Transformative Practices to Embrace While Brain Retraining

In the last blog, we talked about how deeply the brain is impacted by our past traumas, and how faith and neuroplasticity are a powerful combination that can make healing possible. To start your journey, I listed a few things I put into practice in my own life, and I’d like to expand on those topics to encourage you to put some or all of these into practice in your life. 

Anchor in Faith and Make God Your Stronghold 

Matthew 19:26 says, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” For us to experience the limitless power of the Lord, we must anchor into Him. Read His Word, talk with Him, and make time to get close to God in your everyday life. Make knowing God a regular practice to strengthen the relationship and your dependency on Him. Let God be your rock and your stronghold as you walk toward healing and focus on the future of change and freedom. 

Acknowledge and Grieve

Often our human instinct is to push away the things that hurt us. Stuffing the pain, ignoring our past traumas and doing any and all things to avoid feeling negative emotions can often have the opposite effect and prolong our healing. Grief is not just a process for the loss of people we love. We have to also allow our bodies and minds time to process and heal from negative things in our lives. That means acknowledging that trauma and giving yourself the time and space to travel the intimidating but necessary grief journey to find healing on the other side. It’s when you have the courage to look trauma in the eyes that you truly begin to heal.

Mindful Awareness 

We do so many things out of sheer habit without stopping to think about the future impact of what we are doing. Think about the first thing many of us do when looking into a full-length mirror after getting dressed for an event or trying on clothes in a dressing room. What is our first thought? Is it positive, or is it some type of criticism?  Sometimes our negativity is so engrained in our habits that we have to make a point to stop and redirect negative thought patterns. It takes a lot of effort at first to identify when it’s happening.  Once you are able to identify when your thought patterns are negative, then you can develop mindful practices to observe and redirect negative thought patterns.

Renew the Mind 

Meditation is a very effective practice when it comes to emotional regulation. Regularly meditating on uplifting scriptures and affirmations can rewire your brain with truth. As you focus on the promises of God and the possibilities of future good health, your body takes on the positive message and you can tell the difference in your frame of mind almost immediately. And since you can feel the positive effects of scripture and affirmations immediately, imagine what an ongoing and intentional practice of meditation can do for you in the long term. 

Community and Support 

We have to surround ourselves with a supportive community that encourages healing and growth. It can derail our progress after we put so much effort and direction into the condition of our mind and spirit, only to have external voices tear us down.  Though it is impossible to avoid negative people all the time, you can be intentional about the amount of time you spend with them and put more effort into the relationships that build you up and work in partnership with your journey to heal. You are not a bad Christian because you need to set boundaries with people who are struggling. You can love people from a distance as you are on your own healing journey knowing that one day in the future you will be stronger and more able to hold the hand of and support someone in a hard place. 

I can’t promise that the road to healing is always going to be easy. But what I can tell you is that by utilizing the above practices, there are areas in your life where you can experience tremendous and immediate release of tension in your life. I’m here to help align your life in such a way as to promote an environment conducive to anchoring closely to God and to experience amazing healing through Him. I’m rooting for you along the way!