Neuroplasticity—their brains can change.
A London cabbie has to memorise 25,000 streets by heart to get their license.
As a result, the hippocampus—the part of the brain that controls memory—grows bigger.
For someone who suffers from chronic stress, the amygdala—the part of the brain which is responsible for our flight or fight response—becomes hyper-sensitive.
“Neurons that fire together, wire together” said the Canadian psychologist Donald Hebb in 1949.
Every repeated experience helps us to develop our neural pathways—which can change both the function and the structure of the brain.
Every time we repeat an experience or behaviour becomes easier for us to repeat it—and it becomes harder not to repeat it.
That’s why it’s difficult to start a new habit and get rid of a bad habit.
However, difficult doesn’t mean impossible.
A chronic worrier or chronic pain sufferer can change their brain by developing attentional control and interoceptive awareness—sensing internal bodily sensations.
Here’s a simple exercise: Take 5 minutes every day to focus on your emotions. What are you feeling? Be curious, non-judgemental and specific. If you’re feeling stressed, in what areas of your body are you feeling the stress? What other sensations are you feeling in your body?
Loving you, Angelos