Unlock Your Brain's 🧠 True Potential: Embrace Change Like Never Before
Ever feel stuck in a loop, reacting to change in the same old ways? It’s not just you—it’s your brain’s mapping system! But what if we could rewire our responses to embrace change with excitement rather than anxiety?
Earlier this month we started to explore the concept - and waves - of change; we also began to address how to move with the rhythm rather than fight the tide.
Pertinent to this is understanding the brain's proclivity - or simply reflexive response - when it comes to change. While I shared a few tidbits, I'd like to dig deeper as it is my experience that when we understand “why” things happen (and understand it's simply habitual - but a habit we can break), it empowers us to leverage the levers at our disposal.
Because change - is the one inevitable - the one thing that no matter how hard we try to avoid - it's life's one guarantee.
The Brain: A Prediction Machine + Inner Cartographer
🔑 Recognizing this simple, millennia old affect is the first key to etching a new path.
The Paradox of Planning
While planning is invaluable, becoming too enmeshed in our blueprints can detach us from the richness of the present moment. We risk living more in the hypotheticals of our plans rather than in the vibrant, sometimes messy reality of life's unfolding.
Being present, while uncomfortable, can actually free us from the angst, and enable us to see - and grab hold of - the otherwise unforeseen opportunities that present themselves.
The true art lies in balancing our gaze -forward into the future (rather than simply re-creating the past) while rooting firmly in the now.
Mindfulness: The Keys to Expansive Living
An Invitation to Practice 🙏🏼
This month, I invite you into a simple and profound mindful practice: whenever you start planning too far ahead, gently guide your focus back to the now. Observe your environment, the air you breathe, and the thoughts passing through your mind. Bonus? Commit to daily inspiration… Whether it's simply googling “inspiring quotes” or reaching for a visual that lifts your heart, I promise it's impact will create fertile ground for etching new pathways and possibilities in your mind.
As we continue navigating life's changes, let's commit to living expansively, beyond the limits of our past experiences. Embrace the beauty and unpredictability of life's unfolding journey.
P.S. Embracing change isn't just about adjusting to new external circumstances; it's also an inward journey of growth and discovery. I'm here with you, every step of the way.
P.P.S - Join us for this weekend's Calm & Connect on Sunday, April 28th at 8 AM PST / 11 AM EST. It's a perfect opportunity to practice mindfulness, embrace invaluable reflection, and connect with others who are on similar paths.
Spring Into Change: Unfolding New Beginnings 🌷
If we give in to anxiety or impatience, digging up the seeds like children, checking in to see how much they’ve grown, we would never actually give them the space and time to take root.
After a number of rather literal dark and dreary days, the sun is shining and the earth is beginning to blossom. It's a reminder of a fundamental truth often resisted: everything changes, always. This season, as we witness the world around us spring into life, it's a vivid, beautiful showcase of change's potential. Yet, this transformation doesn't happen overnight. The silent, unseen work of the preceding months lays the groundwork for the bright burst of life we celebrate in spring. This is a powerful metaphor for our own lives and endeavors.
In recent months, I've navigated through an intense landscape of change. And yet, each challenge has underscored the undeniable truth of transformation's constant presence in our lives. It has continued to remind me, fiercely and lovingly, the importance of embracing change, not as an adversary but as an inevitable partner in growth.
Resistance vs. Embrace
It's normal, human really, to resist, or planning meticulously in the face of change, trying to control what we can and clinging to the comfort of the known. But resistance only postpones the inevitable, often amplifying the discomfort we were trying to avoid.
Spring shows us the beauty of release and the embrace of the new. Just as the earth doesn't rush its awakening, we too must learn the art of patient unfolding. The months of quiet, of seemingly nothing happening, are as crucial as the moment of bloom. They are the foundation of all that is to come.
The Complexity of Change
Our brains are quite literally prediction machines - it's there predisposition to predict. ALWAYS. What's more, our brains seek to be right. Thus their predictions, based on past experiences, play a huge role in how we navigate the future.
While these predictions intend to guide us, they can inadvertently narrow our horizons, as we are bound by our limited experience.
Cultivation and Trust
The journey of change requires us to be cultivators—patient, trusting, vigilant. We plant seeds not knowing exactly how or when they will sprout.
This process isn't just about nurturing the projects and transformations we initiate; it's about nurturing our resilience, our faith in the unseen process of becoming.
An Invitation to Trust the Process
Today, I invite you to reflect on your relationship with change. Where might you be resisting? Where might impatience be clouding your vision? Embrace the changes unfolding in your life, nurture them with intention and care, and most importantly, trust in their eventual blossoming. Even when it's uncomfortable, even when the end result is unclear, there's a profound strength in surrendering to the process.
Change, in its essence, is not just about the new life that springs forth. It's about our growth, our evolution as we navigate the journey. Like the gardener who trusts in the seeds they've sown, we too must believe in the potential of what we're cultivating, even when it's yet to be seen.
In embracing change, nurturing our endeavors, and trusting in the process, we open ourselves to the vast possibilities of what can emerge. And just like spring, what arises might just surpass our wildest dreams.
Let's embrace this journey together, trusting in the beautiful unfoldment of our shared human experience.
Warmly,
Rachel Tenenbaum
P.S. I've felt the tremors of change deeply and vividly in recent times. If you're navigating your sea of change, remember: it's not just about weathering the storm. It's about developing the skills and learning to sail in new directions. If you are wanting support - and ready to embrace and cultivate change, reach out and let's connect - I would love to hear from you!
P.P.S - In our next conversation, we'll dive a bit deeper into the neuroscience of change ;).
P.P.S.S. Don't forget to join us for Calm & Connect - a beautiful 2x monthly opportunity to connect live, meditate and intentionally reflect on life with - and learn from - other incredible individuals.