Interesting fact: water takes twenty minutes to reach the bloodstream.
Why is it we immediately feel less thirsty right after I drink? It’s because at the same time our brain was performing the action of drinking and swallowing, it also predicted the outcome of such actions. Even before we start drinking water.
Welcome to your brilliant brain and blissful body break.
Today’s lesson from Lisa’s 7 1/2 Lessons about the brain is this:
Your Brain Predicts (almost) Everything You Do.
At this point in time, neuroscientists believe our brain notices any changes within our world before our body does.
And, based on past experiences our brain predicts a number of probabilities, all meant to help keep us alive.
Or at least keep us protected from emotional, mental, or physical harm.
This prediction prepares us how to act, think and feel towards any situation before our senses bring in any data from the world.
As Lisa points out, “it’s how your brain navigates the world and controls your body.”
Let’s go with an example: You’re about to have a phone call with a colleague regarding a difficult topic between the two of you.
You may have already predicted how the call will go.
They never listen. I’m so nervous I’ll mess up what I want to say. They’re always so angry.
And, as it turns out the real phone call is amiable and agreeable.
Now your brain has something to hold onto for the next call. It may very well predict that the next uncomfortable call has the possibility of going well.
When our brain’s prediction conflicts with the real event, we learn from the situation and, then possess the tools to predict a different outcome next time. We gain a new experience to bring to our next prediction. And, our brain being the incredible organ it is we can teach ourselves to predict differently. With intent and awareness, we can learn new perspectives, create new ideas and experiences which will shape how we predict next time.
We simply need to practise.
Try this on for next week,
Throughout your day take a moment to review your schedule.
With each event write down a completely different prediction than the one you may regularly lean towards.
Keep your mind open to any new prediction, probability, and possibility.
At the end of your day note if predicting a new response helped ease any tense feelings before the actual event.
The idea here is not to force yourself to change how you feel but to be open to new ways of thinking. Even if the event turned out exactly as you thought, such as a call going bad.
Challenge your status quo.
Challenge your past experiences and beliefs.
I love what Lisa Barrett states in her book: “Your actions today become your brain’s predictions for tomorrow and those predictions automatically drive your future actions.”
What are you predicting at this moment?
Until we meet in Person.
Brain to Brain.
Heart to Heart.
Ciao!