I’ve started a new blog. Not to replace this one, as well as.
It started when a friend put me up for the Facebook challenge ‘Seven Days of Positive’ which is doing the rounds.
It’s based on the long-known – and increasingly scientifically supported – notion that by actively concentrating on the positive things in our life we can reprogram our brains and feel happier, even if nothing in our circumstances has changed.
I’m very interested in neuroscience (really, I’m not kidding). I studied psychology for several years and always found the brain chemistry side of it fascinating.
A book called The Brain That Changes Itself, by Norman Doidge, is one of the most fascinating things I’ve ever read, pulling together scientific research from around the world showing how the brain physically changes with repeated actions. A process called neuroplasticity.
That is more about physical actions and effects, but there is more and more evidence that thought can re-wire the brain in the same way. So it turns out that Norman Peale’s famous book The Power of Positive Thinking, which was very controversial when it was published in 1952 had some basis in fact.
I loved doing the Seven Days of Positive challenge it so much – and felt the benefits so tangibly – I was still going at Day 10 and people were still saying nice things about the Facebook posts, which was when I decided to make it into a blog.
I hope you’ll have a look – and that you might five the Seven Days of Positive Challenge a go yourself.
http://sevendaysofpositive.com/2014/09/25/day-10/