My Positive Neuroplasticity Training with Dr. Rick Hanson
In June 2017, I was very privileged to undergo my Professional Positive Neuroplasticity Training with Dr. Rick Hanson Ph.d, a neuropsychologist, and the New York Times best-selling author of the books Hardwiring Happiness: The New Brain Science of Contentment, Calm, and Confidence and Buddha’s Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love and Wisdom. Rick made a once off trip to Malahide, Co.Dublin to inspire and train a room full of eager and mesmerised students, many who had travelled from all over the world for this once off training in Ireland.
I am someone who self-taught myself to retrain my brain with positivity and tools from lots of greats like Rick.
I believe that with motivation, regular practice and commitment to a personal vow to change things, we can! We can help to change our thinking and overall well-being for the better, so this was definitely the right training and experience for me because Positive Neuroplasticity Training has given me lots of tools and knowledge to help enhance my ability to coach and heal others through tried and tested successful methods.
So what is Positive Neuroplasticity?
Positive Neuroplasticity is the our brains ability to learn how to deliberately internalise beneficial experiences, by focusing on taking in the good and positive experiences to help make the feelings last.
It is the installation of these experiences that we need to learn, because it is the activation part that we are generally better at."Neuroplasticity refers to the brain's ability to adapt and change. ... Research demonstrates that the brain continues to change throughout one's lifespan in “negative or positive directions in response to intrinsic and extrinsic influences"
It's about learning to learn and our ability to rewire our brain to make us extremely resilient and allows for us to continue learning successfully.
"Neurons that fire together wire together"
Through the development and growth of our Inner Strengths we can keep going positively and increase our capacity to feel what we know.
And to hear an explanation in the words of Dr. Rick Hanson click here
It is so easy for us to think negatively and focus on the bad things that happen to us or around us. If you are someone who tends to think negatively this could be a beneficial therapy for you to retrain your brain, not just to think but to be better. And over coming the Negativity Bias all around usAt the basis of the training is how to turn beneficial experiences into lasting inner strengths through Rick’s four-step HEAL process to train our brain to think of the good and move away from feelings like doubt, anxiety and lack of self-worth or self-compassion. It really is a wonderful process for self-healing that includes Mindfulness.
Have a beneficial experience,
Enrich it,
Absorb it,
Link the positive experience to negative material in order to soothe and even replace it.
Like in my Coaching where I learnt to develop and coach clients to adapt a Green Platform, Rick discusses activating the Green Zone as a healthier alternative to the Red Zone, because it is a calmer and more peaceful state of mind to be in. This is a huge part of neuroscience, what we repeatedly rest upon then over time we grow a Green Zone brain.Everything around us is constantly creating and our mind is being manipulated all day long, it is our job to take care of it and train it.
I was delighted to learn that the practice of Gratitude played quite a big role in Positive Neuroplasticity. It is part of my non-negotiable daily spiritual practice. However, prior to the course I had been complacent at times and some days I knew I needed to put more emphasis into it. So to learn that enhancing being grateful can lead to longer lasting effects of appreciation and joy, it helped me to develop my own practice and bring it to a much deeper place. For which I am grateful.
Gratitude Rick Hanson
Rick commented that if we were to give up all our daily practices but x 1, then make sure we do it before we go to sleep at night, this practice for me seems like the most fitting one to keep because I write my journal before I go to sleep every night. To have tools to help our minds grow and happily and healthily is crucial for a successful life of contentment and peace. This practice can help you do that.If this sounds like something you would be more interested in exploring please contact me at ciara@ciaramchugh.com or below.
What I thought of my training?
The 6 days did not let me down, mainly thanks to the well organised event and never ending knowledge and energy from Rick. Who was rarely alone due to the eagerness and many questions from his students.I was taken back by the awe in the room, of the abilities of our compassionate and knowledgeable teacher and the desire my fellow students had for him and to learn. It didn't take long for me to realise that I was in a very special place and that the Facebook Ad that I had responded to (the only one as of yet) was a message from a guided source that told me that it was all part of my path to be there.
Although Rick also has no plans (that I know of) to come back to Ireland to teach, you can currently benefit from his training on line. http://www.rickhanson.net/positive-neuroplasticity-training/