Brain Food Tip of the Day

Brain Food doctor and mindfulness coach Barbara Mariposa talks us through to how let go of thoughts that are holding us back.  

The breath is your magic wand, the golden thread that joins one moment to the next. When you are aware of your breath, you are present, here, now. That’s why awareness of the breath is key. You are not your thoughts. You have thoughts. Your thoughts are not real. Relating to your thoughts as if they were real is the biggest source of misery and stress in our society today. Being aware of your breath cuts through the constant internal chatter and brings us back to “now”.

Changing the way you hold your body and altering your facial expressions send messages to your brain, which then interprets how you are feeling. Smiling sends messages to the reward centres in your brain and creates the feeling of happiness.

Standing up straight with your body open, relaxed and symmetrical, left and right, generates the feeling of being centred and in control. In other words, by becoming more mindful of our physicality, we can alter it to improve how the brain works, how we feel, and how we are perceived.

Most of our behaviour, actions, thoughts and feelings are based on habit; things we’ve done over and over again, that are now wired in and unconscious. So we keep doing them, without choice. Some habits served a useful purpose at one point, like keeping quiet or hiding when grown-ups were arguing. Some still do, like driving a car. Examine all habits and change the ones that don’t serve you anymore.

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Photograph: iStock