Our Brains are Biased
(OR: Don’t feed the ANTS or eat the NUTS.)
Dear ones,
Today’s blog is about how our brains are wired, and multiple self-care strategies that can be helpful in re-wiring the brain to create more pathways that support our wellbeing. And, there are Ted talks!
I can still remember the shock I felt when I learned the following fact at a trauma-informed care workshop several years ago:
According to the National Science Foundation, an average person has
about 12,000 to 60,000 thoughts per day.
Of those thoughts, 80% are negative and 95% are repetitive thoughts.
My mind was blown. EIGHTY PERCENT of our thoughts – all of us! – are negative, and NINETY-FIVE PERCENT are repetitive? So almost all of our thoughts are the same negative thoughts over and over again?
Neuroscientists call this the brain’s “Negativity Bias,” and hypothesize that it has evolved as a survival mechanism – much like our body’s fight/flight/freeze response. After all, if you are always remembering and imagining the worst, you are more likely to be prepared and remain safe… right?
The problem is that cycling through automatic negative thoughts (ANTs) and keeping company with negative unconscious thoughts (NUTs) creates and reinforces neural pathways that induce our body’s stress response over, and over, and over again. And contrary to evolutionary wisdom, living in this response to this degree is not healthy!
The good news is, we can create and reinforce different neural pathways that induce our body’s rest and relaxation response, and enhance our overall experience of wellness and contentment.
Think about it (pun intended, ha ha, eye role):
What are the contents of your thoughts?
Which thoughts stick around, and which are harder to hold onto?
Which thoughts are automatic, and which do you have to work for?
And, what do you notice in your body, your mood, your energy, your sleep, etc. when NUTs and ANTs have your attention, versus when you are choosing to challenge, counter or replace the NUTs and ANTs with loving, comforting or affirming thoughts? (For a fun worksheet about “Cracking the NUTs and Eliminating the ANTs” click here!)
We live in a world in which there are legitimate, valid reasons to be entertaining worried, fearful or negative thoughts. The goal is not to banish them, but to balance them by intentionally sharing our attention and energy more equally and strategically with thoughts of hope, compassion, healing, affirmation, gratitude and love which are also legitimate and valid. Recognizing that our biology privileges the negative, often to the exclusion of that which is healing, this re-balancing can be a form of activism, not just for our own well-being but for our families, communities and world.
I don’t know about y’all, but especially in times where it feels like so much is beyond our control, it’s empowering for me to know that we can change our brains just by choosing which thoughts we pay attention to… instead of letting evolution dictate which thoughts they are full of.
Thoughtfully yours,
Glynn
PS – Don’t worry, I didn’t forget: Ted Talks here, here and here!
