How to Think (Better!) with Dr. Tara Swart

hi I'm dr. Tara Scott I'm a neuroscientist a senior lecturer at MIT Sloan author of the source and I'm the chief science officer at Hight's we've created the world's first smart a supplement in a really clever double capsule to deliver all your brains key nutrient needs really simply and in one go I'm speaking to you literally from the middle of nowhere in self isolation and I'm just so aware that we're all going through unprecedented times and that psychologically speaking inevitably we'll go through what's known as the grief or change curve so at different rates even compared to our loved ones and friends and family we will all experience shock and denial anger depression of sorts trying to make meaning find purpose and then eventually moving forward with acceptance but we may each of us have to go through that cycle several times so I really wanted to share with you the tips that I've been using to try to navigate these difficult times physically mentally emotionally and spiritually train your brain we know that the brain is much more plastic and flexible that we ever believed it was until we had modern scanning techniques and one of the strongest biases of the brain is to avoid loss now inevitably we're all feeling the fear of some kind of loss or massive change things you know lasting change that may never go back to how things were before and so it's so important to remember to override that and I'm going to talk to you about the physical things you can do to put yourself in the best position to do that but you know this is the time to be more collaborative demonstrate more trust show kindness to others be mindful of how others are coping with the situation they may have different perspective and what's behind all that is understanding that when were under stress which we inevitably all are now we release massive amounts of the stress hormone cortisol into our brains and bodies and that erodes our immunity and it moves the blood flow away from the higher executive functions of the brain to survival mode at exactly the time that we need those things that are best about being human to get us through this tip number two the power of words I'm a big proponent of journaling that's what I've written about in my book but I just think given what I said about the grief curve that we're going to go through so many changes and the ability to journal that inner journey that we're going through to be able to read back over and make sense of what we've experienced I think it's a critical time to be able to do that and learn so much about ourselves I think this is an opportunity to go on that inner journey and so you know even if you just look back at the last few days and see whether you've had ups and downs how maybe your feelings have changed depending on what you're hearing in the news it's just a really good way to keep track and not let your emotions spiral out of control if you notice that there's a recurring theme something that you're really worried about like I don't know what's going to happen we have no idea when this is going to end I could lose somebody that I love then you can create an affirmation that is the opposite statement to help you override those negative feelings with a more positive statement that can help you to get through it this is actually an ancient Buddhist philosophy but it's totally backed up by the neuroplasticity so for example you could say I will try to do all the things that I can control positively I will take care of my loved ones and we will get through this so make up ones that really work for you but you can come to those by looking through your journal tip number three let's get physical so all of these great things that you know speaking about how to think positively and abundantly and get through massive amounts of change we do need to give our brains a fighting chance being able to do that so there's five things that I talk about here which are basic but super important so rest fuel hydrate oxygenate and simplify so rest is obvious but if you're suddenly working from home or not working it can be so tempting to stay up later at night and wake up whenever it's crucial for your brain to go to sleep and wake up at the same time every day and it's really important now to bring proactively bring a routine into a life so it doesn't just slip out of control eating a nutrient-dense diet is again something that I speak about normally but you know with what's going on online and in the shops that's looking like it's harder to do and that's why the height supplement for example is just such a good thing to be taking that just makes me feel like if I can't get everything that I'm normally eating at least I know I'm getting all the antioxidants and the key nutrients that my brain needs personally I'm also adding in a probiotic it improves the quality and diversity of your gut bacteria and improves your immunity through doing that but it also has been shown in studies that if you take a good quality probiotic for a month it reduces anxiety negative thinking and even some symptoms of depression in terms of supplements I'm also a big fan of magnesium baths that china covers off hydration and supplements so magnesium reduces levels of that stress hormone cortisol bathing also hydrates your body by immersing your body in water externally and absolutely we need to be drinking more water than after hits it's an opportunity to get into a really good habit that maybe you're not always in oxygenate so some of us aren't allowed to go outside at the moment really tough I've got a friend who's using a static bike on their balcony but really just moving around during the day just not being sedentary making sure that you're moving if possible doing some yoga stretches it's really important in terms of oxygenating your brain if you can't do that then just take 10 deep breaths it will calm you down and it will feed your brain on it the that it needs most simplify is about bringing some mindfulness into your life so mindful eating really like cherishing that time that you have with people now whether it's in isolation of somebody else or virtually and you know improving your daily practice of meditation again this is an opportunity to bring that habit into your life another thing that I write about a lot is visualization and what I call action boards so an action board is like what you've heard of before as a vision board collage made by hand with images of what you want your life to look like the action board takes the science a bit further insists that you can't just look at it and expect all your dreams to come true you need to do something each day to progress towards your goals now that could be any of the physical things I've just spoken about it could be the journaling or the affirmations so make sure doing something to keep yourself positive to keep yourself healthy and able to move forward to that point of acceptance oh if you actually create a collage you know maybe you've got some old magazines or newspapers at home then these visual images tracked to your subconscious and actually help your brain to notice and grasp opportunities that you might otherwise have missed so at a time when were watching so much bad news it's more important than ever to focus on those positive things that that you want to bring into your life I love the fact that it's related to the tetris effect probably giving away my age but if you remember playing Tetris late at night and then when you close your eyes you can see the little bricks falling down it's actually a psychological priming effect that's really effective last thing at night so if you look at your ball if you make your action board look at it last thing at night visualize it coming true this can make a really big difference in your life it you know my boards probably gonna change now given how much circumstances have changed but it doesn't matter you can make a new one you can adjust the one that you have but what you see is really important and just seeing bad news all the time it's not good for your brain okay so that leads onto another thing that I'm a big fan of backed up by science which is the law of attraction and so the scientific version of that really is that the way that you think determines what happens in your life and again you know it's something I've been speaking about for so long but it's more crucial than ever now because it's so easy to think negatively now it's so easy to feel down to feel out of control to hear what everybody else is saying and just get swept up in that and that's why things like the journaling and the affirmation and the action board are so important because they can really help to keep you focused on the fact that the way that you think is going to make the difference between surviving and thriving and again hopefully we all have a bit more time now to really do what's called an metacognition but just think about our thinking so not just let the outside world happen to us but take more agency over the way that we think and react to things so finally I just wanted to say that what the science really points out with all those tips behind us is that your mental resilience or your inner strength whatever you like to call it is the key differentiator in terms of how people are going to deal and cope even in the same circumstances so you know there's there's you that will struggle with something and then there's the best.you that will get through it that will inspire others and will come out feeling better and stronger and I believe in that you and the science really backs it up so please believe that you're remarkable that you can do things that you never thought you could do before and let's all do it together in community thank you [Music]

Channel: Semaine

Views: 20,016

Keywords: Semaine, online shopping, fashion, home, art, design, food, celebrity

Id: HDdO4rhBWIg

Length: 10min 27sec (627 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 24 2020