamine driven
 Caregiving-soothing-comfort system
 Oxytocin driven
 Paul Gilbert, The Compassionate Mind
Mindfulness and Compassion
Activate Caregiving System
 Mindfulness
 Focuses awareness on experience
 May I accept this moment, exactly as it is
 Self-Compassion
 Focuses kindness on experiencer
 May I accept myself exactly as I am in this moment
 Activates caregiving system
 Shift from reactivity and contraction to openness,
engagement
Benefits of Self-Compassion
 Increased motivation; efforts to learn and grow
 Less fear of failure; greater likelihood to try again
 Taking responsibility for mistakes; apologies and
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forgiveness
More resilience in coping with life stressors
Less depression, anxiety, stress, avoidance
Healthier relationships; more support and, less control
and/or aggression
Increased social connectedness, life satisfaction, and
happiness
Self-Compassion Break
 Notice moment of suffering
 Ouch! This hurts! This is painful.
 Soothing touch (hand on heart, cheek, hug)
 Kindness toward experiencer
 May I be kind to myself in this moment
 May I accept this moment exactly as it is
 May I accept myself in this moment exactly as I am
 May I give myself all the compassion I need to
respond to this moment wisely
Loving Kindness with
Self-Compassion
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Sit comfortably, focus on gentle breathing, in and out
Feel breath in entire body; let your body breathe you
Breathe into areas of physical stress, discomfort
Notice difficult emotions; incline awareness toward
contraction or discomfort
 Self-compassion phrases: “May I be….”
 Your own phrases of kindness, tenderness, care
 Rest in stillness and peace in body
One for Me; One for You
 Breathing in, “nourishing, nourishing”
 Breathing out, “soothing, soothing”
 In imagination, “nourishing for me, nourishing
for you, soothing for me, soothing for you”
 “One for me, one for you”
 Practice breathing “one for me, one for you”
when in conversation with someone
Caregiving with Equanimity
Everyone is on his or her own life journey.
I am not the cause of this person’s suffering,
nor is it entirely within my power to make it go
away,
even if I wish I could.
Moments like this are difficult to bear,
Yet I may still try to help if I can.
Positive Emotions-Behaviors
 Brain hard-wired to notice and remember
negative and intense more than positive and
subtle; how we survive as individuals and as a
species
 Leads to tendency to avoid experience
 Positive emotions activate “left shift,” brain is
more open to approaching experience,
learning, and action
Positive Emotions
Gratitude
Awe
Generosity
Compassion
Delight
Serenity
Love
Curiosity
Kindness
Joy
Trust
Positive Emotions
 Less stress, anxiety, depression, loneliness
 More friendships, social support, collaboration
 Shift in perspectives, more optimism
 More creativity, productivity
 Better health, better sleep
 Live on average 7-9 years longer
A hundred times every day, I remind myself that
my inner and outer life depend on the labors of
other people, and that I must exert myself in
order to give in the same measure as I have
received and am still receiving.
- Albert Einstein
Gratitude
 2-minute free write
 Gratitude journal
 Gratitude buddy
 Carry love and appreciation in your wallet
Take in the Good
 Notice: in the moment or in memory
 Enrich: felt sense in the body
 Absorb: savor 10-20-30 seconds
 Repeat: 6 times a day; install in long-term
memory
Circle of Support
 Call to mind people who have been supportive
of you; who have “had your back”
 Currently, in the past, in imagination
 Imagine them gathered around you, or behind
you, lending you their faith in you, and their
strengths in coping
 Imagine your circle of support present with
you as you face difficult people or situations
Positivity Portfolio
 Ask 10 friends to send cards or e-mails
expressing appreciation of you
 Assemble phrases on piece of paper
 Tape to bathroom mirror or computer monitor,
carry in wallet or purse
 Read phrases 3 times a day for 30 days
 Savor and appreciate
Mindfulness Comes to West
Mindfulness:
Focused attention on
present moment experience
without judgment or resistance.
- Jon Kabat-Zinn
Mindfulness
 Pause, become present
 Notice and name
 Step back, dis-entangle, reflect
 Catch the moment; make a choice
 Shift perspectives; shift states
 Discern options
 Choose wisely – let go of unwholesome,
cultivate wholesome
Notice and Name
 Thoughts as thoughts
 Patterns of thoughts as patterns of thoughts
 Cascades of emotions as cascades of emotions
 States of mind as states of mind
 Belief systems and identities as…
 Mental contents, patterns of neural firing
 All mental patterns are optional
Notice Patterns of Reaction
 Imagine walking down the sidewalk, noticing
someone you know walking on the other side
of the street toward you
 Imagine you wave and call out “Hello!”
 There’s no response; notice your reaction.
 Now imagine the person notices you, waves
and calls out “Hello!” Notice your reaction
 Reflect on the differences in your reactions.
It is not the strongest of the species that
survives,
nor the most intelligent that survives.
It is the one that is the most adaptive to change.
- Charles Darwin
Mindfulness
Catch the moment; make a choice
- Janet Friedman
Every moment has a choice;
Every choice has an impact.
- Julia Butterfly Hill
Breathing into Infinity
 Focus awareness on breathing, and on
awareness of breathing, and on awareness
 Extend awareness to people near you; people
you know; people in neighborhood, region,
country, all over the planet
 Extend awareness to all creatures; to earth
itself
 Extend awareness beyond planet; always
remain aware of awareness.
Brahma Viharas
 Loving Kindness
 Compassion
 Sympathetic Joy
 Equanimity
 Send and receive wishes to and from your
partner
Shifting Perspectives in Nature
 BELLY BOTANY
 Select a one square foot patch of earth.
Observe patch from two feet away/above
for two minutes.
 (light and shadow, movement and stillness,
beauty and decay, life and death)
 Shift your view to the larger landscape, all the
way to the horizon.
 Reflect on shift in perspective.
Autobiography in Five Short
Chapters – Portia Nelson
I
I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk
I fall in.
I am lost…I am helpless
It isn’t my fault.
It takes me forever to find a way out.
II
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don’t see it.
I fall in again.
I can’t believe I’m in the same place
But, it isn’t my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.
III
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in…it’s a habit
My eyes are open,
I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.
IV
I walk down the same street
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.
V
I walk down another street.
-Portia Nelson
This is what our brains are wired for: reaching
out to and interacting with others. These are
design features, not flaws. These social
adaptations are central to making us the most
successful species on earth.
- Matthew Lieberman, PhD
Social: Why Our Brains Are Wired To
Connect
Connections
Increasing the social connections in our lives is
probably the single easiest way to enhance our
well-being.
- Matthew Lieberman, UCLA
The moment we cease to hold one another, the sea
engulfs us and the light goes out.
- James Baldwin
The roots of resilience are to be found in the felt
sense of being held in the mind and heart of an
empathic, attuned, and self-possessed other.
- Diana Fosha, PhD
To see and be seen: that is the question, and
that is the answer.
- Ken Benau, PhD
Ah, the comfort,
The inexpressible comfort
Of feeling safe with a person.
Having neither to weigh out thoughts
Nor words,
But pouring them all right out, just as they are,
Chaff and grain together;
Certain that a faithful hand
Will take them and sift them;
Keeping what is worth keeping and,
With the breath of kindness,
Blow the rest away.
- Dinah Craik
Resonance Circuit
 Resonance – vibe, emotional contagion
 Attunement – felt sense, explicit, non-verbal
 Empathy – verbal, cognitive, coherent
narrative
 Compassion – concern, caring, help
 Acceptance – pre-requisite for resilience and
lasting change
Neuroscience of Empathy
 Emotional communication is 93% non-verbal
 Social engagement system
 Dyadic regulation
 Vagal brake
 Fusiform gyrus regulates amygdala
 Restores equilibrium
People as Resources
At times our own light goes out and is rekindled
by the spark from another person.
Each of us has cause to think with deep
gratitude of those who have lighted the flame
within us.
- Albert Schweitzer
Seeing Ourselves as Others See Us
 Imagine sitting across from someone who
loves you unconditionally
 Imagine switching places with them; see
yourself as they see you; feel why they love
you and delight in you; take in the good
 Imagine being yourself again; taking in the love
and affection coming to you; savor and absorb.
Wiser Self
 Imagine yourself five years from now: wise,
compassionate, good, strong, alive and vibrant
 Ask this Wiser Self: how did you become like
this? What did you have to overcome or let go
of to become like this? What one word of
advice do you have for me?
 Inhabit this Wiser Self briefly; what does it feel
like to become your Wiser Self?
The Guest House - Rumi
This being human is a guest-house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
Some momentary awareness come
As an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you
out for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
- Rumi
Welcome Them All
 Wiser Self welcomes to the “party”
 characters that embody positive and negative
parts of the self
 with curiosity and acceptance of the message
or gift of each part and
 honors each part of the “inner committee”
Shame De-Rails Resilience
Shame is the intensely painful feeling or experience
of believing we are flawed and therefore
unworthy of acceptance and belonging.
Shame erodes the part of ourselves that believes
we are capable of change. We cannot change and
grow when we are in shame, and we can’t use
shame to change ourselves or others.
- Brene Brown, PhD
Love makes your soul crawl out of its hiding
place.
- Zora Neale Hurston
Love guards the heart from the abyss.
- Mozart
Just that action of paying attention to ourselves,
that I care enough about myself, that I am
worthy enough to pay attention to, starts to
unlock some of those deep beliefs of
unworthiness at a deeper level in the brain.
- Elisha Goldstein
Reconditioning
 Memory de-consolidation – re-consolidation
 “Light up” neural networks of problematic memory
 Cause neural networks to fall apart temporarily and
instantly rewire by:
 Juxtaposing positive memory that directly contradicts
or disconfirms;
 Focused attention on juxtaposition of both memories
held in simultaneous dual awareness
 Causes the falling apart and the rewiring
Reconditioning
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Anchor in present moment awareness
Resource with acceptance and goodness
Start with small negative memory
“Light up the networks”
Evoke positive memory that contradicts or disconfirms
Simultaneous dual awareness (or toggle)
Refresh and strengthen positive
Let go of negative
Rest in, savor positive
Reflect on shifts in perspective
Wished for Outcome
 Evoke memory of what did happen
 Imagine new behaviors, new players, new
resolution
 Hold new outcome in awareness,
strengthening and refreshing
 Notice shift in perspective of experience, of
self
Relational Intelligence
 Reaching out and asking for help
 Setting limits and boundaries
 Negotiating change
 Resolving conflicts
 Repairing ruptures
 Forgiveness
Forgiveness - I
For the many ways that I have hurt and harmed
myself, that I have betrayed or abandoned
myself, out of fear, pain, and confusion,
through action or inaction, in thought, word or
deed, knowingly or unknowingly…
I extend a full and heartfelt forgiveness. I
forgive myself. I forgive myself.
Forgiveness - II
For the ways that I have hurt and harmed you,
have betrayed or abandoned you, caused you
suffering, knowingly or unknowingly, out of my
pain, fear, anger, and confusion…
I ask for your forgiveness, I ask for your
forgiveness.
Forgiveness - III
For the many ways that others have hurt,
wounded, or harmed me, out of fear, pain,
confusion, and anger…
I have carried this pain in my heart long enough.
To the extent that I am ready, I offer you
forgiveness. To those who have caused me
harm, I offer my forgiveness, I forgive you.
Forgiveness is not an occasional act;
It is a permanent attitude.
-Martin Luther King, Jr.
Competence
 Bodily felt sense of “Sure I can!”
 Based on previous competence
 No matter what, no matter how small
 Ownership
Competence
 Empowerment and mastery from changing old
coping strategies, learning new ones
 Embodying, “I am somebody who CAN do
this.”
 You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to
surf. - Jon Kabat-Zinn
Coherent Narrative
 This is what happened.
 This is what I did.
 This has been the cost.
 This is what I learned.
 This is what I would do differently going
forward.
Find the Gift in the Mistake
 Regrettable Moment – Teachable Moment
 What’s Right with this Wrong?
 What’s the Lesson?
 What’s the Cue to Act Differently?
 Find the Gift in the Mistake
Courage
It’s as wrong to deny the possible
As it is to deny the problem.
- Dennis Seleeby
Courage
A ship is safe in harbor, but that’s not what ships
are for.
- Grace Hopper
Yes, risk-taking is inherently failure-prone.
Otherwise, it would be called sure thing-taking
- Tim McMahon
Do One Scary Thing a Day
 Venture into New or Unknown
 Somatic marker of “Uh, oh”
 Dopamine disrupted
 Cross threshold into new
 Satisfaction, mastery
 Dopamine restored
I am no longer afraid of storms,
For I am learning how to sail my ship.
- Louisa May Alcott
How to Replenish Human Brain
 Exercise-Movement
 Sleep – Mental Breaks
 Nutrition
 Laughter-Play
 Learn Something New
 Hang Out with Healthy Brains
Exercise - Movement
 Macro
 cardio – BDNF
 Yoga, qi gong – move the energy
 Micro
 3-minute better than nothing workout
 Move your body once every hour
 Sense and savor walk
Sleep - Rest
 Macro – 8 hours every night
 Housekeeping
 Reset nervous system
 Consolidate learning
 Sleep hygiene
 Micro
 Take mental breaks; switch the channel
 Take a nap
 Mini-meditate (10 breaths)
Take Mental Breaks
 Focus on something else (positive is good)
 Talk to someone else (resonant is good)
 Move-walk somewhere else (nature is good)
 Every 90 minutes; avoid adrenal fatigue
Nutrition
 Macro
 Eat healthy!

More protein, more water, less sugar, less carbs,
less calories, less caffeine/alcohol
 Micro
 Savor (eat a raisin meditation)
 Eat one meal a day without doing anything else
Laughter-Play
 Macro
 Have a good time at family/friends
dinner/celebration
 Schedule a play date
 Schedule a silly date
 Micro
 Watch a 4-minute Happify Daily video
 Read two minutes of jokes
Learn Something New
 Macro
 Speak a foreign language
 Play a musical instrument
 Juggle
 Play chess
 Micro
 Learn a new poem, quote, flower, bird each day
Hang Out with Healthy Brains
 Macro
 Friendships, extra-curricular activities and clubs,
athletics, choir
 Practice gratitude at family dinners
 Micro
 Read 10 pages of a good book, magazine article, blog
post
 Send the link of the above to a friend
 Send a text or email of gratitude, acknowledgement,
appreciation to friend, co-worker
Brain Care is Self Care
 Choose one practice of brain care
 Practice every day for 30 days
 Reflect on difference in functioning, in
resilience and well-being, in sense of self