Aside from being submerged in a current project involving databases, queries, scripts, spreadsheets, and data entry tasks I’m of course still doing my usual. This past week found me also playing with a different kind of data. Brain data, one of my favorites as you might know.
I came across the work of Dr. Daniel Amen (psychiatry and brain imaging…) close to two decades ago with tremendous impact in my work and approach to life. It heavily influenced the self-care and wellness angle I integrate into my relational work…
Over time I have recommended one of his books, “Change Your Brain, Change Your Life”, and have taught its concepts to our clients. They are so ingrained and integrated at this point that referencing their origin seems silly.
But nonetheless, I wanted to bring this incredible and powerful resource to you for a more thorough and scientific background on why it’s important to have a healthy lifestyle… Everything we do impacts our brain, which is single handedly our most prized possession!
So, today’s writing is about encouraging you to be super mindful of your lifestyle and what impact it has on your brain. For the health of your brain will ultimately impact your success and quality of life… The health of your brain impacts your overall health, your mood, your memory, your relational abilities, and more. A healthy brain supports your Being:
Happier
Healthier
Wealthier
Wiser
More Creative
More Innovative…
Dr. Amen’s basic premise has always been that we are not stuck with the brain we have, and that we can be proactive in maintaining our brain’s health – actually bringing it back to health… In going back to this source, I came across his more recent plan for Repairing the Brain. It does not have to be all downhill as we grow older! From his imaging work, he can see the before and after of brain health as one takes on a healthier approach to life…
His plan includes 5 Pillars of Healthy Living:
Faith – spirituality and connection to higher power
Food – nutrition and clean eating
Fitness – physical activity and exercise
Focus – attention, purpose, meaning
Friends – connection with others and fun
You can learn more on all this here: Repair the Brain with Health Living
What does all this mean to you? How is the health of each of your pillars? Where can you stand to put a little more attention and energy? What do you need to tweak in your lifestyle to strengthen your pillars? Pick one area to play with and take it on!
Go all out and crack this. Work on cleaning or upgrading your current approach – fine tuning your routine (i.e., intermittent fasting), removing junk (i.e., toxins), increasing resources (i.e., nutritious food), keeping it interesting (i.e., different cuisine), and so on.
Think on what kind of life you want to have. Think on how to be proactive about creating the life you want. A lot of times we either create life by default… Or, we dream up the life we want to create, but we take no tangible or consistent steps to creating and sustaining that life…
Therefore, my encouragement and challenge to you today: Make a commitment to proactively creating the life you want, which inherently means having a healthy brain and thereby a healthy lifestyle… Make a move now towards your healthier lifestyle. Have fun with this and enjoy!
Remember to complete the MetroRelationsip™ Assignment below to help you effortlessly implement this, make changes and immediately start creating your Successful Relationship and Meaningful Life…
Share your experience by leaving a comment below!
Happy Repairing!
~ Your MetroRelationship™ Assignment
Choose the area of your life you usually give TLC with the intention of finally cracking the code…
Faith – spirituality and connection to higher power
Food – nutrition and clean eating
Fitness – physical activity and exercise
Focus – attention, purpose, meaning
Friends – connection with others and fun
Tackle it with purpose and commitment. Tackle it by looking at it from a different angle than you usually might… Use a different context or lens to design your new approach… Keep reconnecting to it as you implement the changes…
Add this to your Tool Kit…
Copyright (c) 2018 Emma K. Viglucci. All rights reserved.
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Emma K. Viglucci, LMFT is the Founder and Director of Metropolitan Marriage & Family Therapy, PLLC, a private practice that specializes in working with couples, she is the creator of the MetroRelationship™ philosophy and a variety of Successful Couple™ content that assist couples succeed at their relationship and their life. Stay Connected™ with Emma and receive weekly Connection Notes in your inbox with Personal Growth and Relationship Enrichment insights and strategies, visit: www.metrorelationship.com.