ONE OF THE TOP TEN WAYS TO IMPROVE SELF-IMAGE AND PROMOTE BRAIN GROWTH: TOUCH! Self touch and passive touch (being touched by others) have very different effects on the brain. Both release many neurochemicals, including dopamine, oxytocin, and serotonin. Every other mammal and bird will do ritualized preening, yet humans, as a society, are discouraged from self-touch, perhaps (and this is a guess on my part) because most early Christian, Jewish, and Islamic religions put taboos on pleasurable activities because it would distract one from the higher spiritual virtues. For people with relationship trauma, self touch is much safer than receiving physical affection from others. Touch helps the brain build a stronger self image (and indirectly, self-love) and a lack of touch appears to inhibit neural development, especially in children. TRY THIS EXPERIMENT: On a sheet of paper, draw an outline of your body. Then begin to explore touching different parts of your body in different ways (tickling, gentle squeezing, scratching, using a tissue or a brush, etc.). Notice that the SLOWER you stroke, the more aware you become of the sensations. Example: stroke your arm slowly. Now do it again cutting your speed in half. Now once more, taking 3 minutes to go from your wrist to your elbow. For each part of your body, rate the degree of pleasure from 1-10 and write that number on the corresponding area of your drawing (scalp, face, eyes, nose, mouth, chin, neck, shoulders, etc...all the way down to your feet and toes). After youve done your entire body, concentrate on the areas that you put down a 7-10. Stroke those areas and visualize the pleasure, then move to the least pleasurable area and stroke it as you recall the previous pleasurable sensations. In this way you can begin to enjoy parts of your body that low self-esteem may have interrupted. Result: more self-love, more confidence, and an improved sense of self! Secondary result: more success in business. Why? because pleasure reduces work stress, which is why, in my NeuroWisdom program, we train executives to do something pleasurable every 20 minutes and/or every hour throughout the work day, using a mindfulness clock as a reminder (put this one on your computer: fungie.info/bell/#). Extra credit:try self touch and stroking as you deal with a difficult problem, or if you want to immediately release anxiety, worry, or negativity. As you engage in this pleasurable activity think about your big Why, your deepest desires, a goal you want to complete, etc. The dopamine that is released increases motivation in your nucleus accumbens and it stimulates the decision-making circuits in your frontal lobe. It actually increases consciousness in your dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.
Posted on: Wed, 25 Jun 2014 16:18:23 +0000
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