Switch on Your Brain: The Key to Peak Happiness, Thinking, and Health (26 page)

4. It includes body awareness, emotion regulation, and

sense of self that changes the brain positively.

5. Keys 1 through 8 really kick in at this point.

6. Huge activity in the center and front of the brain hap-

pens when we focus our thinking.

7. Neuroplasticity is dominant because, as you focus your

thinking, you are starting to redesign your brain.

179

_Leaf_SwitchOnBrain_LS_mw.indd 179

5/16/13 1:34 PM

_Leaf_SwitchOnBrain_LS_mw.indd 180

5/16/13 1:34 PM

13

Write

Step 3

Your brain writes through genetic expression, so when

you write things down on paper or type into your

computer or iPad or whatever gadget you use, you

are mirroring this process. Writing down your thoughts is

important in the Switch On Your Brain technique because

the actual process of writing consolidates the memory and

adds clarity to what you have been thinking about. It helps

you better see the area that needs to be detoxed by allowing

you to see your nonconscious and conscious thoughts in a

visual way. It is almost like putting your brain on paper.

QUESTION: What does writing do to help your

detoxing?

The basal ganglia, the cerebellum, and the motor cortex are

involved in this process. Let’s talk about the basal ganglia first.

The Industrious Basal Ganglia

Nestling between the cerebral cortex (on the outside of the

brain) and the midbrain (in both the left and right hemispheres)

181

_Leaf_SwitchOnBrain_LS_mw.indd 181

5/16/13 1:34 PM

THE 21-DAY BRAIN DETOX PLAN

basal ganglia

basal ganglia

cerebellum

are intricate bundles of neurological networks that are in-

terconnected with the cerebral cortex. These bundles are the

basal ganglia. The basal ganglia also put their imprint on the

process of thinking and learning by helping the hippocampus,

frontal lobe, and corpus callosum turn thought and emotion

into immediate action.

Remember, all the parts of the brain work together in har-

mony; the process never involves just one structure alone. The

basal ganglia do this by helping to ensure the memory gets built

into the trees of the cerebral cortex. They also smooth out fine

motor actions and set the idle rate for anxiety. Together with

the motor cortex of the brain, the cerebellum helps you write

down the information you have just understood. The cerebellum

also helps with cognitive fluency, which is the ability to flow

through a thought process smoothly as you evaluate the options.

Obviously, all your brain structures become very involved in

the writing process because writing is a complex cognitive and

metacognitive process requiring deep thinking. For example,

the structures in the frontal lobe become highly active in the

182

_Leaf_SwitchOnBrain_LS_mw.indd 182

5/16/13 1:34 PM

Write

thinking and decision-making part of writing; the temporal

lobe and hippocampus become involved in calling up existing

memories; the emotional parts of every activated thought gen-

erate feelings; and the structures in the middle of the brain deal-

ing with emotional perceptions work harder, just to mention

a few things. The complexity God has designed is beautiful.

QUESTION: What do the basal ganglia help with?

How to Write Your Thoughts

How you write down your thoughts is very important because

there are ways of writing down information that work more

effectively with your brain processes than traditional linear

and one-color note taking. My workbook and DVD series

called
Switch On Your Brain
1 provides ideas on how to be

brain-compatible when you are writing.

I always encourage anyone who keeps a thought journal to

be creative with their notes. I also encourage anyone moving

through the process of detoxifying thoughts to be playful with

their thought journal. Don’t limit yourself to just writing in

straight lines. If there are word associations or groupings

that seem natural as you focus on information, group those

on a page. Draw a picture or diagram to go along with that

thought expression. Add color or texture. Pour out the im-

pressions in your mind onto the page.

The Metacog

When I am helping students develop their learning and reten-

tion skills, I teach them a method I’ve developed called
Metacog
.

The name might seem a little odd, but the process is fascinating.

183

_Leaf_SwitchOnBrain_LS_mw.indd 183

5/16/13 1:34 PM

_Leaf_SwitchOnBrain_LS_mw.indd 184

5/16/13 1:34 PM

Write

It is simple: Group patterns that radiate from a central

point. Each pattern linked to the central point creates a

branch. Then continue to develop each of the branches by

linking more detailed patterns. The process can continue until

you have explored every nuance of your thought.

This method of pouring out your thoughts encourages

both sides of the brain to work together to integrate the two

perspectives of thought—the left side of the brain looks at

information from the detail to the big picture and the right

side of the brain from the big picture to the detail.

For full understanding to take place—which will result in

the conversion of short-term memory to long-term mem-

ory—both perspectives of thought need to come together.

So a Metacog is a way of seeing your thoughts on paper

and evaluating the way you think and what you are thinking

about. It is a great way of following your thought patterns

so you can detox your thought life.

1. The actual process of writing consolidates thoughts

(memory).

2. Writing adds clarity to what you have been thinking

about.

3. Writing helps you better see the area that needs to be

detoxed by allowing you to see your nonconscious and

conscious thoughts in a visual way.

4. Keep a thought journal.

5. Pour your thoughts out and only sort them in the next

step—the revisit.

185

_Leaf_SwitchOnBrain_LS_mw.indd 185

5/16/13 1:34 PM

_Leaf_SwitchOnBrain_LS_mw.indd 186

5/16/13 1:34 PM

14

Revisit

Step 4

R evisiting what you have written will be a revealing

process. This is exciting as well because it is a pro-

gressive “moving-forward” step; you revisit where

you are and look at how to make change happen.

After you have gathered awareness and done your focused

reflection and writing, you will have stimulated major neu-

roplastic activity, putting your brain in a highly active and

dynamic state for marvelous and positive change. This is the

perfect state to be in to rewire.

This step is all about you wiring in what changes you want.

You get to design your new healthy thought to replace the

toxic thought you want to get rid of. It’s all about redesign-

ing, reorganizing, and re-creating the specific thought you

are working on.

Thoughts Become Plastic Enough to Be Redesigned

Earlier I explained that when thoughts are activated and

pushed into the conscious mind, they enter a labile state—

meaning they can be altered. When a memory is in this plastic

187

_Leaf_SwitchOnBrain_LS_mw.indd 187

5/16/13 1:34 PM

THE 21-DAY BRAIN DETOX PLAN

Healthy Memory: Adapted Graphic Sketch

Toxic Memory: Adapted Graphic Sketch

state, it can be modified, toned down, or retranscribed and

reconceptualized by interfering with protein synthesis—an

important molecular process in thought building. This is

where you do some serious brain surgery (see chap. 3).

This is exciting, because once the thought is in the con-

scious mind after the gather, focused reflection, and writing

188

_Leaf_SwitchOnBrain_LS_mw.indd 188

5/16/13 1:34 PM

Revisit

you can redesign the thought and change it or keep it the

same but make it stronger. You choose. Obviously, if you

are doing the 21-Day Brain Detox Plan, you have chosen to

change the negative, toxic thoughts.

God builds into the science of thought this amazing ability

to renew our minds, which in turn rewires the brain. This

means that each time a thought dominates your conscious

mind, you can do something with it. You are not a victim of

your biology; you can control your reactions to events and

circumstances. You can choose to keep your thinking the

same or change it. Either way, protein synthesis happens. The

toxic memory will either be changed or be strengthened. This

process is the major role of the revisit stage.

QUESTION: How can thoughts be redesigned?

How to Redesign Thoughts

In the revisit, you evaluate what you have written down and

work out what the healthy new thought you want to build is

going to be. You work out the way forward, a little at a time.

Remember, you have twenty-one days to do this, so don’t try

to do it all in one day. Visualize what you want the end result

to be, but get there in 21 days.

Not only do you have the opportunity to examine your

thoughts on paper, but you have the opportunity to rethink

through your reaction to the information—evaluating how