It’s not news, at least if you are awake in the twenty-first century: Our brain has plasticity. I am old enough to remember when scientists believed that once you were an adult, you were stuck with the brain you had. Even if you were lucky enough to have a good brain, there was not much to look forward to as you got older except for watching it deteriorate.
Scott Forrester definitely is awake and in the twenty-first century. Every time I open his book The Aware Athlete, I find something to support my growth. While it is one thing to know that scientists have changed their minds about our brains, it is another to actually feel the possibilities this opens for us.
In Chapter 9, Scott shares the story of how Mark Allen finally claimed six Ironman world titles after losing six. The story is too detailed to describe here but I wanted to share the part that impressed me, as it really did impress me. I keep thinking of it.
Here’s what happened: When Mark began to focus on gratitude and not on negative thinking, he had a vision of a shaman. The expression he saw on the shaman’s face was not of busyness, uncertainty, and stress as we often see on faces in the modern world.
The face he saw radiated great peace yet great strength. The interesting thing is that it was no one Mark had ever met, it was merely an image he had seen while mindlessly flipping through a magazine.
It may be because I’ve just been to a retreat with shamans that this had such an affect on me. I don’t know. But it has me thinking about so many things. Like how important it is where we put our attention. And how much we influence others – even by our facial expressions.
Do you think you can change your brain? My brain is tired because I’ve been working all week on a chapter for my memoir so I will sign off for now. As always, I would love to hear from you!
CLUE: Flip through a magazine or book of your choice and see what images capture your attention. This doesn’t have to take very long. Have fun with it. You are exercising your brain and may possibly find an image to inspire you.
Thank you for exploring the mystery – Nicky Mendenhall
Image: The Guardian is barely peeking out of her snow palace.
4 comments
hi there, sweetie!
Just checking if comments work! Apparently they do if you know the secret! Sorry about this but what you do is click on where it says either No comments (this is of course after you are on the blog website). When you click on the words either no comment or if there are comments a number and the word comments – it will take you to a page that has a square to put your comment in. Then click publish. It will then say that your comment will be published after approval. This means that they have sent me your comment and I have to push publish. Thanks for going through all this! Try it out and see if it works!
Hi Nicky! I definitely think you can change your brain–at least, that's how I live my life. Trying to learn new, interesting things all the time, keeps the brain active and alive! I loved the image of the shaman–peaceful and strong. Even just reading about him helped me to pause and relax. I think we all have to make our own peace in these trying times. If enough of us do that, hopefully the world will become a brighter place.
Have a great week, Nicky!
XOXO
Diane
Hi Diane,
I love how aware you are – that reading about the strong and peaceful shaman helped you relax. I went to a half-day Zen retreat yesterday, the topic was spaciousness. The Zen priest gave us ideas of how to cultivate spaciousness in our daily lives. They all took the awareness that you talked about. One suggestion was to take three breaths. Just three breaths can calm us down – but we have to remember to do it!
Thanks for your comment and support!
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