Let's talk science! In the body, we have the reticular activation system; it is like a gatekeeper of information for the conscious brain. We can use that system to our advantage! Learn how in this episode!  

 

Transcript:

 

Welcome to Everyday Happiness where we create lasting happiness, in about 2 minutes a day,  through my signature method of Intentional Margins® (creating harmony between your to-dos and your priorities), happiness science, and musings about life. 

 

I'm your host Katie Jefcoat and there is this saying, what you focus on grows.  We’ve all heard it.  And you can see in your own life how this happens, right?  When I became pregnant, even before I told people, I was seeing so many pregnant women.  When my husband and I bought a mini-cooper, we felt like all of a sudden we were seeing so many more mini-coopers driving down the highway. 

 

There is this part of your brain, and I promise not to get too scienc-y, because this is way above my pay grade, but it goes like this: 

 

There is this part of your brain, it starts above your spinal cord and it's about two inches long and about the width of a pencil, and what it does is really connect that subconscious part of our brain with the conscious part of our brain. 

 

It’s called the RAS - Reticular Activation System. 

 

It’s the gatekeeper of information that gets let into the conscious part of the mind. Our subconscious and our sensory organs are constantly throwing things at the RAS, if everything got to our conscious mind, I would imagine our brains would blow up.  We need this gatekeeper to only allow the most important things through the gate.  

 

We can use our conscious mind to tell the RAS what we want to see more of.  Back to the ‘ol saying, what we focus on grows. 

 

So, if you want to be a grateful, happy person, start a gratitude practice.

 

By doing this gratitude practice - you train your brain to be in this automatic happiness state. By training your brain, telling your RAS what you want to see more of, you create new neuro-pathways in your brain and this becomes the normal way of thinking.

 

It sounds crazy and unbelievable, but there are virtually every scientist that studies this brain stuff will tell you it works.  Let’s notice happy moments and give gratitude or appreciation for them.   

 

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