Training our brains to be Velcro for the good

"It's time to rewrite the maxim that practice makes perfect. The truth is, practice makes myelin, and myelin makes perfect.” - Daniel Coyle

Have you ever found yourself feeling stuck in your quest to become more emotionally resilient because of a tendency to focus on the negative? Where does that come from and how can you retrain your brain to focus more on the positive? The answer is summarized well in this Inc. article by Susan Steinbrecher that features the work of Rick Hanson from UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center. “The brain is hardwired to focus on the negative. It is a phenomenon that social scientists have labeled as the ‘negativity bias.’ It refers to the innate ability to absorb and anchor negative events and thoughts, and to bypass or give less attention to the positive ones. Simply put, the brain is built with a greater sensitivity to focus on bad news. As Hanson puts it, our brain is ‘like Velcro for the bad experiences, and Teflon for the good ones.’ The negativity bias is the result of the way in which our ancestors' nervous systems evolved, millions of years ago. While they hunted for food and avoided predators their brains were constantly on defense mode -- planning for the worst case scenario, in order to survive.” I’ve heard this tendency for our primitive survival-mode brain to be Velcro for the bad described as “frog brain.” The good news is that we can rewire our brains to be stickier for good news. The path to this enlightened brain starts with mindfully looking for positive situations in our lives: one more day of good health, clean water, electricity at the flip of a switch, a refrigerator, food in that refrigerator, a thank you from a patient, a colleague who replies to your Cortext question, a nurse who dresses your patient’s wound, a custodial worker who keeps your office tidy . . . the list goes on and on. It’s equally important to let the good feelings associated with these positive situations sink in. According to Hanson, this drives the process of installation into your nervous system, essentially rewiring your brain = neuroplasticity. Like the formation of any other adaptive habit, looking for the good requires intention and practice. But oh, the places you’ll go in your life with a brain wired to be Velcro for the good!